…and he’s still on the D.C. Council. Only in Washington, D.C.
Marion “Da Mayor” Barry tested positive for cocaine as recently as last fall, reports the left-leaning Washington Post. The former dashiki-clad civil rights crusader quickly rose from city council to the mayor’s office in 1978. He served three consecutive terms before he was stung in 1990 for possession and use of crack cocaine.
But D.C. is a very forgiving city if you’re a black liberal. After he was released from prison in 1994, Barry ran for mayor. And won. In 2002 he was found parked on federal property with small amounts of coke and marijuana. It was a set-up, he insisted. If you can believe it, Barry was re-elected to the D.C. Council in 2004.
From 1999 to 2004, he failed to pay taxes. The IRS caught up with him late last year, and he pled guilty to misdemeanor tax charges. During the investigation, Barry had to submit to a court-ordered drug test, and he tested positive for cocaine.
What can you say about a city that chooses a drug addict to run it? D.C. has a black mayor, a left-leaning city council, a left-leaning school board, black teachers, blacks in prominent positions in the government, and who knows what else. The people have spoken. But for a city trying to improve its image (despite the high murder rate) and draw whites and the middle-class of all races back to the city, choosing a drug-addicted man to write the laws may not be the smartest thing to do.
As a former drunk, I certainly understand the power of addiction. My alcoholism wasn’t a disease; it was a weakness, a character flaw, and the people of D.C. would’ve been just as wrong-headed to elect me to office. Putting Marion Barry in any position of trust and responsibility is such a joke. The man has led a charmed life, and he ought to be ashamed, especially at his age, for his uncanny inability to stay out of the justice system.
Barry is very forgiving toward people who point guns in his face. Last week he was robbed at gunpoint. He said:
“There is a sort of an unwritten code in Washington, among the underworld and the hustlers and these other guys, that I am their friend…I don’t advocate what they do. I advocate conditions to change what they do. I was a little hurt that this betrayal did happen.”
With friends like that… 
“Conditions,” not poor character or amorality, cause thugs to rob people. I see. If we improve “conditions,” will thugs stop being thugs? Here’s a condition we can improve: repeal pro-criminal gun laws and allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. I guarantee that will have a greater impact on violent crime rates in this city than any bloated, guilt-tripping social program.
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Update: Re: Barry’s “friends,” commenter Mark La Roi says: “Makes more sense now that he doesn’t want to press charges against those criminals who robbed him. Pressing charges leads to the dissemination of information.”
Good point. Even I, the jaded suspicious one, hadn’t thought of that.
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“Da Mayor”..
I am cyring here
drugs, robbery…hmmm
La Shawn
Your personal testimony in this respect is instructive. Unfortunately, Barry remains in denial about his addiction (crack?). When a local news reporter asked for comment on his latest public embarrassment, he responded “I’m good. I’m in high spirits.” Indeed!
But I doubt any DC resident is surprised by this news. And, it’s more likely than not that he was “robbed” by one of his crack-smoking homeboys, if one calls that sort of gun-play amongst addicts a crime….
By the way – have Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, and Michael Moore ever been tested? It’s an exit strategy that might rescue the Democrats from the MoveOn wing of the party.
La Shawn:
The people of DC have spoken – they are losers.
“Conditions,†not poor character or amorality, cause thugs to rob people”.
Perhaps this in part true, because one of the “conditions” is Barry himself. If he was gone, there would be less “role modeling” of antisocial behavior.
“I’m good. I’m in high spirits.â€
Also true – Barry has always been “high” on “spirits” like cocaine.
Ah, D.C., the land of the potholes. And Barry is one of the biggest potholes of them all.
May I add that dollars spent per child ranks the D.C. public school system as one of the best funded public school systems in the US of A. The system is also one of the worst in terms of achievement, quality of teachers, care of facilities, etc. (But the janitors earn top dollar!)
According to the libs, all it needs is mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money.
John Mitchell (Nixon’s Attorney General) was on wall street in the late 70’s with a company that invested in city bonds. He got a lot of heat over a comment he made about why his company would not touch D.C. bonds. “I won’t invest in a city government that is run like the Amos and Andy Taxi Company.”
That was then and it has not improved much since. D.C., the only recession proof city in the country wants statehood so it can misuse even greater amounts of money.
Frankly, D.C. should have its home rule yanked and go back to being a plaything of the House of Representatives.
Makes more sense now that he doesn’t want to press charges against those criminals who robbed him. Pressing charges leads to the dissemination of information.
La Shawn, looking down the page here, I see the D of C is a microcosm of the other matters posted. Barry is failing at life, but is insulated by his position in the District. He can do no unforgivible wrong there,and will probably continue to hold influence for years to come.
Hopefully that Covenant with Black America will include:
Calls to Punish, and not reward the Marion Barrys, disown and disavow the thug culture as evil,
bankrupt by de-funding ‘black leadership’ hate-mongers who survive by keeping racism burning, and, as you and others have pointed out on this page, restore, respect and defend the family as the core unit of our culture.
I’m not able to see into the future, but I have a feeling that there is going to be a tidal sea change away from the Liberal Democratic base, as more light is shined on the morally corrupt standards that they bear. 40 years from now the idea of the Democratic Party being the inclusive “party of Race” could be as ridiculed as the idea that a politian deserves my vote because we share a skin tone.
I should have proofed it-de-funding the hate mongers is a totally separate thought from restore, respect and dend the family. It almost reads like I was giving the black leadership props for doing that.
It seems clear that the District of Columbia ought to revert back to direct control by the Federal Government.
Does anyone else suspect that those helpful youths turned robbers may have had another relationship with Barry? Like maybe his dealers, or tied to his dealer? Hence his choice to not want to see them jailed. They might spill the beans on him. Or something like that
What a shame… He felt so betrayed by the children he helped raise. He was robbed by those from the “underworld” with whome he was compassionate with… What’s the saying? Live by the sword – die by the sword? – Great blog La Shawn !
What a loser! I wouldn’t want to live in a city like that. There are sections of Chicago like that, which people want to avoid, plus we have Jesse Jackson yapping all the time, but a city run like that? Awful!
Is anybody really shocked? Marion Berry without that cooked crack is like cornflakes without milk. I pray for him though, I know crackheads, that is a hard drug to stop, but please D.C., stop supporting him, show the dude tough love, maybe then he will get his act together.
This is the same sniveling fool who wants gun control and gun bans and then he uses dope becuase he is a dope.
I’m surprised he hasn’t blamed this on President Bush. Surely, someone will!
#12 SCSIwuzzy
You may have nailed it. I don’t know why this hasn’t been followed-up more thoroughly by the media–maybe there’s nothing there. However, a well-informed DC EMT has told me that the “robbery” was really a drug deal gone bad.
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