Marion Barry has passed away

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another hosanna for Marion:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/23/marion-barry-washington-dc-mayor-jail-drugs-dies-78

Barry’s third term was marred by open talk of his womanising, drinking and drug abuse and he became a punchline for comedians and a target of disdain for the media. Several of his top aides were convicted of corruption. Barry responded to criticism with denials and claims that he was the victim of a racist media.

awwww

Since you are apparently on a one-person crusade, I think it is important that our readers know that it is one-person and that DCUM is not full of classless haters. I'm going to call out everyone of your posts. So, keep posting. Let's see just how big of an asshole you are.

Insults expletives threats Jeff say more about you than the PP. Or Marion Barry for that matter. Very klassy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barry's life was a constant struggle between doing good and fighting personal demons. It was nearly Shakespearean at times. I would definitely pay to watch a biopic of his life. So, who should play Marion Barry on the big screen?

I disagree that Marion's demons were purely personal, although he certainly struggled with the personal demons of substance abuse and marital infidelity.

The more relavant issues were his leadership (or lack of in some cases) while an elected official in DC.

[Anonymous]

I attended the impromptu vigil last night, it was touching and clear that he affected a lot of people, myself included. He was beautifully flawed like most people that I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Are you going to censor me again Jeff?

You did not censor people who said horrible things here when Margaret Thatcher died. And only I chided those who seem to be attached to the disreputable among us (not my exact words but i said nothing foul of offensive). For at the end of the day Marion Barry was a public figure and and deserves public scrutiny. Yet during his life time to offer scrutiny was to risk being libeled a racist by many who post here. And now in death you won't even allow the discussion. I won't play the hagiography game but if you censor this its far worse than hagiography you are playing at. This is the Political Discussion Forum Jeff, please allow the discourse.

I just read the Margaret Thatcher thread. I fail to see anything "horrible" in it. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/299723.page This, despite the fact that she is a foreign political figure, not American much less DC's former mayor.

Maybe you could point out what you think is worthy of deletion for being "horrible". I don't think you are showing much perspective here.

That an entire thread is a debate about her politics and whether it was good or bad for the UK and the world. Plenty of negative comments about her. If Jeff is deleting anything negative about Barry in this, he's showing a double standard.

This is not the UK and the world. This is DC, and many of its people are grieving.

The white yuppies of DC are grieving? Really?

Some of the ones who grew up here are, yes. I'm a native and there are many on my FB feed.
Also, there are more than just "white yuppies" on this site.

PP here. Exactly I'm a 31yo AA male, who is a native and a Ward 8 resident. Perhaps I need to take my ass to Worldstar HipHop where I belong, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Nothing is quite so amusing as one who employs a superior education to effect the persona of the polite in an effort to deliver the message of a total douchebag.

LOL! You called it right!

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
PP here. Exactly I'm a 31yo AA male, who is a native and a Ward 8 resident. Perhaps I need to take my ass to Worldstar HipHop where I belong, huh?

No. What you need to do is tell all of your neighbors to start posting here. We are in desperate need of perspective. I would love to have more input from EotR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Let me give a few of my own thoughts on the passing of Marion Barry. When I was a student at Georgetown University, Barry introduced Ronald Reagan who had come to the University to launch its bicentennial celebration. It was a beautiful day with lots of sun and a moderate temperature. Noting the weather, Barry asked, "will you give me credit for the sun? I know you all blame me for the snow." That was in reference to DC being buried under nearly 2 ft. of snow while Barry was in southern California attending the Super Bowl.

Barry was correct that his critics often focused on the negative while seeing the positive as natural or inevitable. He was quickly blamed for anything that went wrong, but credit for successes was frequently placed elsewhere. At the same time, to both Barry and his defenders, his successes were of such a magnitude that they excused any failures. Barry knew that those in the crowd at Georgetown did not blame him for the snow. We blamed him for his administration's failure to remove the snow. We saw Barry as a source of incompetence and corruption. Politics, especially local politics, is very much a situation of "what have you done for me lately?" and, lately, Barry hadn't done much good for us at all.

