Name That Party: Criminal Ex-Mayor of Detroit Indicted Again

Maybe the Detroit media figures it's pointless to even note what a cesspool their city has become under corrupt Democratic Party rule, but a cursory mention of thug Kwame Kilpatrick's party affiliation is at least worth noting, no?

Ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the ultimate target in a six-year federal investigation into City Hall corruption, was indicted today by a federal grand jury, accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme that forced contractors to pay heavily in return for city contracts.

The charges cap a lengthy federal corruption investigation headed by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office that has netted more than 10 felony convictions, including former City Council President Monica Conyers.

Conyers, the wife of Democrat Congressman John Conyers (who isn't even mentioned, by the way) is already in prison.

The indictment follows years of leaks, secretive grand jury meetings, wiretaps, small fish convictions, rumors and teases and finally connects the dots between Kilpatrick and a broad pattern of corruption involving several city departments, including the Detroit Water and Sewerage. Kilpatrick once had broad powers to award multimillion-dollar contracts without Detroit City Council approval.

The indictment is the latest federal blow against Kilpatrick, 40, who is in federal prison on a probation violation and was indicted June 23 on 19 fraud and tax counts. That indictment accused the former mayor of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, a community educational organization controlled by family and friends. He allegedly spent the money on travel, yoga lessons and other personal expenses.

Today's indictments touch on several major scandals that dogged Kilpatrick's tenure.

Other than all that he's clean as a whistle.

Update: Reader Carole points us to this Kwame website where you can helpfully aid the criminal by donating money. Kwame says it's his moral responsibility to break the law.

Moral responsibility may compel you to disobey the law.

Surprise! Former Detroit Thug Mayor Kilpatrick Violated Probation, Faces Up to Five Years

He'll probably wind up on probation again and told to be a law-abiding thug or he really might be in trouble the next time.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is recommending a sentence of 2-5 years in prison for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for violating his probation from the text message scandal by failing to meet financial reporting obligations and not turning over tax refunds and political money.

The recommendation was made in a sentencing memorandum filed this afternoon with the court clerk’s office.

The memo states that the sentencing guideline of 0-17 months “does not adequately reflect the severity of his conduct.” It goes on to state that “the defendant cannot show any rehabilitative potential when he continuously lies to the court and indeed has defrauded the court and the City of Detroit out of its rightfully owed restitution payments.”

Kilpatrick lawyer Michael Alan Schwartz said, “Of course, what do you expect?”

He said his recommendation will be “much different” when it is filed later today.

Last month, Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner ruled that Kilpatrick violated his probation by:

• Failing to turn over to the court $79,011 in tax refunds and cash gifts made to his family, as previously ordered.

• Failing to provide a full accounting of his family's finances. Groner said Kilpatrick allowed his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, "to empty the joint account just prior to the restitution hearing."

• Failing to disclose any gifts or benefits as ordered by the court. Groner said Kwame Kilpatrick "intentionally hid said funds."

• Failing to surrender all political funds as previously ordered, specifically $36,000 that Kilpatrick and his family received from the Kilpatrick Civic Fund for rent and moving expenses.

In the sentencing memorandum, assistant prosecutors Athinas Siringas and Robert Spada wrote: “Defendant continues to cry poverty and accepts no responsibility for his conduct…The Defendant’s conduct cannot go unpunished with a false hope the defendant will now pay restitution or abide with the court’s orders when he failed to do so in the past.”

A Democrat accepting responsibility?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Update: Looks like Kwame has been living large down in Dallas. So much for his cries of poverty.

While Kilpatrick tries to carve out a new life in Texas, his lifestyle continues to attract attention back home.

Members of the Detroit media have made many trips to Southlake to stake out the Kilpatricks, showing video of their rented mansion, valued at more than $1 million, and driving around in expensive vehicles.

H/T Carole.

'I'm Hiring Kwame Kilpatrick, Our Organization Is, Because It's a Good Business Decision'

With management like this, no wonder so many companies are in the tank.

In this terrible economy, it's good to know one man was able to find work.

Of course, the fact that Kwame Kilpatrick got the job a week after he left jail, in a field in which he has no experience, at a six-figure wage, doesn't make people happy.

And the fact that his new employer, Compuware, laid off 250 people the same week it hired him, doesn't make people happy.

