# To the Citizens of the City of Detroit: You're idiots. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 9, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210 "2005-11-09T15:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/21 "2005-11-10T19:02:59Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > Just curious…how did he do this? Well, we have some particularly persistant local reporters, you know, the “Channel 7 Problem Solvers” type of dudes. He was folllowing the mayor, asking some questions of him, when the mayor had one of his bodyguards basically just slam the dude into a wall and hold him there. He was not threatening the mayor in any way, but the mayor got the message across…when I say no comment, I mean no comment or I’ll rip your balls off. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/22 "2005-11-10T20:59:47Z")
I’m just curious why you thought Freman Hendrix would be any better for Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/23 "2005-11-10T21:06:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Meanwhile, I’m curious to see what happened in Detroit with the dead people voting. Dead people vote Republican, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/24 "2005-11-11T06:58:17Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Dead people vote Republican, don’t they? That’s what I hear. But they prefer candidates with palm tree-shaped hair and lugubrious voices, and so I don’t know if Freman Hendrix would pass muster with the dead. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/25 "2005-11-11T08:04:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s what I hear. But they prefer candidates with palm tree-shaped hair and lugubrious voices, and so I don’t know if Freman Hendrix would pass muster with the dead. Sideshow Mel? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/26 "2005-11-11T12:58:08Z")
[QUOTE=tsarina] > [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > What Detroit needs is a class 5 hurricane to rip through it so we can start over from scratch.QUOTE] > > It makes you wonder why Kwame offered to let New Orleans evacuees resettle in Detroit, because it sure as hell isn’t any better there! :rolleyes: And to make it even more pathetic for the refugee’s many settled in Flint. Flint! We have two armpits here in Michigan: Detroit and Flint. (Flint actually has some nice thingies and it is closer to me. But, still…) ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/27 "2005-11-11T13:47:26Z")
“the dead have arisen and are voting Republican!” Lisa Simpson, _Sideshow Bob Roberts_ ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/28 "2005-11-11T14:09:08Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > “the dead have arisen and are voting Republican!” Lisa Simpson, _Sideshow Bob Roberts_ It was Bart who (more or less) said that. As to how Kilpatrick managed to win, I’d start looking at why some head honchos over at GM and other major coporations in the area pumped a great deal of money into his campaign at the last minute. Plus, that commercial he kept running showing police dragging an old lady out of a meeting paired with his opponent yelling at the participants was apparently pretty effective. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/29 "2005-11-11T15:18:40Z")
If it makes y’all feel any better, I was living in DC when we re-elected Marion Barry. His stint in prison had little correctional impact, it would seem, as he proceeded to fuck the city harder than during his original heyday, when smoking crack with whores kept him preoccupied, and limited the damage he could do by using his own ostensibly sober judgement to govern. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/30 "2005-11-11T15:28:17Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Seriously, though, NYC was NOT the bright lights glam city it was in the 40s and 50s, or is today. Just compare the blackout of '77 to the one in 2003. The first one was rememberd because of the looting and vandalism. The current one is remembered because of the LACK of those things. It is definetly a different city than it once was. If it can be done to NYC, it can be done to Detroit, but unfortunatly, there are a lot less people who are willing to make Detroit better than there was to make NYC better, it seems. How much of Dinkins’ defeat could be attributed to episodes like the Crown Heights riots? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/31 "2005-11-12T04:37:52Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Honest question. Is Detroit ever going to be anything other than a shithole, no matter who is mayor? I am under the impression that most of Detroit proper, not counting the suburbs, is pretty much too far gone to make any sort of comeback economically viable. As a long time resident of the burbs, I’ve always said that Detroit needs some kind of toursit attraction. Every city has it’s crime/racism/violence, but most have positive things to counterbalance it and bring in the tourist money. We don’t. Don’t get me wrong, we have a art museum, science center and zoo that are on par with most cities, but most cities have these things that are on par with Detroit’s. There’ nothing unique to pull people in. NYC has the Statue of LIberty while we have a big fist on Jefferson Ave. Anyway, like I say, I live in the burbs so I didn’t vote in this election. I do work in Detroit so pay about $200 in city taxes every year. I don’t see that changing very much no matter who the mayor is. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/32 "2005-11-12T04:57:58Z")
