He can, because he did, but will he where it counts?

"Yes he can!"

That was my response when a friend asked "Can the president really fire someone who runs a business?" The question related to the situation this week with General Motors CEO and Chairman Rick Wagoner, who was ceremoniously forced out of his job by President Barack Obama.

Wagoner is a cool guy and a well-respected executive who's company lost a reported $82 billion in recent years. Much of it wasn't directly his fault, but it was still the his ship, unfortunately. He admirably took one for the team, as he said months ago he would do, if pushed. His integrity in that regard is admirable, because most executives would have back tracked. The larger issue is that I'd have been fired for losing that much money, a long time ago. How about you?

But these are different times. Our government is floating untold billions to financial services firms, mortgage guaranteers and insurance giant AIG -- which gave out bonuses to its executives in the $150-million range a week ago. That was after taxpayers pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into rescuing them.

My theory is that Wall Street hotshots are friends of Capital Hill power brokers and therefore the financial bigwigs whose arrogance and lust for profits led them to greedily seek profits on shaky investments get a pass. Automakers are outsiders among that circle who don't enjoy the same privileges, and are being hung out to dry as a result.

They are being forced out of jobs and made to come up with creative concessions -- all the while continuing to pare the workforce, which is decimating communities across the nation -- at the same time Wall Street is handed blank check after blank check.

That has me upset, to put it mildly. But also encouraged.

If the president can force out Wagoner, at what point can we get him to fire the corrupt or racist members of Detroit's leadership? We clearly have some City Council members, Detroit School Board members and a hell of a lot of municipal employees and city vendors who need to be canned. Actually, jailed. (Whatever happened to FBI investigations?)

It's a travesty of justice that the leadership of this city has driven it into the ground, and left helpless children without adequate education, residents without adequate services or protection, and concerned citizens and business owners without support. This is unjust, and those responsible should be treated as perpetrators of a crime -- because it is.

There are so many people employed by the city who are dutiful, responsible and competent ... who are well-trained and smart, who are just as frustrated with their bosses. It's a shame that their hard work is jaded by the actions of people like City Council President Monica Conyers, or Councilwoman Barbara Rose Collins. Or, the officials who have led our school system into ruin.

What do we need to do to get you to fire them, Mr. President?

Driving while black

Driving while black is a phenomena that is not new to me. I just hadn't had reason to think about it in a while. That changed a few days ago.

I was headed to a meeting downriver to give a presentation. I left myself enough time to get there in an effort to not be forced to hurry or speed to my location, which was in Wyandotte. I even took surface streets, because I had the extra time and figured I would avoid potential traffic jams during rush hour.

Driving down Schaefer, many cars passed me by and I thought nothing of my speed as I was motoring along with the flow of traffic. As I pulled up to Jefferson and stopped, behind a car that had just zoomed around in front of me and was preparing to turn right after traffic cleared, I noticed a police cruiser pull up behind me.

Glancing in my rear view mirror, I noticed that the officer was busily punching the keys of his on board computer, apparently running my plate. I knew the drill, having endured this for the last 25 years or so. But I thought little of his attempts to see if I should be locked up, figuring I'd done nothing wrong.

As I turned the corner onto Jefferson, however, the police officer turned on his flashing lights. I pulled over figuring he was just trying to get past me in and effort to go fight crime somewhere. Yeah, I know, but honestly, I did.

But the officer didn't speed past me, he pulled up slowly behind me and parked. That's when I had a moment reminiscent of the movie "The Usual Suspects," during which I played in my head images of all of the motorists who had passed me by prior to the traffic stop. I realized I was the only one who looked like me, who had my complexion, and I was not happy about being the only one who left sitting on the side of the road.

I was told that I was stopped for speeding in a 25 mph zone, and couldn't dispute that fact because I was merely going along with the average speed of those around me, and figured if people were passing me, I couldn't have been rolling along all that quickly. Certainly not speeding.

But what could I do? I could've been outwardly pissed, and demonstrative. However, I doubt I would've made it to my meeting, had that been the case. So I gave him my license and papers and he wrote out the paperwork. Then I listened to the condescending lecture, took my ticket and drove off, hoping that I would make it o the meeting and back to the office without being stopped again. Funny thing is, I hadn't received a speeding ticket in nearly 20 years, and suddenly I was worried about getting more than one in a day -- because I was downriver. I felt like the driving while black rule was still in full effect there.

I have many friends in law enforcement, of varying ethnicities, and I admire the job all of them do. I don't think most officers are prejudice. But I had a bad feeling about that stop that day.

When I got to my meeting, which had just started (good thing I left myself plenty of time, I thought) I shared details of my incident with a colleague during a break. That colleague is also black, and apologized for not warning me about the police. My colleague told me that since being handed an assignment to work in the area the police had issued so many tickets that they recently received a notice from the Secretary of State's office.

The irony is that I have spent considerable time over the last few weeks studying social justice philosophy, including the principles of justice and fairness. What is just isn't necessarily fair. Driving faster than the limit is not legal, and stopping one person and not others is not fair, but just -- even though it doesn't feel that way when you're the lone brother who gets fingered. I hate to think I was profiled, but refuse to be naive enough to dismiss the notion. Driving while black in 2009?! Pathetic.

Anyone got an extra $130 to spare?

Give everyone a car

I say give everyone who needs one in America a car. Tell 'em it's free.