And the fact that Kilpatrick, Detroit's former mayor, has been proven a liar, cost his city millions of dollars, was convicted of felony perjury, and has a sense of entitlement that would shame Cleopatra, doesn't make people happy.

And let's be clear -- it shouldn't. This guy does not deserve "a break." This guy does not deserve the front of the line. This guy is lucky he did only 99 days behind bars, he owes this city $1 million, and at the very least, he should endure the same cold splash that tens of thousands of his former constituents are enduring these days -- unemployed and doing without.

A case for charisma?

What exactly is Kilpatrick doing without? He will live in a posh city near Dallas and was re-employed a blazing 7 days out of jail. He was flown to his new home in a private jet, paid for by his mother, who last I looked was also a public servant. Does anybody in that family live in the real world?

Because in the real world, others don't take the fall for you. In the real world, you're not entitled to something because of your last name. In the real world, you can't just say "I did my time" and be right back in business. Plenty of people do their time. Go ask them how easy it is to get a job once they've got a conviction on their record.

Compuware Chief Executive Officer Peter Karmanos defended the hiring on a WJR-AM (760) show this past week, saying, "Look, we hired a very, very talented person with lots of charisma that has made some serious mistakes in judgment."

Maybe Kwame's job will be chief dress code enforcer.

Naturally, Karmanos has been a contributor to Kwame's mommy (among many others), so maybe we can just consider this another contribution to the family.

Via LGF links.

Free at Last! Kwame Kilpatrick Walks After 99 Days of Hard Labor

Detroit's former thug Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, has finally emerged from jail after serving a whole 99 days for assaulting a detective and obstruction of justice.

Kwame Kilpatrick regained his freedom early Tuesday morning, emerging from jail after a 99-day sentence and stepping back onto the streets of the city he once ruled as mayor.

The 38-year-old Kilpatrick, about 25 pounds lighter than when he entered jail at the end of October, left the downtown Detroit facility wearing a dark suit just after 12:30 a.m.

On the sidewalk, Kilpatrick stood for a long moment amid bright television camera lights, a crush of awaiting reporters and swirling snowflakes, smiling occasionally to those in the crowd who called his name and shouted: "We love you, Kwame! Detroit loves you, baby!"

Flanked by a number of men, several dressed in fedoras and long coats, Kilpatrick then was rushed to a waiting blue Chevrolet Suburban. The Democrat waved from behind tinted windows as he was whisked away as part of a multi-vehicle caravan.

I'm getting all misty-eyed. This is almost like Nelson Mandela being freed.

"He's not bitter. He said he learned a lot," Gary said during an impromptu sidewalk news conference. "He said this has been an experience he'll never forget, and he thinks because of it he'll be a better person."

Oddly enough, Kwame hasn't got a position inthe Obama administration lined up. It's not as if he isn't qualified. After all, he owes over a million dollars.

Kilpatrick was expected to meet with state probation officials before heading to a job interview Wednesday with an unnamed company at an undisclosed location in Texas. His wife, Carlita, and three young sons, already have left Michigan.

A judge has ordered that he return by Feb. 9.

"The job prospect is very, very, very favorable," Gary told reporters. "We want to make sure he can get, and land, the job. That's his first thing. He wants a job. That's what he is concerned about now. He wants to get with his family, get with his kids so he can start his life again."

The next five years, though, will be spent on probation and paying off the bulk of $1million in restitution to the city. He also has had his law license revoked.

If Kilpatrick lands the job in Texas, he must first get permission to transfer his probation from Michigan to that state.

Obama Superdelegate to Plead Guilty Today, Resign Office

Bye bye, Kwame.

After a frenetic evening, when a tentative plea deal was alternately announced by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and then postponed, Kilpatrick is due in court Thursday at 9 a.m. before Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner in his criminal perjury case stemming from the text message scandal. A plea deal could be announced there — if all sides commit.

James Thomas, one of Kilpatrick’s attorneys, said this evening the mayor was negotiating jail time, which would be a change in Kilpatrick’s earlier reported stance that he would not agree to any deal that would put him behind bars.

“I am told that part of the negotiation is related to jail time,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure what the final agreement is, but you can expect that that was probably one of the most important parts of the agreement.”

