Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is whining that the criminal charges against him represent selective prosecution, as the Detroit Prosecutor has no history of charging people with perjury for lying in civil cases.
Maybe so... but civil defendants' lies and cover-ups don't typically involve convincing the city to settle lawsuits against them for $9 million, hoping to cover up the text messages that prove the perjury as (an undisclosed) part of the settlement.
Even before he was charged, some were making comparisons that, although unflattering to Kilpatrick, are well-deserved. Such as At least Spitzer took it like a man after he got caught.
Although I concur with your analysis as far as it goes, I think you can take your analysis one step deeper/farther back.
ReplyDeleteMost civil suits don't involve the abuse of government positions and authority. Although "civil" and not criminal, the underlying law suit was about the government of the city of Detroit, not just a purely private matter between individuals.
There is something particularly depressing about the fact that the original law suit (allegedly) grew out of the abuse of power surrounding an effort by the mayor to cover-up the use of the Detroit Police as his own private "thugs", which then led to the perjury, which led to deceiving the city council, etc., etc.
CWD
It's a pattern of conduct that leaves me somewhat shocked that Kilpatrick still has supporters (I mean, in the absense of quid pro quo.)
ReplyDelete. . . and that (at least based on media reports) a large portion of his support is coming from church leaders . . . who would have seen that coming . . . (as you noted, it's not too surprising that the "business" community sticks with him . . . )
ReplyDeleteCWD