Althouse: "Marion Barry was many things to many people — joa hero, a scoundrel, a deeply flawed but ultimately admirable man, a tragic figure who snorted and screwed away his great potential."

November 24, 2014

"Marion Barry was many things to many people — joa hero, a scoundrel, a deeply flawed but ultimately admirable man, a tragic figure who snorted and screwed away his great potential."

"But for me, as a news- and politics-obsessed kid growing up in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, Barry was first and foremost the greatest show on earth. So, while Barry’s death at the age of 78 is occasioning any number of tributes, condemnations, and assessments of the four-term mayor, I’d prefer to remember him as I originally encountered him: a spectacle."

41 comments:

Brando said...: His personal life isn't the issue. Had he run the city in a competent manner and been a force for unity instead of cheap racist division, no one would mind his crack habit.; 11/24/14, 5:57 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Barry was a sack of race hustler $hit in an italian silk suit.

Till the end he was hustling, chasing whores, drugs, and promoting racism (anti-asian this time).

That was the good part.

And like Brando said, he was corrupt as well; 11/24/14, 6:13 AM
rhhardin said...: Clown is not mentioned.

Clown is the chief requirement for a black leader.

That way, blacks never get anywhere.; 11/24/14, 6:56 AM
traditionalguy said...: The standard for a black crooks elected to power was often asserted to be, "The white men had their times to steal everything, and now it's our turn." It was openly and proudly asserted that being a crooked was part of their job description.; 11/24/14, 6:59 AM
Brando said...: "The standard for a black crooks elected to power was often asserted to be, "The white men had their times to steal everything, and now it's our turn." It was openly and proudly asserted that being a crooked was part of their job description."

Corruption is inevitable in any system where the powerful are not accountable, and a single-party constituency guarantees that. It was the same way in the "solid South" back when the Democrats ran it--what, were you going to vote Republican and be hated by friends and family for going with the party of Lincoln? Many of those states didn't even have the secret ballot--South Carolina didn't get it until the '50s.

At a certain point, cheap racial appeals wear thin--urban residents start to wonder why their schools are still terrible, potholes are everywhere, and the crime rate is stubbornly high, and getting a job means driving out to the 'burbs to work in a strip mall because businesses won't open in the poor parts of hte city. It's about that time a reformer has a chance, like a Fenty, a Booker, or a Guiliani.; 11/24/14, 7:26 AM
Brando said...: If the GOP could find a way to meld with reform-minded Democrats in the cities, it could be the next big political realignment. Right now though it's near impossible to find a Republican in those neighborhoods.; 11/24/14, 7:27 AM
pst314 said...: If the writer wants a "greatest show on earth" he should go to the circus. For a political writer to want that in a politician is to betray a certain lack of seriousness. The writer does admit that Barry was corrupt like such white politicians as Daley, but fails to fully recognize that his attraction to this clown tells us something bad about him.; 11/24/14, 7:28 AM
Paul said...: Here richly, with ridiculous display, The Politician's corpse was laid away. While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged, I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged!

HILAIRE BELLOC.; 11/24/14, 7:56 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: After a while, appeals for unity with racist whites wear thin, and a Marion Barry can win election after election, handing out jobs to blacks that whites would've kept to themselves. And been loved for it.

Go on - voice your ahistorical white resentment on a corruption that wasn't based in payback for white's racism. I'll quote Willie Brown:

He beat the white boys fair and square,...; 11/24/14, 8:31 AM
Mike and Sue said...: Crack. What happened to you? You have gone so far off the rails. I really used to enjoy your insights.; 11/24/14, 8:44 AM
President-Mom-Jeans said...: Good fucking riddance.

Now bitches can set him up in hell.; 11/24/14, 8:45 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: "ultimately admirable" - That's the problem in a nutshell.; 11/24/14, 9:02 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Mike and Sue,

"Crack. What happened to you? You have gone so far off the rails. I really used to enjoy your insights."