It will be free, sort of. Like that $300 George Bush gave us a few years back. My plan -- and I have to admit I still have some wrinkles to iron out -- is to push for the government to help the auto industry by clearing its inventory, preserve jobs and further stimulate the economy. Are you listening yet?


The plan would work something like this:


Instead of directly giving General Motors or Chrysler more money, we would (read the government) provide credits to consumers that would enable those who need transportation to take a vehicle off the hands of one of the struggling automakers for little or nothing depending on their respective need.


This way, we save jobs, prevent more families from sinking into poverty and keep plants from closing, decimating communities in the process.


I pass by the Chrysler Jefferson North Plant nearly every day on the way to or from work. The parking lot there is a barometer of the economy. I can tell by the number of SUVs and other vehicles in that lot how the economy is doing. It has been packed for the past few months and nearly full during the plant's shutdown, when no vehicles were actually being built.



I heard a long time ago that it's more cost effective for automakers to keep plants open than to shutter them, because they had to pay workers open or closed, and as long as the assembly lines were moving at least they had a product they could sell -- albeit with profit-cutting incentives.


So just give everybody a car already. That way they would have to pay for vehicle registrations, plates, insurance, air fresheners, CDs, iPods, seat cushions, cups for cup holders, DVDs for DVD players, car washes, oil changes, brake jobs, collision repairs, garage repairs, tires and tire rims (thanks Michigan potholes!). Think of all of the people employed as a result? Oh yeah, and the manufacturers could continue paying workers to produce more cars and trucks people actually want once inventories are depleted. Are you with me yet?!

This craziness is unsettling

I rarely agree with Detroit Free Press columnist Nolan Finley, but when he chastised the voters of Detroit for electing incompetent city council officials I could only say "Amen!"

We must endure the leadership we elect. But "we" doesn't necessarily mean all of us, because so many don't participate and too many others support the lunacy around us. As a result, we all must live with the consequences.

It's a sad commentary, especially for those of us who know better. The problem is, most people I know in Detroit did not and do not want Monica Conyers representing us. Nor did we want Barbara Rose-Collins or Joann Watson. Alberta Tinsely-Talabi has stood up for the east side and should be commended for that, as she's really the only one, but I question her judgement as well after this mess with the sinking of the Cobo Center expansion deal.

The reality is that Detroit needs to welcome aboard any hand willing to jump on deck, and to ceremoniously disregard attempts at cobbling together a deal that would bring needed dollars for renovation and expansion of our crumbling conference hall -- and keep the North American International Auto Show here -- is contemptible. Worse, the way in which council members dismissed the regional support proposal as an effort by outsiders to rob the city of another of its jewels is laughable. The city is wearing a necklace short many gems right now, and it is weighing us down like an albatross. We can't afford to support our institutions with public dollars. Hell, we cannot afford to sustain our infrastructure or city services as it is, given our evaporating tax base.

What Finley said in the Freep was, "My hopes for Detroit's future faded as I watched the tape of last Tuesday's council meeting, the one that considered the Cobo Center expansion deal.
It was a tragic circus, a festival of ignorance that confirmed the No. 1 obstacle to Detroit's progress is the bargain basement leaders that city voters elect. The black nationalism that is now the dominant ideology of the council was on proud display, both at the table and in the audience. "

The black nationalism displayed by council members has frequently manifested itself in actions that can be construed as bigoted. I have felt this way for a long time and at this point I'm glad it has been held up for inspection. The fact that Finley said it, will cause many Detroiters and other observers to dismiss it -- sadly. This time Finley is right though. "Crazy" I'm not sure about. But prejudiced and downright wrong, I am.

The reality of the current situation is that the agenda a faction of our council holds is fractious and will continue to stifle progress in the region. For too long, "Detroit" has been code for "black" and "suburbs" for "white." The result has been that the black majority in Detroit has suffered. Why anyone in power in this city would still want to hold "them," those suburbanites ,at arms length, even when attempting to cooperate, is mind boggling to me.

I have some problems with the proposed deal, but would not dismiss it without more deliberation. Detroiters deserve a bit more sweetener in the deal to ensure we have an appropriate pipeline of jobs for residents and the power to protect or guarantee them. But we should not demand more ownership than we can realistically afford, nor more power than we can justify.

I frequently find myself outraged by the things that Finlay says, and was this time as well, but not for the usual reason.

Finlay said, in his Freep column, "A pitiful Teamster official who practically crawled to the table on his knees expressing profuse respect for this disrespectful body was battered by both the crowd and the council."

"When he dared suggest that an improved Cobo Center would create more good-paying jobs for union workers, Conyers reminded him, 'Those workers look like you; they don't look like me.'
Desperate, he invoked President Barack Obama's message of unity and was angrily warned, 'Don't you say his name here.'

"Juxtapose the place and the faces and imagine a white Livonia City Council treating a black union representative with such overt racial hostility. The Justice Department would swoop down like a hawk, and the Rev. Al Sharpton would clog Five Mile Road with protesters. "

All I can say is, "you're right." But the fundamental issue is that the concerned Detroiters are outnumbered by the thousands of supporters of this madness along with the patently complacent. I argue frequently that social justice is the balance between power and inaction. Those of us who care are not getting the justice due.

Case in point, the recent election for mayor. When only 15 percent of voters show up for a mayoral election, we have to come to grips with the fact that we are doomed to no better than the winner of a name recognition contest. The tragedy is that the 15 percent who care about getting the best leadership is shackled to the 85 percent who show no interest in doing anything to save the city from sinking further into caos.

That is not crazy, it's true.