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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrLucky who wrote (265222)	9/3/2008 1:57:39 PM
From: Andrew N. Cothran	2 Recommendations Respond to of 793921

"I'm at a loss as to what can be done on an individual level?" Try this! LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT SARAH: JOHN McCAIN said that he’d pursue OSAMA BIN LADEN to the gates of HELL, and then he got a bright idea, he’ll drop SARAH and TODD into PAKISTAN, with instructions to “bring back that suckers head, ’cause CINDY just bought a place up in ALASKA and we’re gonna need something to hang over the fireplace.” bigmike on September 3, 2008 Courtesy of the Hot Air Blog archives

To: MrLucky who wrote (265222)	9/3/2008 1:58:39 PM
From: gamesmistress	Respond to of 793921

Detroit may finally get rid of this idiot. The City Council was so fed up it pushed for a hearing to remove him rather than wait for Kilpatrick to be tried on 10(!) felony charges. Governor's hearing to remove Detroit mayor begins Sep 3, 1:26 PM (ET) By ED WHITE and COREY WILLIAMS apnews1.iwon.com DETROIT (AP) - Gov. Jennifer Granholm opened an extraordinary hearing Wednesday to determine whether Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick committed misconduct and should be removed from office in a scandal over steamy text messages and a multimillion-dollar legal settlement. Granholm gave brief opening remarks after Kilpatrick's lawyers failed the day before to persuade courts to stop the hearing, which drew members of the public as early as sunrise to a state office building. Granholm will hear evidence over allegations by the Detroit City Council that Kilpatrick misled it when it approved an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers. Council members say they didn't know the deal also covered up steamy text messages between the Democratic mayor and his former top aide, Christine Beatty, on city-issued pagers. The text messages, which were leaked earlier this year, contradict Kilpatrick's and Beatty's sworn denials of an affair, and both are charged in a separate criminal case with perjury and other counts. "The mayor has abused his trust ... and must be removed," William Goodman, a lawyer for the City Council, said in his opening statement. He said the legal agreement was the product of an "incredible pattern of deception and nondisclosure." Michigan governors have a constitutional authority to remove elected officials for misconduct, but the target never has been the leader of the state's largest city. The hearing is expected to last several days. "The burden of proof is sufficient evidence satisfactory to the governor," Granholm said in her remarks. "This is not a criminal trial. This is not a civil trial." Kilpatrick skipped the hearing. His attorney, Sharon McPhail, attacked council members who asked for the removal hearing, saying they are Kilpatrick's political rivals. She said it was city lawyers who settled the case with former police officers, not the mayor. "It's too stupid to be plausible" that Kilpatrick had a secret pact to cover up embarrassing text messages, McPhail said. She warned the governor that removing the mayor would have a chilling effect on officials statewide. The last time a Michigan governor considered the removal of an elected official was in 1982. In that case, Gov. William Milliken found a township official guilty of official misconduct but let him stay in office if he stopped drinking. Kilpatrick's legal team filed an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, asking the state's highest court to halt the hearing. It was not immediately clear whether the court would act. During a break, McPhail was asked why Kilpatrick was not at the hearing. He is not required to attend. "Why don't you ask him," she told The Associated Press. "I told you it wasn't my turn to watch him." At City Hall, spokeswoman Denise Tolliver said Kilpatrick was working on city business. Granholm, a fellow Democrat, has pared the case to two issues: Did Kilpatrick settle the lawsuits for personal gain because he feared release of the text messages, and did he conceal information from the City Council. Kilpatrick's legal team has criticized Granholm, claiming her opinion on the mayor's future is clouded by her role in trying to broker a settlement in his criminal case in May. Resignation apparently was on the table. "I listed the positions of the parties on a blackboard and suggested a path that was a compromise," Granholm said in an affidavit. "I made it clear that this suggestion was intended solely as a device to begin their discussion." The Michigan Court of Appeals found nothing sinister Tuesday. The removal hearing is just one of three legal minefields for Kilpatrick. He also faces 10 felonies in two criminal cases in Wayne County Circuit Court. After the Detroit Free Press published the text messages earlier this year, Kilpatrick and Beatty were charged with perjury, conspiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They are accused of lying last year during the fired police officers' civil trial about having an extramarital affair and their roles in the firing of a deputy police chief. Two assault charges against the mayor stem from a confrontation in July. A sheriff's detective says Kilpatrick shoved him into another investigator as they were attempting to serve a subpoena to the mayor's friend in the perjury case.