Reply to DC to unveil taxpayer-funded statue of Mayor-for-Life

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]"The only reason people don't like Mayor Barry is because he was black."[/quote]

Uh, so has been every other DC mayor.  That includes Anthony Williams, the best DC mayor ever.  He was visionary, smart, practical, inclusive, customer-focused, fiscally-responsible, generally hired good people,  and had lasting impact.[/quote]

...and he was hired by Marion Barry. Just saying.[/quote]

Williams was basically hired by the Federal Control Board.

By then, the board and various courts had all but stripped away Barry's powers as mayor.  Entire departments were in receivership.  DC was essentially a dysfunctional, failed city.  Thank God for the Feds and Tony Williams.[/quote]

Who led DC down the path to near total failure?  And why are we paying for a monument to him??[/quote]

You don't get out much do you?
If you are a DC resident then you should realize that the city extends beyond your block and that you're not the only resident.
If you really want to know why we (as in other DC residents besides yourself) are paying for a monument then you should get out and about and see the city beyond your block.  
Go talk to some other residents aside from just the ones who post here on DCUM.  
I'm sure they'll be happy to offer their opinions on why we (as in other DC residents besides yourself) are paying for a monument.
But...if you just wanna stay in your bubble and bicker with the small faction of folks on DCUM as opposed to actually engage with DC residents who don't frequent this forum its understandable.
You may not be a "people" person.  Not many people are.  
Takes a lot of mettle for a man to get out and engage with people.
Barry was a people person.  He was known to walk into a room of seniors and greet scores by name – without cue cards – and inquire about their children, grandchildren and spouses.  He would engage them, laugh and chat and hug them and make people who were often overlooked feel as if they were important. 
If you are a DC resident then you should realize the segment I'm referring to.  
You know, the people that DCUM posters have a habit of denigrating, defaming, and dismissing.
The fact that you are so stumped about why they would appreciate something so simple as being made to feel as if they are important is telling...says you're somewhat inclined to dismiss them also.
Well, maybe you should get out more and see the city beyond your block.
If you really want to know and are really interested in engaging with people as opposed to shunning them maybe...just maybe you'll understand why we (as in other DC residents besides yourself) are paying for a monument.[/quote]

There's no doubt that Barry was a schmoozer.  He may have had that touch in community centers and such, even as he was destroying public education and social services for those who truly depended on them.  His crony contracts had the effect of hollowing out funds for school and social needs.  While DCPS was wildly overpaying for school breakfast food so that some Barry pal could get a fat cut, the schools had shortages of teachers and even toilet paper:

"During Barry's tenure and with his active encouragement the District gave sweetheart deals to white businessmen, deals that cost it millions in forgone and desperately needed revenue. And in the guise of advancing black power Barry funneled lucrative municipal accounts to minority contractors (many of whom were his cronies) who then, all too often, supplied Washington residents with inferior goods and services at high prices. Jaffe and Sherwood report,[b] for instance, that prior to Barry's tenure the public schools bought cornflakes for $8 a carton. After his ascension to power the city changed suppliers on racial grounds, a reform that raised the cost of cornflakes to $13.50 a carton and that amounted, to paraphrase the superintendent of schools, to taking food out of a black kid's stomach so that some black dude could get rich."[/b]

http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97may/kennedy2.htm[/quote]

If you got out more and engaged with DC residents beyond your block more it may shock you to realize that many as aren’t bent out of shape about cereal boxes as you are.  So I say again...this city extends beyond your block and you are not the only resident in DC nor the only resident whose opinion matters in DC and if you bothered to engage with people beyond your block more often instead of simply engaging with your Google search engine to find evidence to justify your antipathy then maybe you’d understand why despite all the dirt you continue to dig up in defense of your argument, a statue is still going up.[/quote]

She is entitled to her opinion and to provide the facts upon which she bases her opinion.[/quote]

No doubt.  
In expressing her opinions on this forum I’m entitled to point out the fact that many DC residents have contrasting opinions and the fact is that in this rare instance their opinions aren’t being dismissed as evidenced by the fact that the statue is going up.[/quote]

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