Reply to Marion Barry Rant about Tom Sherwood

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]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.[/quote]

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.
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What has Barry done that is deserving of praise?  And far from a "single dimension" his sorry record of criminal and ethical misconduct stretches across decades.  The infamous crack arrest was the tip of the iceberg, but then he did everything from bring a prostitute into a jail, get stopped by the police for drugs in his car, repeatedly fail to pay his federal taxes (even after having been given the benefit of a plea agreement to avoid more jail time), arrange city contracts for a girlfriend, get involved in altercations with girlfirends in DC and other cities in which the police got involved, racially slur Asians, Philippinos, whites, you name it.   All the while, what has he done, other than mismanaging the city and bloating its bureaucracy while mayor, which required a federal board to seize control?  What major legislation has he passed on the council?  What has he really done to improve life in his ward?  What did he do for the city, other than turn DC into the butt of jokes and grow a political culture of cronyism and corruption that sadly continues to this day?

I do agree with you that Barry's history and DC's history are inextricably linked -- just not at all in a good way.[/quote]

Everything you cite occurred in the last 24 years of the life of a 78 year old man. Do you have any idea what happened during the first 54?

At least take the time to read his Wikipedia page.

Also, I assume you have no understanding of the absolute racist situation faced by DC's black residents prior to home rule. Those were the circumstances in which Barry rose to power. Certainly not an easy achievement.

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Barry's Vista hotel arrest for crack may have been the most notable moment, but to suggest that before then he was a great public servant is misplaced.  I remember what DC was like when he was mayor.  Garbage was not picked up.  There was a violent crime epidemic.  The police department was often hopeless.  Even public schools in Ward 3 were not great, and everything DC owned was poorly maintained.  Tax refunds never arrived, or sometimes taxpayers got bills for the same amounts as their refunds.  DC had I think 7 snowplows, not all of which were in working order.  (After one blizzard when Barry was on the West Coast partying, he was asked what his plans were for clean-up and he said "spring.")  It took months to get a building permit and most contractors refused to do work in DC.  The DC government employed 35,000-40,000 workers (they could never get an accurate count), yet city services were of poor quality.  DC finances were in shambles,  And of course the people who were dis-served the most were the very poor.[/quote]

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