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Video story update via Channel 2: Video (http://www.wsbtv.com/video/19531636/index.html - broken link)
He basically apologizes, but from the sounds of it, the Mayor doesn't comprehend the "said out of frustration" part and will most likely use this to get him out of the way. Sigh.
Sad about the disabled police officers, too. Seems like they were just swept under the rug.
Shirley Franklin is a pathetic mayor & she's far removed from reality. I still remember those words of hers when she was first elected to office: "Atlanta, I will make you proud." I haven't seen it yet. And our corporate media? A lousy excuse for guardians of the fourth estate! No one has held Franklin accountable for that racial ad she and John Lewis did for Fulton County Chairman Commishioner Eaves and now this event will be one more that that the corporate media will swept under the rug.
The one saving grace is that Stephanie Ramage from the Sunday Paper though I don't care much for her politics, has the tenacity & the guts to nail the mayor to the wall for her haphazard governing of the city, & rightly so. I wish these babyboomer politicians like Franklin, Perdue and the rest would just go away. Their mindsets do virtually nothing to advance Atlanta & Georgia into the future.
Shirley Franklin is a pathetic mayor & she's far removed from reality. I still remember those words of hers when she was first elected to office: "Atlanta, I will make you proud." I haven't seen it yet. And our corporate media? A lousy excuse for guardians of the fourth estate! No one has held Franklin accountable for that racial ad she and John Lewis did for Fulton County Chairman Commishioner Eaves and now this event will be one more that that the corporate media will swept under the rug.
The one saving grace is that Stephanie Ramage from the Sunday Paper though I don't care much for her politics, has the tenacity & the guts to nail the mayor to the wall for her haphazard governing of the city, & rightly so. I wish these babyboomer politicians like Franklin, Perdue and the rest would just go away. Their mindsets do virtually nothing to advance Atlanta & Georgia into the future.
Despite the fact that I agree that the add for Chairman Eaves was in poor taste, I wholeheartedly disagree that Franklin is a lousy mayor. Has she made mistakes? Sure. But she has also presided over a fiscal crisis that has impacted almost every state and local government across the country. It's funny that people are quick to call out Mayor Franklin for Atlanta's budget shortfall, but say nothing about the State's budget shortfall, nor GDOT's budget shortfall (not talking about you, Acid; but rather some folks in the blogosphere and media). Compared to our last mayor, Mayor Franklin is a godsend.
It was reported that Franklin really was convinced that when the Obama administration came in, that she was a complete shoe-in for the Federal housing job she was pushing to get.
When Obama showed he is indeed intelligent and does not play favorites or place people who are not fully qualified into a position and chose someone else for the job, more than a few people have commented on the sudden "bad attitude" adopted by Franklin. She no doubt is royally ticked that she was "stuck" here with our issues to deal with, instead of getting the cushcush office in DC, and since then, it has shown with the way she deals with the city council and public/media. She will have a complete witch hunt going on for that guy now - and will not stop until he resigns his badge.
Personally - I'd like to see every available policeman and woman and fireman/woman go out and buy inflatable baseball bats, and march around the Mayor's office (after inviting CNN of course) with "resign" signs.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,083,811 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west
Despite the fact that I agree that the add for Chairman Eaves was in poor taste, I wholeheartedly disagree that Franklin is a lousy mayor. Has she made mistakes? Sure. But she has also presided over a fiscal crisis that has impacted almost every state and local government across the country.
While it's true that the entire country is being impacted to some degree, and while it's probably also true that many of the issues in the City of Atlanta are either not of Franklin's making or predate her tenure as mayor, you have to admit that there are a lot of issues in Atlanta which seem to be fairly unique to Atlanta, e.g. the water infrastructure and water billing issues, issues with "losing" millions of dollars in funds, having to close fire stations, education quality issues in some areas of Fulton County, issues with the homeless in some areas of downtown, issues with slow 911 responses, etc.
I really haven't heard of similar issues in other cities.
Not sure where the buck should stop, but since she's effectively the manager at the top of the power pyramid, wouldn't she be in the responsible position?
Despite the fact that I agree that the add for Chairman Eaves was in poor taste, I wholeheartedly disagree that Franklin is a lousy mayor.
You are wlecome to your opinion as am I. There has to be a point though where people of good temperance and willingness to bargain must agree that racial politics in whatever shape or form must end. It was wrong when Perdue campaigned on the Confederate flag and it is equally wrong for Franklin, Lewis, Eaves to use old racial fears to campaign as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west
Has she made mistakes? Sure. But she has also presided over a fiscal crisis that has impacted almost every state and local government across the country.
My quarrel is not with she mistakes she has made but with her unwillingness to cop to those mistakes. Whenever these controversial issues come up (closing of firehouses, Kathryn Johnson shooting, City coming down hard on residents who are offering free park maintenance, Police issues) she has never drew a line and said "the buck stops here" & took moral responsibilty, at least not in way that satisfies me.
Also, regardless of the fact that she is presiding over a "fiscal crisis" as you tell it, that to me still does not let her off the hook. In fact it is THIS situation that she should be out in the public giving speeches, reassuring people, things that past great leaders have done, NOT hiding behind press briefings, NOT going on overseas trips and other cloak & dagger style techniques. It is in this situation that I will hold her feet to the fire on the most.
Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west
It's funny that people are quick to call out Mayor Franklin for Atlanta's budget shortfall, but say nothing about the State's budget shortfall, nor GDOT's budget shortfall (not talking about you, Acid; but rather some folks in the blogosphere and media). Compared to our last mayor, Mayor Franklin is a godsend.
You must not have seen my past postings. I have equal disgust for "Conservatives", Confederate flag waving idiots like Purdue, & other moronic rural politicians who seem way too unwilling to let go of the mean-spirited politics of the past.
