That's the big story coming out of the District of Columbia today. Ex-con, Mayor-for-Life and city councilman Marion Barry fell afoul of two teen thugs who robbed him at gunpoint after he paid them to carry groceries for him (if you believe that...) and after he let them back into his apartment when they came back again later.
For those of you who live in the civilized rest of the world, Marion Barry is practically a god in the District. He was mayor for a couple of terms and it was under his "leadership" that many of DC's businesses fled and it's neighborhoods slid down into practical anarchy. During his third term, he was arrested after being caught by the FBI smoking crack with a prostitute in a seed DC motel. Charged with 12 felonies, a DC jury only convicted him of one misdemeanor drug possession charge and he was booted from office and locked up for six months.
When he got out of prison, DC voters re-elected him right back onto the city council and then elected him mayor again. After his last term, he tried to run for another council seat but the US Park Police found him in a car with another hooker and cocaine and marijuana residue. This case was never taken forward by the US Attorney but it scuttled his political career for that election cycle. He ran for council again in 2000 and got elected in large part by courting ex-cons and working the jails and housing projects for votes. DC allows many criminals to vote and Barry's re-election proves why this is a bad idea. And frankly anyone who thinks that the District of Columbia deserves more voting rights should keep this in mind as well. If DC was allowed two senators or a voting congressman tomorrow, there's a good chance that those knuckleheads would elect Barry.
But fast-forward to this robbery. These kids stuck him up in his own apartment and his response was to call a press conference and promise not to allow them to be prosecuted if they'd just return his wallet. He then issued a statement that said that he felt "hurt and betrayed" by this robbery because as Barry 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,"
Barry still sees himself as an underworld celebrity that the thugs automatically respect and leave alone. Come on, DC voters...pull your heads out of your asses and quit putting this guy up there as your champion.
It's ironic that Barry used this press conference to call for more gun control in the District even though he won't prosecute these particular thugs, and it's also noteworthy that the District has had a total ban on firearms of any sort for over 25 years now. I guess someone didn't tell Barry's little playmates about that.
This is even funnier than the time that Barry was down on his luck and without a car. The residents of the 8th Ward--DC's poorest section--pitched in and pooled their money and bought Barry a new Cadillac just because they didn't want to see their icon riding the bus. Barry drove the car for a few months and then someone stole it when he left it parked on a street in that same 8th Ward. This gave rise to the saying that "the Ward giveth and the Ward taketh away."
But congratulations, Mayor Barry. You ran the city into the ground and turned it into a slum and a third-world cesspool, and you finally reaped some of what you sowed.
One final note is that Barry recently pled guilty to not paying federal or District of Columbia taxes on any of his pay from his last council term. He's due to be sentenced in a couple of weeks, but I'm sure that whatever happens, DC's ignorant, thug-loving voters will be only too happy to retain him in office.
PS--if it later turns out that Barry was really ripped off during another drug deal, I for one won't be surprised one bit.
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