No. At worst he was indifferent. The corrupt, ghostly-looking moron who replaced him is clueless though. And idiots in DC should have seen that coming a mile away.
Fenty steered some contracts to his friends as well. But so what? White people in power have been doing that in America for over 200 years creating new elite white families in the process for generations. Fenty's problem was that many of the black residents thought he wasn't really "one of them". He has a white mother and that was a cause for alarm in terms of trusting him. Black folks were so paranoid they even assumed that the college friends Fenty was steering contracts to were white when in fact they were black. They also thought Fenty was catering to white people and encouraging more of them to move into DC by the attention he placed on things such as bike paths, cleaning up of parks, green projects and the addition of more libraries. Basically what it came down to is that many black people deep down were uneasy about the changing demographics of the city and needed someone to blame for it, Fenty became that guy, that symbol. The only person they hated more was his pick to run the school system, Michelle Rhee . Rhee was far from perfect (I disagree with a lot of her opinions) but you can bet if she was a black woman making those same controversial changes the black residents would have been more tolerant. Black residents also didn't seem to care for at first the white woman Fenty chose to run the police department. Trust me if he picked a white guy that would have created less of a stir. Of course the demographics for the city (influx of white and other non-black residents) had started changing before Fenty (maybe even before Anthony Williams) and is still going strong (if not increasing) under Gray.
lippy doubts steve jobs would be upset over this union...he loved his wife and his family very much...he would want her to be happy and I can't imagine that he would put restrictions on that...laurene is a very smart woman that clearly makes her own choices in life...she deserves happiness as much as the next person...she watched her husband die...she watched her life as she knew it slowly drift away...adrian is a sight for sore eyes:smt007
They shouldn't care. The former Mrs. Fenty isn't bad-looking, either. She should be able to find some company soon, if she hasn't already.
I always thought what hurt him was Ms. Rhee and his inability to have people relate to him. I feel that gray can relate more to the population of DC than Fenty. Gray is one of them. He may be crooked but he is one of them. Fenty is well.. not Notice: I changed this to sound less elite and ... other items that you can see in Fenty's background
You're right, he was a good, competent leader (don't know if I'd personally say he was "great") but was clueless when it came to dealing with the people of the city. Fenty's main problem was his arrogance and that's what caused his re-election bid. I'm no fan of Gray either as he's basically just another suit at the District Building.
Yes, arrogant, aloof and indifferent, choose your poison. Gray certainly is no Fenty when it comes to leadership and he is corrupt, maybe not on a Marion Barry level, but nonetheless, shady. And, yes, the idiots in the city who voted for Gray would have seen it coming but only for the fact that they were, well, as you stated, idiots. However, be fair and understand that many of those who voted for Gray saw him as an alternative (maybe the only one there) to Fenty's out-of-touch stewardship of the city's affairs with regard to many of its citizens (read "financially-challenged African-American residents" who felt that Fenty was more concerned about the city's burgeoning white population and their well-being). Gray's campaign made sure that they nailed Fenty on his well-known icy, IDGAF about what anyone else thinks attitude.
It may be a fair comparison although I don't know that Booker shared very much of his well-known icy, indifferent visage. Agree with the rest and congrats to your little man!
There was corruption in that campaign, regarding his deception, hiring and finances. It was also hidden within the campaign that Gray never paid a traffic ticket that he received nearly 8 years ago. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/dc-corruption-scandals/ DC really has changed since the election, I think the only predominantly black area left is pretty much Southeast DC.
Thanks for the congrats! He had a great summer. Now it's back to the regular grind of the school year. :-(
Northeast is still mostly black too. The east side of DC has always been the "most black", although Northeast was always a major step up from Southeast overall.
Head over to H. Street between 2nd Street and the Hechinger Mall corridor...you may be in for a major shock in that part of N.E., my friend! :shock:
I'm not shocked by anything. The demographics of DC has been rapidly changing over the past ten years. I've seen it. But I also am aware that NE still has a majority black population. Of course the Brookland area was always a mix considering the strong Catholic influence in those parts. And white folks are discovering Brentwood and Michigan Park but those spots are still dominated by black residents who have been the backbone of the black middleclass of the city (just as examples). Of course that can change...soon.