One person familiar with this evening’s negotiations said jail time would be part of the deal, if it is reached, but the person would not commit to a specific number of days.

Number of days? We should be measuring his time in years, if anything.

More here.

Thug Mayor Kilpatrick Looks to Cut a Plea Deal to Stay Out of Jail

Barack Obama pal and DNC superdelgate Kwame Kilpatrick is apparently looking to cut himself a sweetheart deal in order to stay out of jail.

Lawyers for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have proposed a deal in which he would plead guilty to two felonies, make restitution and serve five years' probation in exchange for avoiding jail time, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Detroit Free Press quoted "a source familiar with all aspects of the negotiations" as saying Kilpatrick's legal team also said he would give up his law license, not run for office for two years and do 300 hours of community service.

This goon should never again be allowed to run for office, but know Detroit and the Democrats, he'd be elected as soon as he's back on the ballot.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy hadn't yet accepted the offer, the newspaper said.

And she'd be insane to accept it, if you ask me.

A person briefed on the talks told The Associated Press on Sunday that the prosecutor's office would not agree to any type of plea that doesn't involve jail time. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of not wanting to publicly reveal specifics of the talks.

One Kilpatrick lawyer, James Thomas, told AP on Sunday morning that he had been out of town for a few days and was unaware of the plea deal proposal. He said that even if he had been aware of it he couldn't comment on it.

Kilpatrick, 38 and in his second four-year term as mayor, is charged with 10 felonies in two cases. He also faces removal proceedings set to begin Wednesday before Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The newspaper said the mayor would turn over his state pension to the city. Kilpatrick is a former member of the state House, where he was leader of the Democratic minority. It said he also would make at least $100,000 in restitution.

The newspaper said that in a letter to Worthy, Kilpatrick's lawyers proposed having a neutral "legal statesman" assess the offer. It didn't identity the lawyers.

Too Good To Be True: Obama Plans 'On the Road to Change' Bus Tour

Following his Greek-style coronation tomorrow night, The Messiah actually plans a bus tour with Greasy Joe and the charming Stepford Wife, Michelle Obama. How amusing is this? A guy who's spent the better part of six months throwing his radical associates under the bus is actually going to campaign on one.

I pray for Joe Biden's own safety he doesn't order Michelle to the back of the bus.

Team McCain must already be cueing up the jokes.

Alas, there's but one minor problem. They desperately want to avoid Detroit.

It is the limbo that is killing Detroit.

The mayoral scandal that affects so much, and is being talked about so much here in Denver, may now be affecting whether a new Obama-Biden bus tour stops in Motown.

Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden and their wives will board a bus here Friday for a tour of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, the campaign announced this morning. The foursome head from here to Pennsylvania, the first stop on the bus tour. But the campaign would not say whether the tour's Michigan leg includes a stop in Detroit.

Called the “On the Road to Change” tour, to mobile message machine was planned to give the senators their first joint opportunity to talk with voters about the economy.

A stop in Detroit, the city hit the hardest in the state hit the hardest by an economy that is hitting America hard, is a no-brainer.

But it’s not an automatic yes. And that’s a shame.

Sen. Barack Obama has not been near Detroit since June when he attended a major fund-raiser and a rally at Joe Louis Arena.

That was weeks before Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s woes worsened. He was charged with assaulting a sheriff’s deputy and, in a separate case, spent a night in jail for violating his bond by leaving the country.

Obama Superdelegate Rejects Plea Bargain

The Kwame Kilpatrick farce continues. Do the folks in Detroit realize what a laughingstock they are?

If Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigns office by Sept. 3, the Attorney General's office will drop one of the felony charges against him, a representative from that office said this morning at his court arraignment.

But Kilpatrick's attorney James Thomas quickly rejected the offer after the hearing, calling it "gratuitous."

Kilpatrick stood mute and the court entered a not-guilty plea on the two felony charges he faces for an alleged July 24 altercation with investigators assigned to his perjury case.

Kilpatrick would have to plead guilty to the other felony as a part of the deal, the attorney general's office said at the court hearing. That would result in Kilpatrick automatically being booted from office and he would lose his law license.

Kilpatrick was charged by Attorney General Mike Cox with two felony counts of assaulting or obstructing a public officer by. The charges carry a possible two-year prison term and a fine of up to $2,000.