"Off the rails"? What? Did an accurate reading of history - that Barry was a civil rights icon who fought white's racism, at his own expense, and not just another mindlessly corrupt politician whites didn't like - somehow change me?

What is it about our history that whites hate - or demand be re-written as going "off the rails" - and why? I suspect it's because a true reading of American history - which reads more like South African history - doesn't flatter whites. At all. Not even a little bit. And it also explains almost every problem blacks face today. So whites must rewrite it - which is just a compounding of the lie - and the nation's crime.

Anyway, the answer is, I once took white people's "colorblind" nonsense seriously, and didn't like the racism I found still hiding behind it - which pisses whites off even more.

If you're one of them, then - yep - you lost me.

It's wild how the truth almost always strikes whites as crazy,...; 11/24/14, 9:03 AM
Krumhorn said...: It's almost as if the Crackster approves of corruption, degenerate political leaders and ineffective soul-sapping government just so long as the perpetrators have the requisite levels of melanin. And extra points if it offends the grey meat population.

Really, buddy, you've reached a level of racial malevolence rivaled only by the Grand Kluxters.

- Krumhorn; 11/24/14, 9:07 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Willie Brown I like :); 11/24/14, 9:10 AM
Mike and Sue said...: Crack,
It just that I don't remember you being so beholden to the victim mentality. Governance of the likes of Marian Berry cannot be a good thing for urban citizens.

I am so glad Italian immigrants never bought into the whole victim mentality or I would be speaking Italian right now, angry at Whites, and unlikely to have accessed the American dream. Corrupt Italian politicos would probably be getting my vote too.; 11/24/14, 9:21 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Krumhorn,

"It's almost as if the Crackster approves of corruption, degenerate political leaders and ineffective soul-sapping government just so long as the perpetrators have the requisite levels of melanin."

See, Mike and Sue, I clearly said civil rights and Krumhorn immediately - immediately - rewrites that as melanin. He deliberately attempted to change FIGHTING RACISM - which a reading of our history supports - into black racism, which there is absolutely no historical basis for claiming. It's just a white guy trying to play whatever angle he can find:

The civil war wasn't over slavery either - it was all about "states rights".

That's why I've "changed"...; 11/24/14, 9:36 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "That's why I've "changed"..."

Crack,

The change of yours that I am most interested in is how Althouse and Meade, once non-racist friends, morphed into the practically-daily subject of a two-minute hate on your blog while you were staying away from here.

Now you are back: the question is -- if the knives in the back can come out so vigorously for those you attested to love, and then pretend to be conveniently forgotten, why would anyone want to honestly engage with you?; 11/24/14, 9:46 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Mike and Sue,

"Crack,
It just that I don't remember you being so beholden to the victim mentality."

Now you're doing it: you know there's 400 years of documented white oppression, but are now insisting whites aren't victimisers - they had nothing to do with it - it's only in black's heads. That's compounding the lie - and adding to our burden - while positioning the oppressors as innocent.

"Governance of the likes of Marian Berry cannot be a good thing for urban citizens."

Neither was complete unemployment under whites - we'll take such "corruption" any day.

"I am so glad Italian immigrants never bought into the whole victim mentality or I would be speaking Italian right now, angry at Whites, and unlikely to have accessed the American dream."

No, what you're glad about is Italians being accepted as white - a trick blacks can't accomplish. (The Irish got the call as well.) You don't read much American history, do you? I get it - it's much easier to lob ignorant statements, as facts, to blacks that way - but it's still racist and contributing to the furtherance of white racism.

"Corrupt Italian politicos would probably be getting my vote too."

If they helped Italians fight the racism they once faced - as all of them dumped on blacks?