But, for others, Barry had done a lot. He had done life-changing things. However, there was no way that someone like me -- a young university student in only my second year of living in DC -- could understand the importance of those things. Frankly, I didn't even know about them. I would learn later that Barry had started a summer job program for youth. In the environment in which I grew up, youth had no problem finding summer employment. I couldn't understand why such a program was important. Then, I would start hearing a phrase that would become almost synonymous with "native Washingtonian" and that was "Marion Barry got me my first job". I think it is very important -- especially after decades of black people being associated with welfare -- that Barry was a proponent of work. He didn't ask for handouts, he asked for -- demanded, in fact -- jobs. Barry didn't create Washington, DC's middle class. But, he sure as hell helped create it and his efforts were -- as I said -- life-changing for many people. When someone has changed your life for the better, it is natural and understandable that you will forgive them their faults. Not surprisingly, therefore, there is another phrase I've heard frequently over the past few years, "That's our Barry". Warts and all, Barry made the kind of positive impact on others of which few can ever dream.

A lot more can be said about Barry, both good and bad. But, on this day, I am glad that I came to understand that a first job and a better lot in life is a much more important than a few days of snowed-in streets. So, on this day, Mr. Mayor, I am giving you credit for the sun.

As with so many things about Barry's life, the jobs he created are a complicated issue. First off, Jeff, you're conflating the summer jobs program with the integration of DC municipal jobs and the creation of the black middle class. The summer jobs program, which I believe still exists today, didn't create anything - it was a payoff to give teenagers something to do in the summer time, and a way to buy their parents' (and the teen' future) votes. Calling it a jobs program is even a bit of a stretch, since not a lot of work got done. That didn't create any middle class.

As for the municipal jobs that did create the black middle class, he deserves a huge amount of credit for making those jobs available to all. But he then turned the DC government into a jobs program (that, coincidently, also served as a campaign tool). While that may have helped some people in the short term (and secured his reelection, and mayor for life status) it wasn't a sustainable long-term goal.

Barry was an extraordinary civil rights figure who saw the ways in which the existing power structure oppressed poor minorities, and decided to use the same tactics to further his cause (and his career). But, he overreached, and became that which he was fighting against. It is sad that he will be remembered for his personal shortcomings rather than his (complicated, and not unblemished) political career.

Why don't you ask those who benefited from those jobs and were able to eat and pay their rent what they will remember.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
PP here. Exactly I'm a 31yo AA male, who is a native and a Ward 8 resident. Perhaps I need to take my ass to Worldstar HipHop where I belong, huh?

No. What you need to do is tell all of your neighbors to start posting here. We are in desperate need of perspective. I would love to have more input from EotR.

I will Jeff! I have convinced quite a few of my co-workers..and wife to post, but I will spread the word to my neighbors. I know a couple of people EotR have browsed the site, but at first-glance feel that this site is "just not for us", after navigating it for awhile, I find that not to be true, and often come here for tips, perceptions, and just plain ole' laughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to censor me again Jeff?

You did not censor people who said horrible things here when Margaret Thatcher died. And only I chided those who seem to be attached to the disreputable among us (not my exact words but i said nothing foul of offensive). For at the end of the day Marion Barry was a public figure and and deserves public scrutiny. Yet during his life time to offer scrutiny was to risk being libeled a racist by many who post here. And now in death you won't even allow the discussion. I won't play the hagiography game but if you censor this its far worse than hagiography you are playing at. This is the Political Discussion Forum Jeff, please allow the discourse.

I just read the Margaret Thatcher thread. I fail to see anything "horrible" in it. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/299723.page This, despite the fact that she is a foreign political figure, not American much less DC's former mayor.

Maybe you could point out what you think is worthy of deletion for being "horrible". I don't think you are showing much perspective here.

That an entire thread is a debate about her politics and whether it was good or bad for the UK and the world. Plenty of negative comments about her. If Jeff is deleting anything negative about Barry in this, he's showing a double standard.

This is not the UK and the world. This is DC, and many of its people are grieving.

The white yuppies of DC are grieving? Really?

Councilman Grosso is a native Washingtonian. He was on WPGC talking about what he will miss about Barry.

NP to this particular line of conversation and it's indisputable that Margaret Thatcher helped change the world for the better.

Marion Barry helped improve some people's lives, but he also cemented the idea that cities run by African-Americans are corrupt, graft-riddled, and mismanaged to the point of incompetence. DC has decades of corruption to work through in its current councilmembers (and new Mayor - Barry supported the already tainted Bowser). It's a legacy who's time has gone. Thankfully.

What a lot of f**king nerve when corrupt, graft-riddled whites have pilfered and raped Wall Street, banks, mortgage loans, etc, for decades and that's the tip of the iceberg.

Only a small minded person would surmise that Barry epitomized African American political representation nationwide as indept and incompetent. Total and utter bullshit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barry's life was a constant struggle between doing good and fighting personal demons. It was nearly Shakespearean at times. I would definitely pay to watch a biopic of his life. So, who should play Marion Barry on the big screen?