Doug Baker, special assistant attorney general, said the offer was timed to avoid Gov. Jennifer Granholm's removal hearings slated to start Sept. 3. Rusty Hills, a spokesman for the attorney general's office called the offer "a good deal for the people."

As Baker told the court about the offer, Kilpatrick shook his head 'no.'

There will be a court hearing Monday to hear arguments from Kilpatrick's attorneys on his bond restrictions. Kilpatrick is limited to travel within the tri-county area and is wearing an electronic tether. It is not clear if Kilpatrick attorneys are going to argue that he should be allowed to attend the Democratic National Convention, which starts Monday in Denver.

I really hope he goes. His good buddy Barack certainly doesn't want to see him in Denver.

'You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself Being With a Man With the Last Name White'

Really, it's such a shame that an Obama superdelgate would be so racially intolerant.

Not only that, frankly Kwame Kilpatrick sounds a touch insane.

How much longer must this farce continue?

A judge ruled Friday that there's enough evidence for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to stand trial on two felony assault charges stemming from a confrontation with two investigators.

The investigators testified that an angry Kilpatrick shoved one of them into the other and made racial remarks while they were trying to deliver a subpoena in the mayor's perjury case to one of Kilpatrick's friends last month.

In his ruling in 36th District Court, Judge Ronald Giles said there was no question Kilpatrick was aware that Wayne County sheriff's Detective Brian White and county prosecutor's investigator JoAnn Kinney were at the home where the confrontation took place on official business.

"It's clear Kilpatrick knew who Detective White was. He had previous contact with him through his other case," Giles said in his ruling. "He specifically called him by name in this case."

White said the mayor shoved him into Kinney when he was trying to deliver the subpoena. He and White also testified that Kilpatrick used profanity and made a racial remark during the alleged confrontation.

"You're a black woman," Kinney said the mayor told her. "You should be ashamed of yourself being with a man with the last name white. You should not be a part of this."

The mayor and Kinney are black. White is white.

Got all that?

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Obama to Kwame: Uh, Could You Like, Go Away or Something?

Translation: Don't make me go all medieval on your ass and throw you under that bus. Besides, you're so damn big I might have to get another bus.

If Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick decides to go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 10 days, he would be a distraction from the historic nomination of Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee’s campaign said today.

But Obama staffers wouldn’t go as far as saying Kilpatrick shouldn’t make the trip to Denver.

The convention should be about the economic problems facing the nation overall and Michigan specifically, Brent Colburn, Obama’s Michigan campaign spokesman said.

“Many Michigan families are struggling as a result of the failed policies and old politics that John McCain wants to continue. The focus of our convention to people back here in Michigan should be on Barack Obama and how the party intends to get America back on track, not a distraction involving the troubles of one individual,” Colburn said in a statement released this afternoon.

That one individual who Obama once called great.



May not matter now, since the thug mayor had his ankle bracelet ordered back on.

Oh, and Jennifer Granholm won't be issuing a pardon to the Obama superdelegate.

In the spirit of bipartisanship and fairness, may I offer a solution? Perhaps by day, Kwame could help maintain order here under house arrest and be allowed a furlough to attend the Obama coronation in the evenings.

Well, with one criminal down today, I wonder how long the invitation to convict Don Siegelman will last. Then again, Siegelman serves a higher purpose: to bash Bush.

Ace links. Thanks!

Detroit's Thug Mayor Freed, Faces Fresh Assault Charges

I really hope he shows up at the Democrat Convention. He'll be the perfect representative of the party of hope, change and weird cult symbols.

It goes without saying this wire item ignores his party affiliation.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is getting out of jail but now faces assault charges for allegedly interfering with a detective trying to deliver a subpoena to his friend.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced Friday he'll be bringing charges of assaulting or obstructing a police officer.

The mayor already faces perjury and misconduct charges stemming from his testimony in a civil trial last year.

Kilpatrick was jailed Thursday for violating his bond by traveling to Canada on city business.

Not sure what kind of city business he had in Windsor, but they do have a lot of strip joints over there.

He's going to be wearing an ankle bracelet and supposedly won't be allowed to travel, but hopefully Lord Obama intervenes and has his buddy travel to Denver for his coronation.