Besides that, to judge Mayor Franklin with former Mayor Bill Campbell right now I think is a bit too soon. After all we were not aware of all of his shenanigans until he was out of office. Mayor Franklin still has some more time left, so as far as I'm concern the jury is still out on her.
Tak it or leave it, this is where I stand on the issues.
I'm no fan of Franklin or the political establishment in the City of Atlanta, and I think they've done a miserable job managing the city through this period, but what the cop said needs to be rebuked.
I can't joke or laugh about a grown man, who is a Sgt in the police force of a major city, and who has such poor self control as to make a public statement on camera about beating the Mayor over the head with a baseball bat. It doesn't matter to me that he was pissed off or otherwise upset, or that he wasn't "serious."
Just think about this...if he has such poor self control in that kind of situation, how does he react on a dark street at night after chasing someone? Does he get the desire to beat others over the head?
I'm usually a supporter of the cops, but I think this guy stuck his foot in his mouth and deserves to get it cut off.
I can't joke or laugh about a grown man, who is a Sgt in the police force of a major city, and who has such poor self control as to make a public statement on camera about beating the Mayor over the head with a baseball bat. It doesn't matter to me that he was pissed off or otherwise upset, or that he wasn't "serious."
Just think about this...if he has such poor self control in that kind of situation, how does he react on a dark street at night after chasing someone? Does he get the desire to beat others over the head?
I'm usually a supporter of the cops, but I think this guy stuck his foot in his mouth and deserves to get it cut off.
I think people forget that cops are HUMANS. While they supposedly do have to hold themselves to a higher standard than the rest of us (in theory), they are still human, have human brains, human emotions, etc. If you were to watch all of the videos about the disabled police and how the City has been treating them lately, and how the Mayor has refused to even MEET with their representatives to talk about it - well, in those shoes I really don't fault the guy for the comment.
Yes, it was DUMB to say it in front of the Council while being taped - but still, you can understand the level of frustration. I mean come on... one officer who was down in the line of duty went without tanked oxygen for eight weeks because no one at the City would sign off for his next batch! There's some serious doodoo going on in City Hall these days, and while a baseball bat is a bit harsh, maybe someone needs to take a pooper scooper in there.
I think people forget that cops are HUMANS. While they supposedly do have to hold themselves to a higher standard than the rest of us (in theory), they are still human, have human brains, human emotions, etc. If you were to watch all of the videos about the disabled police and how the City has been treating them lately, and how the Mayor has refused to even MEET with their representatives to talk about it - well, in those shoes I really don't fault the guy for the comment.
Yes, it was DUMB to say it in front of the Council while being taped - but still, you can understand the level of frustration. I mean come on... one officer who was down in the line of duty went without tanked oxygen for eight weeks because no one at the City would sign off for his next batch! There's some serious doodoo going on in City Hall these days, and while a baseball bat is a bit harsh, maybe someone needs to take a pooper scooper in there.
I do understand the emotion and I share his anger over what I feel are really incompetent boobs running the city (and I don't even live or work there). Having said that, I do think that part of making a point is doing it the right way. Walking into a City Council meeting and spewing whatever thoughts come into your head isn't appropriate for an average citizen, let alone someone entrusted with public safety and management of other police officers.
Everyone is human. Everyone gets angry. If I walked into a board meeting at my company and said I wanted to thrash the CEO about the head, I have a feeling someone from HR might come and have a talk with me. Later on, I might find out that I suddenly have a desire to "spend more time with my family" or "pursue other interests" outside the company.
The cops should be mad, and they should be telling the city about their anger, but they need to be civil and do it in an adult manner. We can agree to disagree on this one, but I feel that doing what he did was childish and stupid.
We can agree to disagree on this one, but I feel that doing what he did was childish and stupid.
No, I agree with you on that. Yes, it was stupid, and dumb, and childish, and not at ALL thought out - etc etc.. whatever wording folks want to use. Duh Duh Duh on his part. He went about it all wrong, etc yadda yadda. I FULLY agree on that.
I'm just saying that among some groups there is definitely a "fire him, put him in jail for threats, burn him at the stake" mentality, and I feel that is wayyyy off base. He did something super stupid, he did apologize, and now they need to just move on instead of proceeding with what I feel will now turn into a witch hunt for his head. Example: STORY (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/05/22/mayor_franklin_officer.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_n ewstab - broken link) I mean come ON.. filing "Federal complaints" saying he's threatened her family??? geeeeez
Last edited by atlantagreg30127; 05-23-2009 at 01:42 PM..
No, I agree with you on that. Yes, it was stupid, and dumb, and childish, and not at ALL thought out - etc etc.. whatever wording folks want to use. Duh Duh Duh on his part. He went about it all wrong, etc yadda yadda. I FULLY agree on that.
I'm just saying that among some groups there is definitely a "fire him, put him in jail for threats, burn him at the stake" mentality, and I feel that is wayyyy off base. He did something super stupid, he did apologize, and now they need to just move on instead of proceeding with what I feel will now turn into a witch hunt for his head. Example: STORY (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/05/22/mayor_franklin_officer.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_n ewstab - broken link) I mean come ON.. filing "Federal complaints" saying he's threatened her family??? geeeeez
Probably a smokescreen to throw the heat off herself for the crap-tacular way she's been conducting the affairs of the city as of late. I'm just disappointed that Cox enterprises decided to pick up the bait. Whatever happen to responsible journalism that guarantees open government and freedom for all? Where's Henry Grady when you need him?
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No one has held Franklin accountable for that racial ad she and John Lewis did for Fulton County Chairman Commishioner Eaves and now this event will be one more that that the corporate media will swept under the rug. 
