Posts tagged ‘marion barry’

Alright, let’s do this.

I’ve been holding off on covering the most recent embarassment to Washington D.C. government by the Honorable-my-ass former mayor, current Ward 8 council member Marion “Bitch set me up” Barry until everything was on the table.

Barry’s mouthpiece attorney just finished his presser moments ago so it looks like the time is here.

Before we start delving into this pile of monkey turds, let me give a major hat tip to Mike Debonis at The City Paper who worked his ass off all weekend to pull information out about this story.  It’s rare I compliment anybody, but he did some kick ass work.

To be quite honest, I don’t have the stamina to chronicle this trash-TV epic relationship gone wrong.  So let me just hit the highlights:

• Barry and the woman, Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, have dated for roughly 6 months
• Trouble started last Tuesday when several councilmembers hosted a Wilson Building screening of CNN’s Black in America documentary. She attended with her ex-husband, Delonta Brighthaupt, and their children. But Barry, when he learned less than an hour beforehand that Brighthaupt would be in attendance, drafted a memo asking that he be banned from the building. He was kicked out of the event. According to Watts-Brighthaupt, “It was embarrassing.”
• Saturday Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt were headed to Rehoboth Beach, Del. to attend a party when Watts-Brighthaupt decided she didn’t want to go with Barry because a reconciliation wasn’t going to happen
• U.S. Park Service Police said they arrested Barry  about 8:45 p.m. in Anacostia Park after a woman flagged down an officer to report that a man in a nearby vehicle was “bothering her,” police said. After interviewing Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt, Barry was charged with one count of “misdemeanor stalking,” said Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman.
• Watts-Brighthaupt denies flagging down the officer and accusing Barry of stalking her

Whew!  As I said, this nothing more than a steaming pile of monkey turds.

The one thing that still stands out in all of this to me is yet another opportunity for Marion Barry to play the victim.

He got set up smoking crack by the FBI. He got set up by the United States Park Police in 2002 after they “planted” weed and coke in his car.  He got set up again by them because he was driving suspiciously slow in 2006.  He has been “targeted and set up” by the IRS for not filing taxes and the list goes on and on.

The only constant with Barry is that nothing is EVER his fault.  He never has to say, “I’m sorry.  I made a mistake.  I will do better.”  He is ALWAYS the victim.

And yet, the citizens of Ward 8 still elect him.  He still gets his 2 cents in on every issue pertaining to the future of D.C.

Sometimes there just aren’t the words to describe how effed up a situation can be.  This is one of those.

The Washington Business Journal details a hearing yesterday before the D.C. City Council in support of two bills put forth by council members  Michael Brown and Marion Barry aimed at helping ex-cons get work.

One bill, submitted by Councilman Marion Barry, D-Ward 8, would protect ex-convicts under the city’s Human Rights Act by preventing employers from using conviction or arrest records to make hire decisions in most cases. A less stringent bill, sponsored by Barry and Councilman Michael Brown, D-At large, would require Mayor Adrian Fenty to create a strategy to incorporate returning convicts into housing, education and job opportunities.

Oh, Marion, please tell us more:

“My philosophy is if you do your time, you have served your time, you’ve paid your debt to society. If you’ve paid your debt, that should be it,” Barry said. He said he had submitted the same bill under former Mayor Anthony Williams, which passed the council but was vetoed.

I bet you’re expecting me to say something kind of mean here.  I would, but it’s just too damn easy.  It’s like teeball.  I prefer a challenge so I won’t.

But I will rip on the sheer stupidity of this entire event.

Essentially what Barry’s bill says is that you become a protected citizen under the Human Rights Act if you infringe on the rights of another person by robbing, raping, or murdering them, do your jail time, and get out.

Please tell me you see the ignorance of this thinking.

Brown’s bill, on the other hand, says essentially let us (the D.C. government) spend taxpayer money we know we don’t have to offer a program that will in all likelihood become either incompetent or corrupt or both so we can appear to be doing something about a perceived problem.

Here’s the harsh reality, convicts.  Your actions have destroyed the ability of most people to trust you.  Call it unfair all you want.  That is the reality.  The people you now want to trust you and give you a job didn’t make you commit crimes.  You did that all by yourself.

As a result, it is your responsibility to earn back that trust and here’s a hint: Running to the council and whining for help never earned anybody a damn thing.

It might be unfair that when you get a job you have to do something way below your abilities because they don’t trust you with money or people’s personal information.  It might also be unfair that you have to work twice as hard as the next asshole to show the bosses they can trust you to do the right thing when nobody is looking over your shoulder.

Bottom line:  Actions have consequences.  Be a man and earn back the trust.  Don’t go whining to a bunch of politicians for a handout.