> [@lonesome loser](#): > > Let’s see. > > You had two guys running. > > They both presented their cases to the voters. The voters chose. > > Your guy lost. > > Sour grapes. Hey, exactly how many Bush-bashing threads have you started since you joined up here, anyway? Ya fuckin’ hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/33 "2005-11-12T05:35:53Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > It has been proposed. Find the (say) fifty worst blocks _en bloc_ in the city. Bulldoze them. Tear up the streets, turn off the water and surround them in chain link. Take the money you save on streets, police, water, fire protection, and spend it to save the rest of the city. > > After twenty years, sell the area to a developer. Make a bundle. We can call it…_Delta City!_😃 Hey, at least the damn trains would run on time. And robots would kill criminals on sight. Everybody wins! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/34 "2005-11-12T22:35:27Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > As a long time resident of the burbs, I’ve always said that Detroit needs some kind of toursit attraction. > > Every city has it’s crime/racism/violence, but most have positive things to counterbalance it and bring in the tourist money. > > We don’t. > > Don’t get me wrong, we have a art museum, science center and zoo that are on par with most cities, but most cities have these things that are on par with Detroit’s. There’ nothing unique to pull people in. > > NYC has the Statue of LIberty while we have a big fist on Jefferson Ave. > > Anyway, like I say, I live in the burbs so I didn’t vote in this election. I do work in Detroit so pay about $200 in city taxes every year. I don’t see that changing very much no matter who the mayor is. You have made a valid point, and I just cannot see why no one wants to come and see [The Fist](http://www.origin360.com/travel/detroit_04.html) It could be a Mecca for Gay Tourists or something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/35 "2005-11-14T02:53:51Z")
> [@St. Urho](#): > > I’m just curious why you thought Freman Hendrix would be any better for Detroit. A sock puppet would have been better for Detroit than Kwame kilpatrick. By wining a second election, he gets to proclain that he has a “mandate” from the people of Detroit (sound familiar?), and get his political machine further entrenched. there was a post about Marion Barry, and I mentioned Coleman Young a few posts up as well. These people only won elections because they had enough cronies in the system to keep them there for 20 years or more, along with the tendency for people to vote for the incumbent. If he would have been knocked out this election, we could have ousted the next guy fairly easily if he was no good. Since we didn’t, he’s got a better chance of being a fixture ont he Detroit landscape for the next 20 years. The dude’s young…like mid-30s, and he’s running a whole city. That’s the sort of power you just don’t give up, and he’s young enough to stay there for the next 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/36 "2005-11-14T12:39:34Z")
Maybe we should send Kwame some crack and ho’s to keep him busy. (I have no idea where to get crack, but I could send him a box of ho-ho’s.) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/37 "2005-11-14T15:01:44Z")
> [@](#): > > You have made a valid point, and I just cannot see why no one wants to come and see The Fist > It could be a Mecca for Gay Tourists or something. Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond! … Sorry. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/38 "2005-11-14T17:29:54Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > As a long time resident of the burbs, I’ve always said that Detroit needs some kind of toursit attraction. > > Every city has it’s crime/racism/violence, but most have positive things to counterbalance it and bring in the tourist money. > > We don’t. > > Don’t get me wrong, we have a art museum, science center and zoo that are on par with most cities, but most cities have these things that are on par with Detroit’s. There’ nothing unique to pull people in. You just described Baltimore in the 1970s. We built Harborplace. Detroit has a waterfront, doesn’t it? Couldn’t y’all do the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/39 "2005-11-15T02:09:14Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > You just described Baltimore in the 1970s. We built Harborplace. Detroit has a waterfront, doesn’t it? Couldn’t y’all do the same thing? The problem is that Windsor Canada shares the waterfront and has the advanatage of not being in Detroit or the US. You can go over there and walk in complete saftey and watch the Forth of July fireworks while people are getting shot on the Detroit side! Windsor has 18 year old drinking, legal prostitution, tax free gambling AND no violet crime to speak of. Detroit is a shithole that likes being a shithole. That’s why they re-picked Kilpatrick. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210/40 "2005-11-15T02:36:52Z")
> [@Si Amigo](#): > > The problem is that Windsor Canada shares the waterfront and has the advanatage of not being in Detroit or the US. You can go over there and walk in complete saftey and watch the Forth of July fireworks while people are getting shot on the Detroit side! Windsor has 18 year old drinking, legal prostitution, tax free gambling AND no violet crime to speak of. > > Detroit is a shithole that likes being a shithole. That’s why they re-picked Kilpatrick. We have legal prostitution? Damn it, I’ve been here for school for over 3 years and now I find this out. And the drinking age is 19. But you can buy lottery tickets at 18. You’ve got the other two right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-citizens-of-the-city-of-detroit-youre-idiots/330210.md?page=1)