I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
When Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, were both charged with criminal counts including conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury, what followed was a classic example of a gender-triggered double standard.
The most obvious inequity is that Christine Beatty lost her job, and Kilpatrick did not. Beatty wrote in her resignation statement, “I believe it is clear that I can no longer effectively carry out duties as chief of staff.” But Kilpatrick felt his duties where not compromised, saying in a address to the city, “Make no mistake about it, since 2002 I have been in charge of the city.” He later implied that Beatty’s resignation was appropriate, saying she did what she had to do.
But Kilpatrick was charged with a very crucial criminal count that Beatty didn’t — a charge of misconduct in office for authorizing the city to spend $8.4 million in a settlement to former police whistle-blowers. That’s what many consider to be the crux of the scandal: lots of money lost in a city that dearly needs every penny.
“[Bush] and his administration have acted like nothing sticks to them, and they’ve gotten away with a lot, so why shouldn’t Kilpatrick follow suit?,” asked Susan Douglas, chair of the Communication Studies Department at the University of Michigan.
Continued -Last week Beatty was ordered by a magistrate to wear an electronic tether to keep her from leaving the state, while Kilpatrick and his wife flew to Texas to go to church. Then the tether was removed three days later, but the fact still remains: The scandalous woman has undergone the shame and agony of having to deal with a tether, and the scandalous man is free to do as he pleases. When asked why the bonds were different for Kilpatrick and Beatty, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment. Prosecutor Kym Worthy filed a motion last week, seeking to increase restrictions on the mayor’s travel bond. Instead Judge Paula Humphries ruled Friday to reduce Kilpatrick’s travel limitations by allowing him international travel, but requiring him to get permission if he leaves the state or personal reasons.
“Whether it’s the money, the job, the public humiliation or the tether, Christine Beatty has been treated in a completely different, inhumane manner than the mayor,” said Sam Riddle, political consultant and chief of staff to Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers.
Meanwhile Kilpatrick has made it clear that he is still the mayor, receiving his paychecks as usual, traveling and being chauffeured around the city flanked by bodyguards, all the while claiming to be “on an assignment from God.”” He made it clear that he believes the same scandal that would prevent Beatty from carrying out her duties would not compromise his ability as mayor.
In testimony to the court in December, Kilpatrick responded sharply to allegations of an affair between Beatty and himself saying, “I think it is absurd to assert that every woman who works for a man is a whore.”
“There’s clearly a double standard,” said Jerry Herron, director of the American Studies Program and the Honors Program at Wayne State University. “It relates to unresolved issues around gender and power in American society,” he said.
As for Beatty’s defense, she will be paying out of pocket if she wants to keep high-profile lawyer Mayor Morganroth at her side. The legal defense fund was set up solely for Kilpatrick. The members of the Unified Coalition of Detroit said they plan to open a legal defense fund for her as well. It is true that she is a defendant with felony charges, like the mayor, but unlike her former boss, she is a single mother who has lost her job and, as a first-year law student, she will face obstacles obtaining her law license (she was a law student at WSU but is currently not enrolled).
Beatty’s experiences are nothing new. Weeks ago when U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s husband was caught with a prostitute, he walked off and the prostitute was arrested.
Similar double standards apply to gay and straight politicians in sex scandals. Last year Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was asked to resign for being arrested during a men’s room sex sting, while Louisiana Sen. David Vitter was embraced by his peers.
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