The Detroit Free Press says he's charged with two counts of felonious assault.

They also apparently unaware he's a Democrat.

At what point does this guy get the boot from office?

Judge Sends Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation Directly to Jail

Big Mac Daddy Kwame is heading to the joint. Would have been nice if the story told us what party he belongs to, although we do already know that. The point is if he were with the GOP, the word Republican would have led off the story.

Just saying. Oh, and no, he's not going away for his fashion crimes.

Judge Ronald Giles just sent Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail moments after the mayor pleaded for forgiveness and admitted he made an unauthorized trip to Windsor on city business.

"The first day you were before me, I thought I made it clear to you that this court comes first in everything," Giles said. "I do understand that you're under...pressure...but I have to look at how the system should be run and perceived by the public."

"At the beginning of this case you were given every privilege that could be given to you with regard to travel," Giles said, adding that he later imposed restrictions after learning Kilpatrick had been abusing his privileges.

"At that time I made it perfectly clear ... don't come back ... ," he said.

Court officials said Kilpatrick would remain in jail until he either posts the full $75,000 bond or until his lawyers can persuade a Wayne County Circuit Court judge to overturn the decision. But first, Kilpatrick would be taken to the 36th District Court detention area.

Giles’ jailing of Kilpatrick leaves no clear line of authority in who is running the city because there currently is no deputy mayor. Anthony Adams has temporarily relinquished his deputy mayor duties to be the interim director of the Water and Sewerage Department, and Kilpatrick said at the time of that announcement that chief of staff Kandia Milton and chief operating officer Cathy Square would divide up Adams’ deputy mayor duties.

The charter provides that in the “absence or temporary disability” of the mayor that the deputy mayor is the acting mayor.

Giles comments came after Kilpatrick told the judge he had been living under incredible pressure for the past 7 months.

"I don't believe that there is a person that's ever been through this process that respects it more than I do," Kilpatrick said, referring to the legal proceedings stemming from the 8 felonies ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice filed against him in March.

"Last week was a tremendous wake-up call to me," he said, referring to Giles' rebuke last month after he allegedly assaulted law enforcement officials trying to serve a subpoena.

I just hope he's out in tiem to attend the Democrat Convention.

Don Surber links. Thanks!

See also A Blog for All.

Update: Whoops.

Detroit City Council to Governor: Uh, Could You Help Us Get Rid of Mayor Mac Daddy?

The comic farce in Detroit continues, as thug Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's future may now rest in the hands of Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office on Tuesday accepted with little fanfare a politically charged request to remove Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office.

"The Detroit City Council's request of the governor has been received, and it will be reviewed," spokeswoman Liz Boyd said in a statement.

The Democratic governor faces a tough decision now that the council has formally asked her to remove Kilpatrick, a fellow Democrat, for misconduct in a whistle-blowers' settlement [That and about a thousand other things...--ed.]. State law allows the governor to remove an elected official from office for a number of reasons, including when an officeholder has been guilty of official misconduct.

Granholm so far has said she wants to allow the criminal process to play out. But that could drag on for months, prompting the council to ask the governor to remove the 37-year-old mayor.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Tuesday's request is a critical step in the council's actions to force Kilpatrick from office. In March, the council approved a nonbinding resolution asking Kilpatrick to voluntarily step down. Kilpatrick has steadfastly said he will not resign.

Yes, those nonbinding resolutions always hold so much sway on their intended targets. Just ask the UN.

The latest action comes after Kilpatrick tried to muscle in on City Council power by taking over distribution of federal grant money.

“This is outrageous, ridiculous, patently absurd . . . a low down evil attempt to strip council of power,” said Councilwoman JoAnn Watson.

Naturally, the AP omits any mention of Democrats in their dispatch.

Thanks to Ace for the link!

Kilpatrick Text Messages Revealed: AP Still in the Dark On His Party Affiliation

The Kwame Kilpatrick saga in Detroit takes an almost comical turn today as the AP obtains a series of explicit text messages between him and his girlfriend (oh, sorry, alleged girlfriend) Christine Beatty.

Naturally, AP omits his party affiliation (hint: he's a Democrat).

A series of often explicit text messages from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's former chief of staff appear to show she had a long-term romantic relationship with the mayor and that he played a role in the firing of a police officer who sued the city.