Yeah, probably,...; 11/24/14, 9:48 AM
William said...: I suppose Richard Daley and Jams Michael Curley were scoundrels, but it's unfair to put them in the same class as Barry. There's a difference between taking it off the top and taking it all. Anyway, they rewarded their constituents, and Barry rewarded his friends, Black people did not prosper and thrive under his governance, but that was secondary to his real mission of flipping the bird to whites.; 11/24/14, 9:58 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Laslo Spatula,

"Crack,

The change of yours that I am most interested in is how Althouse and Meade, once non-racist friends, morphed into the practically-daily subject of a two-minute hate on your blog while you were staying away from here."

Supporting Scott Walker is a no-go. I made that clear to them - he's been repeatedly busted for racist hires - but as white folks, of course, they don't care about that. They care about his smile and cutting taxes, so they have more and the poor his staff laughs at have less.

Sorry, but that's racism in action - it doesn't matter to me how removed they think they are from his actions - they're allowing him the freedom to attack blacks. And he did, first thing: implementing drug testing for food stamps is just more racist bullshit.

"Now you are back: the question is -- if the knives in the back can come out so vigorously for those you attested to love, and then pretend to be conveniently forgotten, why would anyone want to honestly engage with you?"

Do the knives come out FOR them or FROM them? Who's in the power position here? I can't vote in Wisconsin. I don't have a blog that caters to racists. All I can do is watch what whites do to blacks and comment on them. And hardly anybody reads my blog - while everyone here eats up Ann's calls to "panic" over ebola while damaging the first black president by calling him "incompetent"- so how deep am I really stabbing THEM?

Ann's still on my blogroll - am I on hers? So who's really hurting who? See, whites will do that:

Blacks are now racist - we're not fighting 400 years of white racism, right? It doesn't exist, or hasn't for a long time, or never did - take your pick. Whites, here, will eat that shit up. The racists get fueled by it. And do Ann and Meade argue with them? Correct the story? Refer to history? Nope.

They post a link to Amazon instead.

My heroes,....; 11/24/14, 10:02 AM
The Godfather said...: I lived in and around DC during most of Barry's career. I don't dispute any of the critical comments about him, but there was something more. I was doing pro bono legal work for a church that had a plan to build housing for formerly homeless women while they were in abuse-treatment and job training. The "reform" mayor who was elected after the "bitch set Barry up", Sharon Pratt Kelly, sided with the NIMBYs who were trying to block the project. The administration imposed lots of hurdles we shouldn't have had to go through. We eventually prevailed, and when the project opened, Barry was Mayor again and attended the opening ceremonies, and praised what we'd built.; 11/24/14, 10:05 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: William,

"Black people did not prosper and thrive under his governance, but that was secondary to his real mission of flipping the bird to whites."

Black people LIVED - that's the standard of accomplishment we understand - we know whites are out there being "obstructionists," just as they are for Obama, so quit trying top pretend otherwise. And, as far as flipping the bird, you - like all the rest - conveniently leave out the "why". But I won't:

White's racism is and was an everyday reality.

Barry did good,...; 11/24/14, 10:06 AM
Krumhorn said...: See, Mike and Sue, I clearly said civil rights and Krumhorn immediately - immediately - rewrites that as melanin. He deliberately attempted to change FIGHTING RACISM - which a reading of our history supports - into black racism, which there is absolutely no historical basis for claiming. It's just a white guy trying to play whatever angle he can find:

One of your go-to broadside rhetorical tactics is to assert an authoritative reading of history or a blindness to it (take your choice) that is somewhat eccentric. And yet, you can't keep track of your own history in the space of an hour.

You called the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician a 'civil rights icon'...which he most assuredly was not...and repeatedly flailed against white racism, white resentment and white rewrites of history that "explains almost every problem blacks face today", all within the scope of two posts. And it was all in the effort to excuse the revolting conduct of a black politician that none of us would certainly never accept in a white politician

You and the Kluckers have a great deal in common. They made their own eccentric appeals to history along with a unique understanding of truth, those that disagreed were either blind or self-deceiving, and everything bad in their lives was the fault of the other racial group

My comment was not about black racism. It was about yours.

