Detroit Mayor Indicted

Here is your homework assignment. Read the entire CNN article (click the link) and show me where Kwame Kilpatrick's political party is listed. I'll wait . . .

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and an ex-aide were charged Monday with perjury and obstruction of justice after prosecutors said sexually explicit text messages between the two contradicted their sworn court testimony.

Kilpatrick defiantly declared his innocence just an hour after the charges were announced.

"This has been a very flawed process from the beginning," said Kilpatrick at a press conference Monday. "I look forward to complete exoneration."

Yeah, Kwame - if that is your real name - good luck with that.

Kilpatrick, who is married, has been snarled in a well-publicized sex scandal since January after The Detroit Free Press reported he exchanged romantic text messages with his then-chief of staff, Christine Beatty.

The paper reported in January that in an analysis of nearly 14,000 text messages on Beatty's city-issued pager, it found some from 2002 and 2003 that indicated the two were having a romantic affair.

If you're dumb enough to send racy text messages on a city-issued pager, you deserve to get caught.

The newspaper report contradicted testimony Kilpatrick gave last August in a court case brought by police officers against the mayor and the city of Detroit alleging the mayor retaliated against the officers for their role in investigating his office. Critics alleged that Kilpatrick committed perjury in the case and called for his resignation.

Wait a minute. Perjury is a crime now? Why didn't anyone tell that to Bill Clinton?

Prosecutor Kym Worthy said she charged Kilpatrick and Beatty with multiple counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office in a 12-count indictment. The most serious charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Of course, prudence demands that Kilpatrick resign for the good of the city, right?

Last week, the Detroit City Council voted seven to one to ask Kilpatrick to resign, a city clerk said. The vote was non-binding and Kilpatrick has continued on the job.

Kilpatrick offered an abject apology to his constituents January 30, but remained adamant he would not resign. (H/T - CNN)

Whoops. How silly of me to think that an indicted politician would resign from office. I guess Kilpatrick doesn't want to follow Eliot Spitzer's lead. Go figure.

Oh, and as for that homework assignment? Unless CNN updates the story, you will not find Kilpatrick's party affiliation, but he is a Democrat. I wonder if it would have been posted had Kwame been a Republican?