Why I am annoyed in Memphis

I love politics. I really do. I believe that most politicians in Memphis understand something that their constituents don't. They understand it is their absolute privilege to run roughshod over everyone who might, or might not, cast votes for or against them. Memphis' herd of elected officials runs at the head of the stampede that knows how to effectively trample dissent, court challenges, and ethics rules. One has to love a City Council with no written ethics rules, a council that sees nothing wrong in accepting costly perqs, such as free tickets to NBA basketball games, while the streets of the city are mini city dumps; with household trash and business refuse everywhere. One has to love a Mayor who creates a conflict with a television news anchor in order to, successfully, dodge tough questions about his administration. Then, one has to especially love a television station that, in order to curry favor with the Mayor, runs several stories critical of the competing anchor, takes the Mayor's story line, in all of its creative falsehood, and runs it as fact, oh, and does so after a) having a reporter at the scene of the original conflict who knows the story is a lie, and b) never calling the anchor in the story for any reaction. Gee, I've always been told getting BOTH sides of the story is a basic tenet of journalism. Or course, if one watches this particular station's newscast with anything approaching regularity; one understands that fact, fairness, and accuracy have little validity in the station's news world. I am not aware of any city, other than Memphis, where the citizenry would sit back and accept any of this. Yet, people here will walk by piles of discarded Happy Meal boxes without lifting a finger to alter the landscape. They will reelect politicians that went to prison for accepting bribes while on the job. They will accept the Mayor's illegitimate baby, and then not challenge an on-air statement from a reporter on the city's CBS affiliate television station where he claims, "The baby's mother spoke to me because we share the same Christian values." Yep, I've often read in the Bible that fornication is a Christian value. One has to admire the audacity shown by reporter Andy Wise in making this statement. Hey, Andy, get any tonight? God be with you, son. I have no doubt news management at WREG had NO advance knowledge of this statement. This isn't because I think Wise pulled a fast one. I don't get a sense that news management at WREG knows much about anything at all. It is frightening and annoying to me that Memphis didn't challenge Wise's arrogance. It is good to know, however, and Wise and his Christian values are on the job and ready to absolve me of anything I do if I will speak to him on camera. While the Memphis electronic media, with one notable exception, are a pox on all things journalistic, and those who consume these media with blind allegiance and few questions are as much to blame as the media themselves, the citizenry of Memphis gets what it deserves in its elected officials. They key to getting elected in Memphis is looking like those one will represent. History shows us that, as long as one is of the same racial demographic as the majority of those who live in the affected district, then one can rob the city blind, ignore anything that approaches ethical behavior with disdain, provide patronage without fear of rebuke, take any and all honoraria one might choose (remember, no written ethics rules), and then, successfully, blame the "white media" if they dare to report any of the transgressions, no matter how egregious. I almost hate using State Senator John Ford as an example, because he is such an easy and available target, but what the heck. Ford takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from companies that seek to influence state policy in regard to "Tenncare", the state's Medicare clone. He doesn't report this on legislative ethics forms. Ford creates shadow partnerships to help funnel the money. He lies about this. In this case, it's important to know that Ford chairs a committee that oversees how Tenncare spends its money. Fast forward to more Ford. Ford helps rewrite state laws the dictate how much money fathers will pay in child support payments for multiple children in multiple relationships. It's important here to note the distinction between "relationships" and "marriages" here, as Ford has children with four women, only one of whom has been his wife. There just might be a character issue here, but I'm not sure. Yeah, right. At any rate, after Ford helps write the new rules, he's sued by one of the mothers. Ford is paying $500 per month in child support for THIS child, and little or none for the others. Last year he reported income in excess of $340,000. Ford asked the judge to keep private where the money came from. I am not a big fan of our local daily newspaper, the Memphis Commercial Appeal. But I was impressed by a series of articles the paper wrote detailing Ford's financial dealings. They were scathing and informative. Of course, Ford blasts "the white media" for his troubles. Interesting, John, but the media are not the ones who deliberately failed to disclose sources of income, as required by law, participated in what sure look like shady dealings and influence peddling, and fathered EIGHT kids by four different women. Um, John, I think YOU did all of that. Of course the black community rallied to his defense. WDIA, the local radio station that wouldn't know fariness if it hit it in its collective faces, sided with Herenton, (pronounced Herrington by we locals) and Ford, blaming whitey for all the problems of the proud elected officials of Memphis. There's a lot more, and in subsequent posts I will hold forth on many more issues, providing an insider's knowledge of some things, opinion and rantings on others. But I must wrap this initial posting now. In closing, if one studies Memphis' sordid history, one that is rife with discrimination, racial violence, and acceptance of a racist status quo, one can most certainly understand why black Memphians feel it's their time, why they must stand strong to challenge all who would seek to return to the days of beatings and discrimination in all public places. However, it is also clear that Memphis will never be the city it should be if race is the filter through which we all interpret every action, every deed, every word. Our local politicians understand this fully, and use it to their advantage. They know they can do anything they want, and they will have many rushing to their defense. When a recall effort was announced, aimed at removing Mayor Herenton from office, his chief aide's first public comments were about race, about how a recall was a white, racist effort to take down the city's black power structure.. No, Ms. Carson-Jones, it was created by a black man. And it's about accountability, about wanting the city to be led by someone who is more about what's good for the city than about lining his pockets with dirty money from real estate deals, criminals, and thugs.