- Krumhorn; 11/24/14, 10:16 AM
richard mcenroe said...: Marion Barry was a thieving crackhead who oppressed his own people for the benefit of his white masters for years and the black community loved him for it.

In a way, it's the story of Barack Obama — and Crack's dream...; 11/24/14, 10:21 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Krumhorn,

"You called the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician a 'civil rights icon'...which he most assuredly was not..."

Mike and Sue, check the hostility here - the white man's been challenged - that's the driver he needs to play this game. So, was Barry a "civil rights icon" or not? Let's find out - Wikipedia:

"While in graduate school at Fisk, Barry was arrested several times while participating in the Nashville sit-ins and other Civil Rights Movement events. After graduating from Fisk, Barry worked further in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, focusing on the elimination of the racial segregation of bus passengers.

In 1960 Barry was elected the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Soon after becoming SNCC's chair Barry helped develop an organizing project in McComb, Mississippi. The project was both a voter registration and a direct action project. Barry and the other members of SNCC who went to McComb were able to pick which field they wanted to work in. Barry said that they lived with the local people instead of in hotels, motels, or their own houses because that was a way they could stay safe and learn what it was like to live there, and would be able to organize the members of SNCC accordingly."

That sounds pretty civil right-y to me. You can check the rest of his credentials - and they are many - for yourself.

"It was all in the effort to excuse the revolting conduct of a black politician that none of us would certainly never accept in a white politician."

Because a white politician, generally, doesn't fight white racism. That's the difference: Barry "got away" with things because everyone knew WHY he was doing it - except for whites who steadily denied there was any reason for helping blacks because (you know it) they've been the stewards for 400 years of niiiiice. Wikipedia again:

"The first time Barry noticed racial issues was when he had to walk to school while the white students were able to ride the bus."

See? 400 years of that and, whites think, there's no reasons for his actions - like flipping the bird. He was just a degenerate - and they are (as always) angels weathering his abuse.

"You and the Kluckers have a great deal in common. They made their own eccentric appeals to history along with a unique understanding of truth, those that disagreed were either blind or self-deceiving, and everything bad in their lives was the fault of the other racial group."

If you can prove that I'm wrong - using historical evidence - there's nothing stopping you. Don't talk and get pissed, big man, fight for white racial purity like you want to - it's your heritage. I don't mind:

I welcome opportunities to rub your face in our history - you need it as bad as I do - for reference.

"My comment was not about black racism. It was about yours."

When whites answer for what they've done - and force this nation to pay back the money it stole from blacks - I'll accept the claim blacks are racist.

Until then, you're just lying to yourself - which, I hear, makes whites feel a whole lot better.

For a while,...; 11/24/14, 10:31 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Krumhorn,

"You called the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician a 'civil rights icon'...which he most assuredly was not..."

PROVE IT.

That's your challenge, otherwise it's you who - like the Klan - "made their own eccentric appeals to history along with a unique understanding of truth, those that disagreed were either blind or self-deceiving, and everything bad in their lives was the fault of the other racial group"

You know, like we evil blacks and our racism, that comes out of nothing and nowhere to oppress the poor innocent white race,...; 11/24/14, 10:36 AM
Drago said...: The Crack Emcee: "Krumhorn,

"You called the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician a 'civil rights icon'...which he most assuredly was not..."

PROVE IT."

LOL

Can't prove a negative.

Logic is a trick of the whiteys!!!!; 11/24/14, 10:58 AM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/14, 10:58 AM
President-Mom-Jeans said...: I wish Crack could be more like Marion Barry.

Dead.; 11/24/14, 11:36 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: richard mcenroe,

"In a way, it's the story of Barack Obama — and Crack's dream..."

Nope - now there you're wrong. DEAD WRONG.

My dream is y'all would stop fighting - you're not attacking black racism but facts. Facts. Facts that say the America you know and defend is a lie.

