Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's New Book Covers Affair, Legal Saga

Detroit, MI (July 6, 2011) - Disgraced former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick claims in an upcoming book that an unspoken alliance of political adversaries, Detroit business leaders and an aggressive media capitalized on a sex and perjury scandal to send him from leading one of America's largest cities to a prison cell.




The former politician bills Surrendered! The Rise, Fall and Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick as the true tale of his saga. While he takes responsibility for an affair with an aide and lies told during a civil trial, he also blames plenty of others for his downfall.

"When I perjured myself, I gave my enemies a lane. And they turned that lane into a highway," Kilpatrick writes, according to an advance copy obtained by The Associated Press. "My intent entering office was to empower Detroiters, and my actions heading into my second term suggested that we had the ability to do it. And that threatened too many people's bottom line. Their bottom lines for me, then, became simple. Get rid of me. And they're not finished."




Kilpatrick, dubbed the "Hip-Hop Mayor" when he was elected at age 31, was charged with perjury after text messages on city-issued pagers contradicted testimony he gave during a 2007 police whistle-blowers' trial. The sexually explicit text messages showed he lied when he denied under oath that he had a romantic relationship with the aide.




Throughout the book, he levels criticism at the aggressive Wayne County prosecutor, Kym Worthy, who charged him as well as two judges who heard the case as it went through the court system.



Kilpatrick is open, however, about the affair with one-time chief of staff Christine Beatty and falsehoods he told, even in front of the Wayne County Circuit Court judge who would decide his future and his freedom.



"I stood before Judge David Groner, who requested my plea. 'I lied under oath,' I said, 'with the intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice,'" Kilpatrick writes. "For the record, I lied when I made that statement. The real reason I lied under oath was because I didn't want my wife to know I cheated. But be clear. There was absolutely no justice to obstruct in the whistle-blowers' suit. The case was manufactured. I was just cornered."



Kilpatrick, 41, eventually pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and no contest to assault and served time in the county jail. Groner sent him to state prison last year for not adhering to the terms of his probation, which called for the truthful disclosure of his finances. The former mayor is set to be paroled within weeks from state prison for violating probation in the 2008 criminal case.



The book, co-written by Khary Turner, is set to be released Aug. 1. Groner has ruled that any book profits intended for Kilpatrick, his relatives or other agents must first be applied toward $860,000 in unpaid restitution to the city.

African American Woman Accuses TSA of Racial Profiling After Hair Search

By Allan Lengel


The Transportation Security Administration, tasked with protecting the nation’s airports, can’t win.



The latest: An African-American woman is accusing TSA of racial profiling after her poofy hair was searched, The Hill newspaper reported.



The paper reported that Laura Adiele told MSNBC on Friday that agents at Seattle’s Sea-Tec Airport told her they needed to inspect her hair after she did a full-body scan. She claims agents made the request because she is black.



“It’s already uncomfortable to be going through a naked body imaging,” she said on MSNBC’s “Jansing and Co.” show. “For me, my hair is my breaking point.”



“I played the race card in this just because I looked around and didn’t see anyone else being searched in that way,” Adiele said. “And at the end of it, I had an African-American flight attendant come up to me and say that she’s had this experience and that she’s seeing it more frequently and that she thought I should complain about it.”



She said TSA agents told her it was policy to check anything that “poofs” from the body. TSA, according to the Hill, said that checking hair is sometimes done as part of its thorough screening of passengers.

Mexico’s Drug Violence Leaves 40 Dead

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ALG Calls on Boehner to End Negotiations, Pass a Bill

ALG Calls on Boehner to End Negotiations, Pass a Bill


July 11th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged House Speaker John Boehner to end the negotiations over increasing the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling, and simply pass the bill that the House wants:



“It is time for John Boehner to put an end to the silliness of attempting to achieve a backroom debt ceiling deal with a White House more intent on re-election than confronting their spending addiction.



“Speaker Boehner needs to return to his duties in the House of Representatives and pass a debt ceiling increase through the House this week that cuts spending dramatically while raising the ceiling enough to get past the 2012 elections. The process should be open and transparent allowing all sides to offer amendments.



“It will then be up to the Democratic Party leaders in the Senate to pass their own bill so the two sides can negotiate around real legislation rather than through finger pointing press conferences and media leaks.



“This debate defines the future of our nation, and Mr. Boehner has a chance to be the adult in this conversation by doing his work. If the Senate Majority Leader doesn’t choose to take up the issue, then default will lie solely on his shoulders.”



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The Unspoken Issue in the Debt Limit Debate

By Bill Wilson

Often times, someone outside the family is better able to define a problem or the real issues in a conflict than those in the middle of the dispute. So it is that Jeremy Warner of London’s Daily Telegraph put his finger squarely on the real, underlying nature of the blood-fest surrounding the proposed increase in the national debt ceiling.

In an column published June 30, Warner goes through all the conventional discussion points about the nature of fight — Republicans want cuts, Democrats want taxes – as well as predictable establishment talking points on the impact of a refusal on the part of Congress to increase Uncle Sam’s credit limit.



But at the end of his piece, Warner puts his finger on the fundamental issue like none in the U.S. have. Warner writes, “Americans cannot have a European-style welfare state, a modern infrastructure and a defence budget equating to 4.5 percent of GDP unless they are prepared to pay for it.” Right he is.



The time for wanting everything but paying for it with borrowed money is soon over. The end of the line will come when either the American people make basic changes to the “what” we want to pay for or the markets finally sober up and realize U.S. debt is spiraling out of control and cannot be paid back. Either way, the days of spend ‘til you drop and put it all on the credit card are done.



Get full story here.

Lights on in Congress

By Rebekah Rast

The Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act could very well turn the lights back on for those in favor of the incandescent light bulb.

Expected to receive a vote in the House of Representatives very soon, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s legislation, H. R. 2417, would “repeal a provision in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that requires traditional incandescent light bulbs to be 30 percent more energy efficient beginning in 2012,” according to an article in The Hill.



Repealing this provision in the Energy Act of 2007 is not a new idea. States like South Carolina, Arizona and most recently Texas have taken the matter into their own hands, rebelling against the soon-to-be-government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs.



In fact, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed into law a repeal of the federal government incandescent light bulb ban. Any incandescent light bulbs manufactured and sold in Texas now steer clear of the authority of the federal government.



Get full story here.