Kwame Kilpatrick's pride

"Pride comes before a fall." I wonder if any of the 60 Detroit pastors supporting embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have bothered to remind him of that biblical principle. As the latest drama in Detroit unfolds, it makes me wonder, whatever happened to public integrity?  Have our leaders become so drunken with power that honesty, character and respect for their offices and the people they represent become now  secondary nuisances? From Marion Barry to Eliot Spitzer, Richard Nixon to Mark Foley, character and integrity, or the lack thereof, know no party affiliation or skin color.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, or "King Kwame" as some in the Detroit area have come to call him, is yet another example of  a politician who is drowning in his own narcissistic sense of infallibility. The opportunity to earn the public trust is a privilege, not an entitlement and far too often politicians forget who they are working for. 

Anyone who has followed the mayor's tenure shouldn't be surprised by his downfall. It was only a matter of time. Arrogance and sense of entitlement are a recipe for disaster, especially when you have the resources of an entire city at your disposal and your own  personal "yes" men, who happen to occupy a variety of high-ranking city positions you put them in, acting as enablers.

The mayor's supporters claim he's done wonders for the economic development of Detroit, helping to rebuild downtown and bring jobs to the city.  To summarize a point comedian Chris Rock so famously made, I'm not going to give credit to someone for things they are supposed to do. As mayor, you're supposed to revitalize your city. You're supposed to attract new businesses, conferences and major sporting events.  So because he's done what is expected of him to a certain degree, we are supposed to excuse away all of the despicable, and now apparently illegal, antics "King Kwame" has engaged in?

In that vein, then I guess the local drug dealer shouldn't be arrested as long as he is building playgrounds, handing out turkeys and donating money to the local community center. Hey, at least he's creating jobs, right? C'mon. It's this type of excuse making that allows such a corrupted sense of right and wrong to perpetuate the dismissal of personal responsibility and the consequences that accompany it.

According to local media reports, 60 Detroit pastors have come out in support of Mayor Kilpatrick claiming they are supporting the person, not the mistakes he has made. Well that's a good thing, considering the litany of mistakes King Kwame has made is quite long, both as a public servant and as a father and husband, beginning with alleged perjury and obstruction of justice and ending with adultery.  Although one of the pastors claimed the mayor seemed "contrite" when they prayed for him moments before his arraignment, the smirk in his mug shot says something different. It looks like humility needs to be added to those prayers, right in between forgiveness and repentance.

Race-baiting and defiant, blaming everyone from the "haters" to the media for his troubles, Kilpatrick's behavior is not that of a contrite man, whose self-inflicted downfall has brought a cloud of shame and humiliation not only to himself and his family but to the people of Detroit. "Haters" didn't write over 14,000 text messages, including sexually explicit missives to his city employed paramour, nor did "haters" decide to inappropriately fire the Detroit police department's head of internal affairs, Officer Gary Brown, because he was doing his job investigating suspected misconduct on behalf of the mayor's personal security team and an alleged, but never proven, stripper party at the mayor's publicly financed residence, Manoogian Mansion. And "haters" did not make Mr. Kilpatrick lie under oath in an effort to hide his own misconduct.

(By the way, Officer Brown and another Detroit cop successfully sued the City of Detroit for wrongful termination in that whistleblower case, costing the city $8.4 million.)

I'm frankly sick and tired of people trying to explain away Kilpatrick's very serious felony charges as a result of an overambitious prosecutor's witch hunt over a sexual affair. Let's not forget, Kilpatrick not only took an oath to uphold his office with honor, but he took an oath to uphold his marriage in honor and he has apparently failed miserably as an example at both and he has no one to blame but himself. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes, but part of learning from those mistakes is accepting responsibility for them and that oftentimes requires paying a heavy price.

No one is above the law, Mr. Kilpatrick. Not even you. Not even in Detroit. No matter how large the entourage, how luxurious the vehicle, or how flamboyant your suit, you are still a public servant accountable to the people of Detroit. If the "Hip Hop Mayor" wants to live the lifestyle of a 50 Cent, then he needs to relinquish his public office and become a member of G-Unit on his own time, not on the taxpayers'.