The embarrassing messages between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty from 2002 and 2003 appear in an 18-page document released Tuesday on the orders of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr. in response to a lawsuit by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.

The document was obtained from the computer of Michael Stefani, an attorney who represented three police officers in whistle-blowers' lawsuits against the city that were settled last year for $8.4 million. The text messages were taken from Beatty's city-issued pagers.

The messages could prove damaging to Kilpatrick and Beatty, who are accused of lying under oath in one of the lawsuits by denying they had an intimate relationship. They are charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. Both have denied wrongdoing.

Could prove damaging? Sure, if there was a literacy requirement to hold office.

The document released Tuesday includes descriptions of sexual trysts, the frequent use of the N-word by the mayor and Beatty as a term of endearment, and discussions of marriage.

On Sept. 15, 2002, Beatty described a sex act she wanted to perform on the mayor but said she didn't know how to approach him about it. He replied: "Next time, just tell me to sit down, shut up and do your thing!"

Later that month, the pair appeared to arrange a sexual encounter in Beatty's office. On Sept. 19, 2002, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "I have wanted to hold you so badly all day, but I was trying to stay focused on work. So, I promise, not to keep you longer than 15 minutes."

Kilpatrick replied: "Don't promise (N-word.)"

Beatty said: "I'm in my office. Do you want me to come to yours or you coming to mine?"

Kilpatrick said: "I'm coming down there ... LOL ditto. Freaky Chris!"

It gets better.

On April 8, 2003, Beatty wrote: "You told me that you would be my boyfriend everyday until I was your wife. Are you renigging?"

Kilpatrick replied: "Hell no! Don't start none. Won't be none ...! LOL".

Renigging?

Update: Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the link. He makes a great point: Whatever happened to burying the n-word?

Shocker: Reuters Headline Identifies Indicted Detroit Mayor as Democrat

We've recently noted a slew of stories on Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the media's steadfast refusal to identify him as a Democrat.

So imagine my shock to see a Reuters item today announcing his indictment on federal charges that actually notes his party affiliation in the headline. Not only that, the story dares to mention how his indictment could affect the Democrat presidential race.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and official misconduct on Monday, stemming from a sex scandal and the prominent Democrat's handling of an $8.4 million settlement of a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city.

The controversy surrounding the black politician once seen as a rising star in his party has deadlocked city government and could spill over to presidential politics and the issue of how the Democratic Party handles Michigan delegates still being contested by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Unfortunately, the rest of the media seems to have ignored his party affiliation.

Nothing from the AP. The Detroit Free Press? Nothing.

MLive.com? No mention.

Canada.com? No clue.

USA Today. Bingo!

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will be prosecuted for perjury in connection with allegations that he lied under oath about an extramarital affair with a top aide, a local prosecutor just announced.

Kym Worthy, the Wayne County prosecuting attorney, says her office filed 12 counts -- including charges of perjury and obstruction of justice -- against the Democrat and his former chief of staff.

This is progress, folks. Two out of five reports actually mentions he's a Democrat.

That's better than the 0% average in recent weeks.

Lawhawk, Don Surber and Ed Morrissey are also playing Name That Party.

Detroit City Council Asks Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation to Resign

Poor Kwame. Maybe he should move to New York and get his 2010 gubernatorial campaign started.

A defiant Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick quickly rejected the City Council's call Tuesday for him to resign because of accusations that he lied under oath about not having an affair.

"You take a whole day to discuss an issue like this," he said. "My reaction is: This is over. It has no effect. It's not binding. Let's get back to work."

Funny how Democrats always want to get back to work after they've been busted with their pants down while they were supposed to be working.

The resolution, passed 7-1, amounted to a "no-confidence" vote because the council lacks the power to force Kilpatrick to step down.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is investigating whether the mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty lied under oath when they testified in a whistle-blowers' lawsuit that they had not had a physical relationship.

Kilpatrick has been dogged by media reports about steamy text messages the two exchanged that suggest a romantic relationship.

The mayor said he could not comment on the text messages on Beatty's pager. Beatty resigned from her post in February.

City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. would like Kilpatrick to do the same. "The message is, it's time to call it quits," he said.

The lone vote against the resolution was cast by President Pro Tem Monica Conyers, the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers. One councilwoman was absent because of illness.

