Whatever. The guy is going to get elected if people say what an ass he is, or if they hold their tongues. The man can’t do anything without whipping up fervor over someone slighting him, whether real or imagined.
Take, for example, the turkey giveaway he runs. Last year, he called a supermarket that just opened in his ward (which is a very big deal, since they are one of the few grocery stores open in that part of town) to order 2,000 turkeys.
Giant said, “Great. Send us the check and we will drop them off at the distribution location.” Barry then tells his constituents to show up Monday morning at 9am for your free turkey.
They show up; no turkeys did.
Why? Barry never sent the check. Not only did he not send the check, he only had $17,000 of the $26,000 that he promised Giant. Because he had not actually compensated Giant for 2,000 turkeys, he calls Giant “heartless” and said it was “pathetic and incomprehensible” that Giant didn’t front him the turkeys.
There is no way for Giant to win. Everything Barry does, whether good or horribly incompetent, plays into Barry’s hands.
I think that Marion Barry’s heyday has passed. He has been investigated by the council and reprimanded by it. Vincent Gray pulled him off of his choice committees when he was still Council Chairman. Kwame Brown put him back on a few when he got elected, but he really isn’t as powerful as he used to be.
Most of the reason Fenty lost is because of the teacher’s unions.
I side with the unions when a governor tries to take away their bargaining rights even after they make all monetary concession that could reasonably be asked for, I side with the Mayor when the union resists almost any attempt at reform until reform is imminent and then complains that they were not included in the process of designing the reforms taht they wanted no part of.
Yeah, I’m a long-time Dem, but the way the unions behaved in the mayoral primary was disgusting. It was so clearly an entrenched mafia trying to protect its rice bowl.
What are you talking about? “F*ckin’ bitch set me up!”
The Marion Barry scandal is going to be tough to beat. And as furt said, his re-election is enough evidence to prove that DC is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. If I remember correctly, when Barry got out of jail and ran for one of the council seats (he needed a few more years to qualify for his pension - go figure they didn’t take that away from him for smoking crack on the 11 pm news), his main campaign battle cry was something on the order of “The man is trying to keep me down.” How embarrassing that this even worked, but DC is not your average American city. When he won another term as mayor, I was convinced the end of civilization as we know it is not too far away.
I remember the Barry thing like it was yesterday. I remember turning the news on at 11 to catch it before going to bed, and the first story has Berry sucking on the crack pipe with his hooker. To go from that video to getting re-elected is on par with OJ getting off on those felony murder charges.
This new scandal is pretty interesting too. Patronage isn’t exactly what it used to be, is it?
It’s been 15 years since the last time Barry was elected to citywide office. It’s time to quit flogging that horse.
Anyway, Fenty lost because of the teachers’ union spending $10 million dollars to get rid of him. His abrasive style didn’t help, but it was a side issue at best.
I notice a lot of people from Northern Virginia bring up Barry whenever voting rights for DC comes up. I think it is not so subtle code for the belief that black people can’t be trusted with the vote.
I agree with you on Barry. The city for the most part works pretty well. The trash services run on time, the streets get plowed in a snowstorm, and dealing with the city isn’t as painful as it was a few years ago. Hell, I got my car inspected pretty quickly the last two times. The public libraries aren’t great but that is only in comparison to Arlington and Fairfax which are wealthy counties. There are scandals that occur from time to time, but the city is making progress in cleaning things up. Hell, finances for the city are in better shape than a lot of states from what I’ve seen.
I don’t think that Fenty lost because of the teacher’s union. Most of DC was unhappy with the schools. I think that Rhee was doing good things for the schools, she just wasn’t doing a good job in selling those ideas to the community at large. I think that you really can’t underestimate how poorly Fenty seemed to rub people he interacted with.
Actually, I think the schools issue really pissed off a lot of long time DC residents. I think the view was more, “How dare you say that the schools are terrible – I went to those schools, and I’m not stupid!! Besides, I love teachers and you can never ever fire a teacher because teachers never do anything wrong!”
Of course, it is a fact that most of the schools are terrible, and that the reforms were showing results. Of course, if Fenty had been more likable, he probably would have survived.
And let me tell you on the snow thing: I think DC handles snow about three times better than surrounding communities, even the affluent ones. Yeah, it takes DC a few days to deal with moderate to large amounts of snow – but it takes Alexandria like a week or more to do the same.
Not that anyone cares, but I just have to laugh – the gadfly making the accusations against the current mayor of DC has a longer rap sheet than previously known.
Including one acquittal for attempted murder in Chicago, an arrest (but no indictment) for assault in New Jersey, and a conviction for unlawful entry in DC (which was apparently known by others, just not me).
I’m so proud of my home. We are so open minded to give people second chances in life, including $110,000 government jobs.
I saw that about Brown. That really doesn’t bode well for Gray does it?
Do other cities seem to thrive on ballot challenges like DC does. It looks like Sekou Biddle was able to disqualify a bunch of Patrick Mara’s signatures but not enough to get him knocked off the ballot.
And it gets worse for Mayor Grey. According to the Post, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an official probe into this whole mess.
And it looks like Kwame Brown’s Navigator could cost the city $30,000.00. I’m somewhat outraged that the council passed a law allowing the council chairman to have a car paid for by the city. The chair gets paid a pretty $190,000.00 per year. He should be able to buy his own damn car.
I agree with that to a certain extent, since exurbanites around here tend to be sheltered cunts; however, the voters of DC (or at least a lot of the people they’ve elected) haven’t done much to dispel that notion. Sad, but true.
Let me say a few more things on this subject: I am in public service, and I am all for paying good government workers good salaries, but paying local officials $250,000 or $300,000 is FUCKING OBSCENE. Really? Does a school chancellor really need to be paid nearly TWICE what a US Senator does?
And here’s another thing for you: DC city council is like the second highest-paid city council in the country – AND THEY GET TO CONTINUE OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR GOVERNMENT PAID SALARIES! Just outrageous. Screw them.
