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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

12-Step Program for Detroit: Step 8--Kwame Kilpatrick Must Make Amends




It's Wednesday, and we are on Step 8 of the 12 Steps of Healing for Detroit! As you may know, each week we have been looking at ways that we, as people who live and/or work in our beloved and beleaguered City. We know that we are the ones we have been waiting for, and that we are better than our current leadership.

The whole point of this blog is to teach some, and remind others of the wonderful things about Detroit, the Detroit Metroplex, and especially the Detroit people. In the process, I will also point out what I believe is wrong with our current leaders (and, when appropriate, what is right), and I hope to hear your ideas in the comments section.

"Step 8", loosely based on the AA 12-step Program, admonishes those who follow the program to make a list of all persons harmed and be willing to make amends to them all. Well, Kwame Kilpatrick, Mr. Mayor, this step seems tailor-made for you!

Mr. Mayor, you have hurt the entire City of Detroit, you have hurt the entire region of southeastern Michigan and southwestern Ontario and northwestern Ohio, you have hurt the entire State of Michigan, you have hurt the entire Democratic Party and the candidacy of Barack Obama, you have hurt your family, including your wife, your sons, and your mother, you have hurt the police department, you have hurt businesses small and large that stayed in Detroit and/or came back to Detroit.

Mr. Mayor, you have hurt families, you have hurt children, you have hurt the national and international image and reputation of Detroit; you have certainly hurt the budget of the City of Detroit, which is OUR money.

It's time for you to make amends, Kwame Kilpatrick. It is time for you to realize that the world does NOT revolve around you, and that Detroit can and will survive and even thrive without you. You owe us even more than that $9 million...especially those of us who supported you while you lied to us and the world. You have no credibility left, and you cannot effectively conduct the business of the City anymore, and that is supposed to be your job. The fact that you even thought for a minute that you "should" have gone to the Democratic Convention and taken even a smidgen of a chance that your ruined image would badly reflect on our Presidential Candidate shows your arrogance and inconsiderate nature. You are (were) a Superdelegate; their votes aren't even necessary at this point. Believe me, no one even notices your absence.

The people who live in Detroit, work in Detroit, and love Detroit will pick up the pieces and carry on and work hard to repair the damage you have done; but it's time for you to go. It's time for you to make your list of all you have harmed and start to make amends (from far away from Detroit) to them all. It was/is not about "racism" at this point; it is/was about you and your wrongdoings. The sooner you grow up and realize that and move yourself out of the picture, the sooner Detroit can heal and move on.

Shameless Plug: please read my husband's blog, The "D" Spot...


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