And the more we look, there more there are, like that evil "suicide" letter to MLK emerging, as Hoover's name still sits atop FBI headquarters. Or the United States of America allowing 1000 Nazis to live here, social security included, while the lynching and torture of blacks was still common. Blacks got killed for wearing military uniforms. (You guys really don't think killing blacks has hurt our historical earning potential, do you?) And Joseph Smith,...well.

It makes American whites look South African-crazy, partially, but not in the least, because we also know - and blacks better than anyone - whites dominate the place through mass murder and theft. Like attempting to rationalize away a history that can, somehow, make American whites the victims of black's racism. It's cuckoo. We've been a white, bloody, kleptocracy much longer than we've been free. It's not like white people just popped out of box marked "new and improved". Instead, you're trying to smooth all the wrinkles out, by demanding there's no past - or, at least, not one that doesn't flatter.

That's why - after 400 years of pure bullshit - there's not a preponderance of movies about it. There should be, it's almost all we've experienced as a nation, yet there's hardly anything. 256 years of slavery are compressed into one textbook chapter about work. The number of films about the 12 years of WWII dwarf them. Shit, you want a thriller? Do a realistic version of what it was like for a lone black person an overnight drive across the United States in 1956. Hotels won't take you. Restaurants won't feed you. Gas station attendants can treat you as they see fit. The Klan in bed with the police department. Where is that represented in our culture, to put some perspective on blacks today? You don't care.

So, my dream is you begin to, because you, too, have started putting the puzzle together as well. Blacks had to leave slavery. There was no law. What was that like? "You had to sneak away."

You know there were "Whites Only" areas, so stop pretending blacks found freedom. Debt peonage, chain gangs, the further pure theft of black people's bodies and worth. Taxes but no justice. For 100+ years.

And, after all that, you seriously want to say you don't understand what the black community suffers from? Once again:

My dream is you do.

It's a nightmare,...; 11/24/14, 11:45 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/14, 11:54 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: FullMoon,

"until he began to use his talents to spin every dang post into a "you stole everything you have from my simple-minded, helpless ancestors".

Nice re-writing of history: did your "ancestors" redline black neighborhoods - the same neighborhoods I grew up in that couldn't get loans - or was it this same federal government depriving blacks of a decent life?

Did your "ancestors" make 100+ years of restrictive covenants and a dual mortgage system - "Whites Only" to the rest of you - or was it this same federal government depriving blacks of a decent life?

Did your "ancestors" take 100+ years of black's taxes - for services, facilities, and justice they couldn't expect - or was it this same federal government depriving blacks of a decent life?

Stay on that it-was-a-long-time-ago line and I'll use it against you every time,..; 11/24/14, 12:00 PM
Tank said...: The Crack Emcee said...

FullMoon,

"until he began to use his talents to spin every dang post into a "you stole everything you have from my simple-minded, helpless ancestors".

Nice re-writing of history: did your "ancestors" redline black neighborhoods - the same neighborhoods I grew up in that couldn't get loans - or was it this same federal government depriving blacks of a decent life?

My ancestors worked in sweatshops when they came over in the early 1900s. My parents, who worked in the civil rights movement, purposely moved us to a northern NJ town that was 30% black so we could live in a diverse environment. They started and owned a small business.

Did your "ancestors" make 100+ years of restrictive covenants and a dual mortgage system - "Whites Only" to the rest of you - or was it this same federal government depriving blacks of a decent life?

My ancestors were discriminated against in every way because they were Jewish. They were never in any position to create restrictive covenants or any other restrictions. To the contrary, they worked hard in support of MLK and believed in his cause.

Did your "ancestors" take 100+ years of black's taxes - for services, facilities, and justice they couldn't expect - or was it this same federal government depriving blacks of a decent life?

Black taxes - LOL. Funny.

Stay on that it-was-a-long-time-ago line and I'll use it against you every time,..

Not a long time ago. My ancestors, like most here, never did anything to hurt black people. Stop being a whining crying titty baby and pull up your damn pants.; 11/24/14, 12:13 PM
FullMoon said...: Mr. Crack MC screams; "Did your ancestors..."

