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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
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February 6, 2012
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Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
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January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
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January 13, 2012
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
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John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 8, 2008
/ 8 Elul 5768
Keep walking, Motown mayor
By
Mitch Albom
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Keep walking, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Out the door, off the stage and into a jail cell. You had a chance, on what could have been the most honest night of your life, to truly stand up, to change the image of who you are and perhaps begin to change yourself. Instead, you put cops at the door, blocked reporters you didn't like from coming in, then bathed in sycophantic applause before leaving in a gush of phony bravado, like an ego-mad athlete being tossed from the game.
"You done set me up for a comeback" were your final words, because you couldn't resist, as the curtain came down, one more grab of the spotlight. Instead of fessing up to a series of lies that paralyzed Detroit, cost it millions and turned it into an international embarrassment, you exited like a poor victim, swinging at some vast, invisible conspiracy, as if people in this state had nothing better to do than to mount an exhausting, nine-month campaign against you -- full of your own text messages. As if it were other people who had sex in hotel rooms, fired cops, traded city money for silence and lied under oath while you stood innocently on the sidelines.
Keep walking, Kwame. Even at a moment when some were inclined to feel sorry for you, you had the audacity to reach for your wife and blame other people for trying to "tear this up." Was it other people who sent a text message to Christine Beatty reading "I need you soooo bad"?
Was it other people who sent Beatty the words, "I promise for the rest of my life you will be my girl"?
Others tried to tear up your marriage?
Keep walking.
Instead of taking the chance to say, "Here is what I did wrong," you used your goodbye minutes to take a swipe at the governor, Jennifer Granholm, who had the audacity -- at a request from your own city council -- to hold a hearing about your removal. What exactly was her crime? If anything, she should have thrown your butt out a long time ago.
Be honest. You're only steamed at Granholm because, without her, you'd still be clinging to your job. It was that hearing that put a ticking clock on the only bargaining chip you had, the office of mayor. You had to make a plea deal, or risk her taking that card away. That's why you suggested a "political agenda." She threatened your power grip. It's an agenda all right. Yours, not hers.
And while we're at it, let's be clear on this whole "resignation" thing. You said "sometimes standing strong means stepping down" as if this whole thing were in your control. Sorry. You confessed to two felony counts, and once you did that, you were out of office automatically. If you want to make it sound like "prayer" and "fasting" led you to leave instead of the rules, go ahead.
But keep walking.
You used your closing minutes to pat yourself on the back for the "standards that we've set of excellence" during your tenure. Please. Look around Detroit -- schools, poverty, unemployment, red tape. This is excellence?
Someone failed to tell you Thursday night was not a state of the city address. But then, most crooks don't get a cheering room and TV time. Even convicted, you basked in privileges you seem to consider a birthright and showed no more remorse than the common line "I take full responsibility for my own actions" without ever going into what those actions were, perhaps so that you can deny them later. It's a bit like that line "if I upset anyone, I'm sorry," which has the benefit of sounding like an apology while still sort of blaming others.
There are no others now, Kwame. There's just you and jail and five years in which you can't run for office, five years in which you'll need to find work, like the citizens you once lorded over. Five years is a long time. Faces get forgotten. People move on. Detroit will move on. We'll try to clean up the tangled wires of your administration, to undo the bullying and the cronyism. And to be better.
We wish you luck in doing the same. But keep walking, Kwame. You can talk all you want about your comeback. If this city is as smart as you say, we won't be seeing it here.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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