Marion Barry Rant about Tom Sherwood

[Anonymous]

Don't forget that Barry took a bullet for the City during the B'nai B'rith hostage situation

[Anonymous]

Barry embarrassed himself on Kojo Monday, continuing his incoherent ranting about Sherwood (and Jaffe) profiting off him. He took an interview in the MIDDLE OF A HEARING ON HOUSING because he is obsessed with controlling the narrative. Sherwood and Jaffe didn't say a word during the entire Barry interview. They have integrity, unlike Barry.

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2014-05-12/dream-city-four-decades-local-dc-history

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marion Barry is a loony old racist embarrassment to Washington DC. They booted Sterling from the NBA. It's high time that the Council censured and removed Barry from office. Lord knows all of Barry's criminal conduct, tax fraud, corrupt conduct and repeated racist rants.

There is a lot more to Barry than this caricature. For better or worse, his history and DC's history are intricately linked. While Barry is certainly worthy of criticism, there is a lot in his life deserving of praise. I think it is important to get beyond a single dimension in how he is viewed.

Jeff, really appreciate your words here. Wish that folks were able to understand that Barry is not just the Vista Hotel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Jeff, really appreciate your words here. Wish that folks were able to understand that Barry is not just the Vista Hotel.

You're right, he's a lot smaller than that.

[Anonymous]

A lot of those buildings you see on Pennsylvania Ave from Metro Center to Capitol South are due to Marion Barry. He was actually regarded as fairly pro business.

His story is pretty familiar - young idealist experiences success and gains access to power, start believing his own press, surrounds himself with yes men, stops thinking that the rules apply to him. Couple that with the desire for more material success than idealism can provide (a desire which tends to arrive along with the first child), and the rot starts to set in. I have often wondered whether people reasct sdo strongly to Barry because he is AA, or because he represents DC, given that there are plenty of local politicians in the US that make Barry look normal.

These days, Marion Barry is a diabetic with a substance abuse issue. A doctor friend once told me that for a diabetic, drug or alcohol abuse is the express train to dementia. I wonder if that is what is happening.

[Anonymous]

Capitol South? Do you even know where that is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Henry Ford was an anti-Semite who published a four-book set titled "The International Jew". Yet, he revolutionized mass production and made cars affordable for the first time by the American middle class. Should we view him one dimensionally through his anti-Semitism, or is a more complex and nuanced approach appropriate?

Many, if not most, people who have achieved great things also have great flaws. A number of those that held it "self-evident, that all men are created equal" were slave-owners.

Barry is a complicated figure. Simplistic views of him fall far short.

Wait, let me get this right: you are comparing Barry to the framers of the Constitution and even to Henry Ford?!

More like Mayor Rob Ford!

Comparing him to them in terms of having both good and bad aspects. That may be too complex for you to understand. Another example, if you want to stick to mayors, is Richard J. Daley. He was corrupt, stole elections, ordered the beating of protesters, yet is remembered fondly. His sons certainly didn't suffer from his shortcomings.

Wrong analogy. I am certainly no admirer of Mayor Daley the Elder (though son "Richie" was pretty good). However, despite the shady politics and the black eye of the '68 convention, Chicago was known as the "city that works." No one could EVER say that about Washington, DC under Barry, when DC was known as "Dysfunctional City."

Chicago was known as the city that works in the WHITE sections of the city. Clearly you don't know Chicago or were fortunate to live in Mayor Daley's preferred neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

I don't like the hate Barry has spewed in recent years, but somehow the animus some of you display here seems a little more charged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barry embarrassed himself on Kojo Monday, continuing his incoherent ranting about Sherwood (and Jaffe) profiting off him. He took an interview in the MIDDLE OF A HEARING ON HOUSING because he is obsessed with controlling the narrative. Sherwood and Jaffe didn't say a word during the entire Barry interview. They have integrity, unlike Barry.

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2014-05-12/dream-city-four-decades-local-dc-history

Please. Barry is the first pol who stepped out of a hearing ever. Please don't go up to the Hill because you will be shocked, just shocked, to see pols leaving in the MIDDLE OF A HEARING in order to control whatever narrative they are trying to spin. Def sure that all members of the Benghazi Select Committee will NEVER leave after berating a witness because they would NEVER aspire to control the narrative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Jeff, really appreciate your words here. Wish that folks were able to understand that Barry is not just the Vista Hotel.

You're right, he's a lot smaller than that.

Exactly. Barry as mayor ran DC into the ground. People weren't getting basic services, schools were bad, the bureaucracy was bloated and surly, and finances were in shambles. It has taken over 20 years to recover from that and begin to get city services to a barely acceptable level. It will probably take another 10 or 20 to fully overcome all the damage Barry & Co. did. Barry's personal misconduct certainly demonstrated that he is unfit for public office and turned DC into a national laughingstock, but his real "legacy" was making DC synonymous with Dysfunctional City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Henry Ford was an anti-Semite who published a four-book set titled "The International Jew". Yet, he revolutionized mass production and made cars affordable for the first time by the American middle class. Should we view him one dimensionally through his anti-Semitism, or is a more complex and nuanced approach appropriate?

Many, if not most, people who have achieved great things also have great flaws. A number of those that held it "self-evident, that all men are created equal" were slave-owners.

Barry is a complicated figure. Simplistic views of him fall far short.

Wait, let me get this right: you are comparing Barry to the framers of the Constitution and even to Henry Ford?!

