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gomason, I am not going to waste time arguing with people who are not open to factual information, except to say that if Marion Barry was a crackhead and accomplished so much more in his life than you or I ever will, what does that say about us? Obviously, he was far more than a crackhead. In the 1970s and 80s, ward 8 was one big open-air drug market with the highest murder rate in the country. By the time Mayor Barry left office, he succeeded in turning the tide and putting it on the footing that it has today. Have you been to ward 8 lately? You should go take a look. You might even be able to afford a house there. But in another 2 or 3 years, the entire Anacostia riverfront will be out most people's price range. And please don't be ridiculous about Marion Barry "constructing" metro. That is not a mayor's role. His job was to bring together the constituents from within and outside of D.C., with federal, state, and private funds - and that is what he did. He created the metro authority and appointed most of its initial members. When Georgetown "opted out" of the eminent domain plan, he planned right around them, much to the chagrin of Georgetown residents and business owners now. Yes, Marion Barry was a man of great leadership and vision, and now he belongs to the ages. May God bless him and the good people of Washington.
I am familiar with ward 8. I guess at least they have a couple grocery stores now, but I don't even know of any brick and mortar sitdown restaurants in the ward. The last one I knew about got closed down for drug dealing. So I guess he's had some success, but it's not that stunning.
Marion Barry had his flaws, those are well documented. He also had many accomplishments. Including revitalization of U/14th st and the Verizon Center. He was also responsible for given many black teenagers their first employment and keeping many older citizens in their homes. This was a political calculation by Barry and it paid off handsomely as those people are the reason he was Mayor for Life despite a drug conviction.
But to credit him with building the Metro is absurd and has no basis in any fact or reality.
First, Metro wasn't built with private funds. Second it opened in 1976, two years before he became mayor and was planned before he even arrived in DC.
And to those who say racism is the reason he got bad play in the National media? I point you in the direction of the Toronto Mayor who has been widely pilloried for doing the same thing.
Most people don't like thier leaders smoking cocaine.
That guy did Crack Cocaine on TAPE, with some hookers, then he got elected again. What does that say about DC?
Let me quote this guy: "***** set me up...I shouldn't have come up here...goddamn *****". He'll sure be remembered for that, because I have no idea what he did for the District.
Also, he didn't pay taxes and got in trouble with the IRS. Then he said something racist about Asian and white community:
"We've got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I'll just say that right now, you know. But we need African-American business people to be able to take their places, too."
Listen, why is that right for our National Capitol? What does that really say about America? For someone with an opportunity to promote competition, growth, and equality, he decided to be negative and streotypical with topics regarding the color of people's skin, then promote drug use. Then he got re-elected again. You want this guy as your kids role model? You want your kid to smoke crack cocaine and cheat the government as a government official? You want your kid to grow up to give only opportunities for the blacks? Isn't that what white people use to do back in the days? Do you want Rosa Parks to come back as a ghost to haunt you all for screwing up what she stood for? What about all of the black men and women that sacrifice their life to bring equality to this world?
With someone being in a position to inspire, and make a true difference in a cornerstone city like the D.C. like MLK, Jr., he decided to smoke crack cocaine with a prostitute on government... sorry, Tax Payer's money, and cheat the government by not paying the IRS. I'm not even gonna get into the entire stalking thing. He basically shat on every hard working black men and women who is trying to actually make a difference as a government official. If you think this is ok, it's not. It's backward progress. And there ain't no big room for a black political figures, let alone white political figure to make mistakes around here. And him being re-elected as a convicted drug addict is what makes it worst.
Only thing I can say about this guy is that he lived his life according to his own accordance. Bad, illegal, racists, or incompetent, he kept on getting elected, and he got all of our money to do it with, which is a lot more than most of us can say. All the people who elected him basically got raped on what little money you have, because he made sure that he got his.
That guy did Crack Cocaine on TAPE, with some hookers, then he got elected again. What does that say about DC?
Let me quote this guy: "***** set me up...I shouldn't have come up here...goddamn *****". He'll sure be remembered for that, because I have no idea what he did for the District.
Also, he didn't pay taxes and got in trouble with the IRS. Then he said something racist about Asian and white community:
"We've got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I'll just say that right now, you know. But we need African-American business people to be able to take their places, too."
Listen, why is that right for our National Capitol? What does that really say about America? For someone with an opportunity to promote competition, growth, and equality, he decided to stick with topics regarding the color of people's skin, then promote drug use. Then he got re-elected again.
With someone being in a position to inspire, and make a true difference in a cornerstone city like the D.C. like MLK, Jr., he decided to smoke crack cocaine with a prostitute on government... sorry, Tax Payer's money, and cheat the government by not paying the IRS. I'm not even gonna get into the entire stalking thing. He basically shat on every hard working black men and women who is trying to actually make a difference as a government official. If you think this is ok, it's not. It's backward progress. And there ain't no big room for a black political figures, let alone white political figure to make mistakes around here. And him being re-elected as a convicted drug addict is what makes it worst.
Only thing I can say about this guy is that he lived his life according to his own accordance. Bad, illegal, racists, or incompetent, he kept on getting elected, and he got all of our money to do it with, which is a lot more than most of us can say.
RIP. Marion Barry did alot of good things, but he was far from perfect like any politician. I think the wise thing to do is learn from his mistakes (both the personal and the political ones) and make an even stronger new system of young leaders. DC has alot of growing up to do - and this is just one step along the way.
So I take it that you would also have a problem with Mayor Rob Ford's drug addiction issues.
He's white and conservative by the way.
I think a great many people had a problem with it. Or does the fact that there was constant coverage of the Mayor of a Canadian city not give that away?
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