I disagree that Marion's demons were purely personal, although he certainly struggled with the personal demons of substance abuse and marital infidelity.

The more relavant issues were his leadership (or lack of in some cases) while an elected official in DC.

Though we are talking about Barry, I trust you do remember other politicians, past and present, who suffered from the same demons. Does a certain past governor who flew to a distant country to be with his mistress ring a bell? A beloved assassinated president whose dalliances are part of history?

I don't excuse Barry's shortcomings at all but I think there's enough Shakespearean behavior to go around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to censor me again Jeff?

You did not censor people who said horrible things here when Margaret Thatcher died. And only I chided those who seem to be attached to the disreputable among us (not my exact words but i said nothing foul of offensive). For at the end of the day Marion Barry was a public figure and and deserves public scrutiny. Yet during his life time to offer scrutiny was to risk being libeled a racist by many who post here. And now in death you won't even allow the discussion. I won't play the hagiography game but if you censor this its far worse than hagiography you are playing at. This is the Political Discussion Forum Jeff, please allow the discourse.

I just read the Margaret Thatcher thread. I fail to see anything "horrible" in it. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/299723.page This, despite the fact that she is a foreign political figure, not American much less DC's former mayor.

Maybe you could point out what you think is worthy of deletion for being "horrible". I don't think you are showing much perspective here.

That an entire thread is a debate about her politics and whether it was good or bad for the UK and the world. Plenty of negative comments about her. If Jeff is deleting anything negative about Barry in this, he's showing a double standard.

This is not the UK and the world. This is DC, and many of its people are grieving.

The white yuppies of DC are grieving? Really?

Councilman Grosso is a native Washingtonian. He was on WPGC talking about what he will miss about Barry.

NP to this particular line of conversation and it's indisputable that Margaret Thatcher helped change the world for the better.

Marion Barry helped improve some people's lives, but he also cemented the idea that cities run by African-Americans are corrupt, graft-riddled, and mismanaged to the point of incompetence. DC has decades of corruption to work through in its current councilmembers (and new Mayor - Barry supported the already tainted Bowser). It's a legacy who's time has gone. Thankfully.

What a lot of f**king nerve when corrupt, graft-riddled whites have pilfered and raped Wall Street, banks, mortgage loans, etc, for decades and that's the tip of the iceberg.

Only a small minded person would surmise that Barry epitomized African American political representation nationwide as indept and incompetent. Total and utter bullshit.

That's inept. It's a typo so you can calm down.

[Anonymous]

There is no amount of editing that will make Barry a respected figure. Every article written by the mainstream media mentions his drug and other problems. He is only respected by a very small minority. He was a disgrace to his office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barry's life was a constant struggle between doing good and fighting personal demons. It was nearly Shakespearean at times. I would definitely pay to watch a biopic of his life. So, who should play Marion Barry on the big screen?

Jamie Fox

[Anonymous]

These types of threads bring out the lack of respect and decorum that I have notcied in this area the last few years. I commend Jeff for his stance - and Jeff is no Barry apologist. He has been very criticial, yet fair, in his views of Barry.

It does not matter what you think of the man, we all have an opinion of him. But when the first or second post in the thread about his death is a mention of his tax troubles, that is a low blow.

Barry had his personal demons and got caught up in the hubris of his status. Yes, that impacted his legacy negatively and can be discussed. But he also had a positive impact on so many people in this city. People have mentioned the summer jobs push, but even recently we discussed in the forum how he is the strongest advocate for people EOTR. On some issues, their ONLY advocate. Whoever replaces him after the special election will have HUGE shoes to fill in that regards. Personally, that concerns me as does the relatively inexperienced membership of DC Council. The Council will be different without Barry and JG.

Full disclosure, in a prior life I had to work frequently with DC Council and I talked with Barry many times. I can honestly say that some of the most valuable professional advice that I ever got was from him - and it involved connecting with people on their level and positioning yourself politically (two of his strengths). I still apply that advice to my current profession.

Warts and all, he will be missed.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
PP here. Exactly I'm a 31yo AA male, who is a native and a Ward 8 resident. Perhaps I need to take my ass to Worldstar HipHop where I belong, huh?

No. What you need to do is tell all of your neighbors to start posting here. We are in desperate need of perspective. I would love to have more input from EotR.

And the tell all your neighbors to vote for a new Councilmember who is ethical. transparent and will work hard to achieve real results for the ward -- versus another demagogue who spouts feel-good rants that only feed the grievances of some but nothing else.