Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Okay. I've been working seven day weeks, and I've been too tired to write. But I still read the papers with an eye towards something to write about, tired or not. Today, the Times called out to me. The headline: Baltimore's Mayor Is Convicted. How can I pass this up, no matter how tired I am.
It seems that Baltimore's first female mayor, the dynamic Sheila Dixon, up and coming powerhouse of Black politics in the central eastern city that straddles the Mason-Dixon Line, is a sticky fingered politico just like so many others, male and female, black and white. Corruption is as blind as lady justice. Anyone can do it.
As the story goes, a list of well-to-do developers donated a slew of gift cards to places like Target, Old Navy, Toys R Us, and Best Buy to be given to poor families. Somehow a number of these gift cards somehow fell into the hands of Mayor Dixon, who got herself a Play Station 2, a digital video camera, CDs and DVDs, among other things. Since these gift cards were intended for poor people, news that the privileged mayor skimmed a few for her own use fairly upset many of the Baltimore population. Others found it trivial and not worth prosecuting. Still more found the prosecution politically motivated, since the prosecutor is a white Republican and the mayor is a black Democrat.
Still, it is hard for this writer to excuse the mayor on just about any level. She also gave some of the gift cards to a lobbyist who earns a half-million annually. The lobbyist treated himself to a Nintendo Wii. The mayor and the lobbyist hardly need the gift cards, the Play Station 2, the Wii, or the digital video recorder. What they do need is jail time.
Some out there in cyber-land may feel that as a white middle class middle aged male I have no business slamming Mayor Dixon. Yes, I'm white, male, middle aged and middle class. I'm not slamming Mayor Dixon for any racial motivation. I'm slamming Mayor Dixon because she has shown herself to be a political hack and a thief. Not just any thief, but someone who steals from the poor. Maybe she should short-change a few blind people while she's at it.
It seems that Baltimore's first female mayor, the dynamic Sheila Dixon, up and coming powerhouse of Black politics in the central eastern city that straddles the Mason-Dixon Line, is a sticky fingered politico just like so many others, male and female, black and white. Corruption is as blind as lady justice. Anyone can do it.
As the story goes, a list of well-to-do developers donated a slew of gift cards to places like Target, Old Navy, Toys R Us, and Best Buy to be given to poor families. Somehow a number of these gift cards somehow fell into the hands of Mayor Dixon, who got herself a Play Station 2, a digital video camera, CDs and DVDs, among other things. Since these gift cards were intended for poor people, news that the privileged mayor skimmed a few for her own use fairly upset many of the Baltimore population. Others found it trivial and not worth prosecuting. Still more found the prosecution politically motivated, since the prosecutor is a white Republican and the mayor is a black Democrat.
Still, it is hard for this writer to excuse the mayor on just about any level. She also gave some of the gift cards to a lobbyist who earns a half-million annually. The lobbyist treated himself to a Nintendo Wii. The mayor and the lobbyist hardly need the gift cards, the Play Station 2, the Wii, or the digital video recorder. What they do need is jail time.
Some out there in cyber-land may feel that as a white middle class middle aged male I have no business slamming Mayor Dixon. Yes, I'm white, male, middle aged and middle class. I'm not slamming Mayor Dixon for any racial motivation. I'm slamming Mayor Dixon because she has shown herself to be a political hack and a thief. Not just any thief, but someone who steals from the poor. Maybe she should short-change a few blind people while she's at it.
