Text Messages Key to Kilpatrick/Beatty Defense

From the get-go Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s $750.00 per hour legal mouth piece attacked the admissibility of what he feels is the key element in Wayne County Prosecutor’s case against the Mayor. In his Monday press conference following Worthy’s announcement of the 12 count indictment against Kilpatrick and Beatty, Webb trotted out the Stored Communications Act, a Federal statute that he says has been violated by the Detroit Free Press in its acquisition of the damaging text messages.

I doubt that a room full of lawyers could accurately decipher the act, but the consensus from the legal eagles that we’ve spoken with indicates that it is very unlikely that the Webb challenge will be successful. Webb’s argument refers to the text messages as being “fruit from the poisonous tree”. The problem is Worthy didn’t get her copies of the messages from the Freep, she got her copies by court ordered subpoena. We haven't heard the last of this. Come back to this blog as we will continue to update the story.

On Monday afternoon we hooked up with the Michigan Chronicle’s Senior Editor Bankole Thompson and recorded his interview with Kym Worthy. Click on the links to your right to hear Worthy’s unfiltered comments about the case.

Tony Mottley is the producer of American Black Journal.

McCain Knows Which Iraqi’s We’re Fighting – Doesn’t He?

While traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise Senator John McCain misidentified which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran. Really?

There is no way Senator McCain doesn’t know what’s going on in Iraq, right? Could he be confused by President Bush’s claims about al-Qaeda’s presence in Iraq? Say it isn’t so Senator.

McCain said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a predominantly Sunni militant group which is blamed for deadly mass killings of Shiites, along with attacks on U.S. forces. Some extremist Sunni consider Shiites to be heretics and therefore legitimate targets of attack.

How could McCain keep getting this wrong? While it’s hard to make a factual argument that John McCain is not versed on foreign affairs, his repeated gaffes lend credence to some who argue that he’s too old to be president. The age issue is the 800 lb gorilla in the McCain candidacy and it’s an issue most don’t want to address but you have to wonder. If McCain, who turns 72 in August, wins, he would be the oldest person ever inaugurated as president.

Here’s what Anna Quindlen of Newsweek wrote about McCain and the issue of age.

… the senator is not your average man of his age. He takes stairs slowly and cannot lift his arms to comb his hair. One reason few people want to address his age, or his infirmity, is the valor of his Vietnam service. It's humbling to consider that he broke both arms and a leg when his fighter jet was shot down, then suffered fractured shoulders and broken ribs when he was tortured during five and a half years as a POW.

No one wants to say John McCain is too old be President. He’s a war hero and is widely respected for his independent views. But a few more lapses like the four he had this week and his candidacy might be doomed.

Kilpatrick Saga A Tale of Squandered Potential

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's ending comments from his State of the City speech are the talk of the town. It's a good time to take a step back and make a broad assessment of what's happened.

After his speech at the Democratic convention in 2000 his star was on the rise. As the youngest person ever elected as Detroit Mayor, Kilpatrick came into office with hope and optimism. His charisma and oratory skills shone through.

So what happened?

The answer is between him and his God. There very well may be a wide spread conspiracy afoot to take him down. The media bloodhounds may be out to get him. But the reality is that no matter how much he protests most of his most serious wounds are self inflicted.

I won't even touch the so-called text message scandal except to point out that the Mayor's response to Chief of Staff Beatty's alert that Gary Brown had been fired is very telling.

Since when does a Chief of Staff unilaterally fire a Deputy Police Chief without first discussing it with the Mayor and/or the Chief of Police?
The published text messages reveal that Beatty received an anonymous memo indicating Brown was conducting a "secret" investigation of the Mayor. Excuse me, but isn't the Chief of Internal Affairs supposed to conduct "secret" investigations?
What did the memo actually say? Why did Beatty shred the memo without showing it to Kilpatrick or Chief Jerry Oliver? Why did Oliver say he knew nothing about the memo? How did Beatty determine so quickly that the memo had merit? Was there ever really a memo?

These are all questions about which we may never know the answers. What we do know is that if the Mayor had handled this initial crisis with more wisdom all of the other drama may have never played out.

But he didn't. Now the city is on the verge of losing a young visionary of seemingly limitless potential because he exercised extremely poor judgment and now he's left the city of Detroit in a lurch.

By American Black Journal producer Tony Mottley

Kilpatrick Attack on Cockrel Up-Close and Personal

You just knew when the Mayor turned his attention to Detroit City Council President Ken Cockrel, Jr. it was going to get ugly. As the camera settled on Cockrel, who chose a seat in the audience rather than his usual spot on stage, you could see him sink into his seat.

In a moment more Godfather than State of the City, the blast of verbal assault spewed forth. “President Cockrel, we have much more serious issues affecting our city than whether we attend a speech or not. I love you, and I love what you've done in our city, and at this moment in our history we must start to turn to each other and not on each other.”

As Kilpatrick blew the smoke away from both barrels, it was clear he was taking no prisoners. Stunned by the attack, Cockrel brought forth a tight smile – the kind that crosses the face of a prize fighter before he crashes to the canvas in a heap.

You all know the rest. The N-word, the threats, the lynch mob comments and so on and so forth. But to me this was personal.

I grew up a great admirer of Ken’s dad, Ken Cockrel, Sr. Ken’s father was a brilliant attorney and dynamic speaker. Cockrel, Sr. was an often-controversial, often-inspirational figure in Detroit politics, from his emergence as a radical black activist and lawyer in the 1960s, through a term on the Detroit City Council, to speculation that he would run for mayor before he died of a heart attack in 1989 at the age of 50.

One of the first programs I produced when I began my tenure with Black Journal was a tribute to Ken Cockrel, Sr. It was then that I first met Ken Cockrel, Jr. In a gesture of thanks and kindness I will never forget, a few weeks after the program aired the younger Cockrel sent over a framed portrait of his dad that included hand a written thank you note. It was touching and classy.

To see this man humiliated in front of the entire city was appalling. None of us know the ins and outs of what takes place between Council and the Mayor. But knowing Ken professionally for the past fifteen years I can say with certainty that he’s done nothing to merit the attempt at public castration that Mayor Kilpatrick tried to pull at the end of the State of the City address. Now we can add Ken Cockrel, Jr. to the long list of people that Mayor Kilpatrick owes an apology.

By American Black Journal producer Tony Mottley