Finally, a fresh argument... haha.
C.mon Mr. Crack, admit you are smiling most of the time you write this stuff.You delight in getting our white privileged asses all in a uproar. Foamin' at the mouth wishin' Crack was dead, etc,, Being a bit of a joker myself, I gotta admire your success at windin' 'em up.. I wish you would lay off the ebola stuff, though, as I am attempting to block out memories of being suckered by the MSM.

Back to Mr. Barry I saw a clip of him being busted for smoking crack in a sting operation. The guy was set up by authorities who used a prostitute/ informant who kept telling him, smoke first, sex after. Barry declined numerous times, then finally took a minimal looking hit and got arrested. Kind of a shameful situation in my mind.; 11/24/14, 12:31 PM
Meade said...: "Ann's still on my blogroll - am I on hers?"

She doesn't keep hate sites on her blogroll, no matter who is claiming to be her friend. That's just one of the many things that gives her integrity.

If you were to "do the right thing," you'd take her off your own blogroll.; 11/24/14, 12:42 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/14, 1:18 PM
Krumhorn said...: "You called the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician a 'civil rights icon'...which he most assuredly was not..."

PROVE IT.

Of course, we can't prove a negative. But we can certainly establish the foundation for the conclusion.

Oxford Dictionaries defines "icon" as: A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something

So let's explore. You always like the Wiki. Let's start there.

Here's the Wiki list of civil rights leaders. Close to 100 names are listed, and I don't see the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician on the list. One would hope that a civil rights icon might appear among the John Lewis, Joseph Lowery and George Mason crowd. Hell, even that reprobate, Louis Farrakhan is mentioned.

Black History Daily has an impressive list of 47 civil rights icons, and, alas, the dead crackhead scoundrel was missing.

Ah! Finally we get to a Wiki article on the African-American Civil Rights movement in which no where is the icon, Barry, mentioned but is listed at the end among a list of activists.

More compelling is the appearance of the dead degenerate corrupt ineffective politician among the various riders that disgorge from the political clown cars that pass by. A fitting and more 'iconic' representation of the man was his confirmation of the statement: Marion Barry can relate to Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner.

I was in Mississippi in '66 driving an old brown Jewel Metro van decorated with a bullet hole in the driver side door window and filled with children who had just integrated the white schools on their way to private after school tutoring traveling on roads where one side of the tracks were paved and the other side had dirt roads.

I don't ever recall seeing that slime bag corrupt crackhead Barry. But I do vividly recall some of the icons of the movement who were there. (Of course, this being the anonymous internet, anyone can be a prince)

And hardly anybody reads my blog

As you probably know, I am one of your very few readers and have been for quite a while. You used to be interesting. You are now on the borderline of being a caricature. The foamy racial spew I see from you now rivals what was heard when there was the sound of digging into the side of the Philadelphia reservoir.

I'm not terribly proud of it today, but later, when I was in flight training in Meridian, I used to dump my fuel tanks over that same reservoir. Seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Get a grip on yourself, buddy.

- Krumhorn; 11/24/14, 1:32 PM
Drago said...: Krumhorn: "I'm not terribly proud of it today, but later, when I was in flight training in Meridian, I used to dump my fuel tanks over that same reservoir. Seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

That's better than inadvertantly dumping fuel over a residential area on approach......(wait for it)...... on a halloween night.

For the record, I was not at the controls.; 11/24/14, 2:26 PM
Drago said...: Fullmoon: "Seriously, nobody comes from Cracks joint to AA. People go from AA to visit crackhouse."

And for the people who do venture over to cracks online crib, it is probably just a morbid curiosity not unlike that of watching Knievel jump the grand canyon when you know he's not going to make it.; 11/24/14, 2:28 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: This is a link about Barry by Matt Labash. Very, very good article.; 11/24/14, 8:41 PM