More like Mayor Rob Ford!

Comparing him to them in terms of having both good and bad aspects. That may be too complex for you to understand. Another example, if you want to stick to mayors, is Richard J. Daley. He was corrupt, stole elections, ordered the beating of protesters, yet is remembered fondly. His sons certainly didn't suffer from his shortcomings.

Wrong analogy. I am certainly no admirer of Mayor Daley the Elder (though son "Richie" was pretty good). However, despite the shady politics and the black eye of the '68 convention, Chicago was known as the "city that works." No one could EVER say that about Washington, DC under Barry, when DC was known as "Dysfunctional City."

Chicago was known as the city that works in the WHITE sections of the city. Clearly you don't know Chicago or were fortunate to live in Mayor Daley's preferred neighborhoods.

Well, when Barry was mayor, nothing in DC worked -- not in Georgetown or Upper NW and especially not in the poorest parts of town. The man nis a joke, but his malfeasance and incompetence make it hurt too much to laugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of those buildings you see on Pennsylvania Ave from Metro Center to Capitol South are due to Marion Barry. He was actually regarded as fairly pro business.

His story is pretty familiar - young idealist experiences success and gains access to power, start believing his own press, surrounds himself with yes men, stops thinking that the rules apply to him. Couple that with the desire for more material success than idealism can provide (a desire which tends to arrive along with the first child), and the rot starts to set in. I have often wondered whether people reasct sdo strongly to Barry because he is AA, or because he represents DC, given that there are plenty of local politicians in the US that make Barry look normal.

These days, Marion Barry is a diabetic with a substance abuse issue. A doctor friend once told me that for a diabetic, drug or alcohol abuse is the express train to dementia. I wonder if that is what is happening.

Not quite true. The redevelopment efforts on Pennsylvania Ave and adjacent blocks -- the JW Marriott, National Press Club development, plazas, Market Square housing, the Landsburg, 1001 Pa. Ave, I could go on -- were because of the long efforts of the federal Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corp. The DC government at the time had little or nothing to do with it, although I'm sure that the Mayor-for-Life crowed about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:
Barry used the city government as a jobs program and today that is considered a huge negative in many quarters. But, it's impact on providing jobs for DC's black residents helped create a black middle class that previously didn't exist. A huge number of people were housed, educated, and employed thanks to his efforts. Today, those benefits are eclipsed by the other side of the coin: bloated, inefficient, government. But, the positive impact on people's lives was real.

So he padded the public payroll with his cronies and supporters, and those people benefited until the (other people's) money ran out and the city had become broke and totally dysfunctional. Awesome! You know the same logic applies to thieves. Stealing must not totally bad because of all the positive impact that stolen money has on their lives, right?

I am no Barry apologist and I believe that Barry has probably overstayed his welcome (I actually know him personally and he is a good guy). However, I think your characterization of his jobs creation strategy is unfair and hindsight is 20/20 vision. Bear in mind that home rule in this city was relatively young. Because of the transition from the Federal City, Barry inherited a stone cold mess! In those days, there was no manufacturing, tech or commerce base and the primary breadwinners for the District were tourism and government. Barry saw expanding government as a quick way to stabilize the local economy and to create a tax base of middle class residents. Of course, this was not a way to sustain things long term, but at the time, that is exactly what was needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:
Barry used the city government as a jobs program and today that is considered a huge negative in many quarters. But, it's impact on providing jobs for DC's black residents helped create a black middle class that previously didn't exist. A huge number of people were housed, educated, and employed thanks to his efforts. Today, those benefits are eclipsed by the other side of the coin: bloated, inefficient, government. But, the positive impact on people's lives was real.

So he padded the public payroll with his cronies and supporters, and those people benefited until the (other people's) money ran out and the city had become broke and totally dysfunctional. Awesome! You know the same logic applies to thieves. Stealing must not totally bad because of all the positive impact that stolen money has on their lives, right?

I am no Barry apologist and I believe that Barry has probably overstayed his welcome (I actually know him personally and he is a good guy). However, I think your characterization of his jobs creation strategy is unfair and hindsight is 20/20 vision. Bear in mind that home rule in this city was relatively young. Because of the transition from the Federal City, Barry inherited a stone cold mess! In those days, there was no manufacturing, tech or commerce base and the primary breadwinners for the District were tourism and government. Barry saw expanding government as a quick way to stabilize the local economy and to create a tax base of middle class residents. Of course, this was not a way to sustain things long term, but at the time, that is exactly what was needed.

"Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money." -Thatcher

The fact that Barry's idiot policies did not instantly induce ruin, but rather took a bit of time to do so is perhaps the sorriest "defense" of governmental policy I have ever heard of. Other people's money doesn't run out right away, it take time. In the end it was only Federal intervention and buckets of federal cash that prevented D.C. from turning into another Detroit. Sadly Detroit had no one to save it from Coleman Young, another Socialist Racist idiot.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
"Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money." -Thatcher

The fact that Barry's idiot policies did not instantly induce ruin, but rather took a bit of time to do so is perhaps the sorriest "defense" of governmental policy I have ever heard of. Other people's money doesn't run out right away, it take time. In the end it was only Federal intervention and buckets of federal cash that prevented D.C. from turning into another Detroit. Sadly Detroit had no one to save it from Coleman Young, another Socialist Racist idiot.

I was going to post a substantive reply, but anyone who believes Barry is a socialist is too ignorant to understand a substantive reply.