Did I mention he's a Democrat? May as well, since the story doesn't.

Neither does this report.

Or this one.

Nothing here.

The New York Times actually does mention the word Democrat, but not to describe Kilpatrick.

The only Council member to vote against the resolution was Monica Conyers, the wife of Representative John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat; Ms. Conyers said the Council should have waited until it had more information before voting on such a statement.

Nothing from McPaper, either.

Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation Urged to Resign

Flying well below the national radar this week, thanks to the Eliot Spitzer follies, has been the foibles of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who uttered the dreaded n-word on live television the other day and is increasingly appearing as if he'll never see the end of his term.

What's been disturbing about the scant coverage of Kilpatrick that we see is the media's refusal to identify the fact he's a Democrat.

As Rich Noyes at NewsBusters detailed Thursday, 100% of the time the electronic media identifies Republicans when they're in trouble (rightly so, I might add), but has an obvious double standard when it comes to noting the fact certain politicians in hot water are Democrats.

Again today, the New York Times has a lengthy item about how Kilpatrick is under intense scrutiny in Detroit and under pressure to resign.

But nowhere is this 21-paragraph story is the word Democrat mentioned.

DETROIT — The swift resignation of New York’s governor, Eliot Spitzer, just days after he was linked to a high-priced prostitution ring has put new pressure on the embattled mayor of this city, Kwame M. Kilpatrick, with critics calling for him to step down quickly as well.

“Lying under oath, I think most people would think that’s more serious a crime than hiring a prostitute,” the Michigan attorney general, Mike Cox, said on Thursday. “Eliot Spitzer, whether you like him or not, did put the State of New York above his own interests. But the mayor thinks he’s bigger than the City of Detroit.”

Mr. Kilpatrick has vowed repeatedly over the last several weeks he will not quit despite publication of text messages showing that he and his former chief of staff lied under oath when they denied having an extramarital affair, as well as accusations that the city agreed to settle a lawsuit for $8.4 million primarily to hide the affair.

A Kilpatrick spokesman, James Canning, said the Spitzer scandal should not play into anyone’s opinion of the mayor.

“You cannot compare these two situations,” Mr. Canning said on Thursday. “Mayor

Read the rest.

The media long ago lost any argument that it's objective in its coverage. Lately, however, they've become a running gag, daily supplying ammunition to use against themselves.

I'm not asking they skew as far right as they do left. Let's just have a semblance of balance. Is it so difficult that for any story involving any politician, we simply see their party affiliation identified upon the first mention of their name?

Is that really too much to ask? It's not as if his middle name is Hussein and we're forbidden from mentioning it.

It's simple. Is he a Republican or a Democrat?

Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation Drops the N-Word on Live Television

We noted this thug the other day and the media's reticence to mention the name of the political party he belongs to.

It appears they still refuse to note he's a Democrat, with (gasp!) a sex scandal plaguing him.

I guess using the n-word on live television is OK if you have that protective armor of the D after your name.

And finally tonight, and this may be the most talked about part of the speech after laying out all of that. But I feel that I cannot leave this auditorium with my wife and my sons sitting there without addressing this issue.

In the past 30 days, I've been called a n----- more than any time in my entire life. In the past three days I have received more death threats than I have in my entire administration. I've heard these words before, but I've never heard people say them about my wife and children.

Watch the video at the link.

More here, another four-page story that fails to identify his party.

Update: Thanks to Ace for the link.

Name That Party, Detroit Edition

Today's installment of Name That Party brings us to Detroit, where Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in all sorts of trouble over his close pal getting the inside scoop on city contracts, among other things.

This exhaustive piece, however, fails to mention Kilpatrick's party affiliation.

No mention of it here, either.

Associated Press? No mention.

A story about Kilpatrick, an affair with his chief of staff and a mysterious death?

Nothing.

Nothing here or here.

A petition to recall him? No mention.

Maybe the folks in Canada know. No, they're in the dark.

Wait, we may have found a hint as to what party he belongs to, buried deep on his own homepage.

Prior to his election as mayor in 2001, Kilpatrick made Michigan history as the first African-American, and the youngest person elected to lead either party in the Michigan Legislature when he became the leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

Hmm. Just as we suspected, a Democrat.