Upon proofreading one of my articles in which I — for the second time — called County Prosecutor Tim McGinty a prick, my wife dryly commented, “Yeah, it takes one to know one.”
I immediately wanted to take umbrage at her comment, but on second thought, I figured I’d better not open that kettle of fish: She had me dead to rights and she knew it. I too can be a prick.
Ask any of the young people who work — or have worked — at our vineyard (in confidence of course) what they think of me and my dictatorial style, and virtually all of them would characterize me as a prick, and I completely understand why. I’m hard-driving, I take few excuses, and I cut through their bullshit when they come at me sideways with weak-assed reasons for not performing up to my expectations.
My goal is to win, not make friends, and if it takes being a prick to get these young workers where they need to be in terms of improving their soft skills (such as being on time and seeing tasks through to the end) then so be it: I guess I am a prick where I have to be. But I’m a prick with a purpose. I’m attempting to turn ill-raised youth into productive citizens.
I feel the same holds true regarding McGinty. He’s so focused on getting the job done he doesn’t have time for the niceties, backslapping and telling people what they might want to hear that most other politicians constantly engage in. His mind cuts straight to the chase, and he too doesn’t take any prisoners. And I have to admit I admire that about him.
Nonetheless, on the Tamir Rice case, the prosecutor is as wrong as two left shoes. And while I believe that he (at least in his own mind) feels that he is being sincere, honest and fair in his handling of the case I still strenuously and vigorously disagree with him, and always will.
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Now, with that said, on to the recent meeting of the Democratic Executive Committee at John Hay High School, where both Tim McGinty and Michael O’Malley were vying for the party’s endorsement, which neither of them got due to the rather large number of delegates abstaining. Does this outcome portend signs of life and intelligence among black voters? We shall see.
However, the real winners that evening were the members of the Black Lives Matter movement and the loser was my beloved and admired Congresswoman Marcia Fudge.
In a matter of days the young protestors organized and spread the word far and wide enough to convince many of the black delegates to abstain from voting for either candidate, thus counteracting Congresswoman Fudge’s efforts to swing the endorsement for O’Malley. As the titular head of the party (at least on the predominately black east side of Cuyahoga County), this has to come as a bit of a blow to her stature and influence.
Reportedly Fudge held a conference call with the delegates and directed her followers to vote for O’Malley, but, according to sources that were on the call, she never set forth a clear reason for her decision to back someone so close to former prosecutor Bill Mason. Which is all the more interesting since allegedly it was Mason who spent a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars when he first took over the prosecutor’s office in an attempt to find something he could indict his predecessor, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, on. Fudge was also a target of that scurrilous — and thankfully failed — attempt.
But never underestimate the determination of the Mason/O’Malley mob. In a laughable attempt to sway black votes towards voting for the safety director from Parma, the rumor was disseminated that, if McGinty came out as the endorsed candidate, that would cause black voters to stay away from the polls in the upcoming presidential election, thus hurting Hillary’s chances of winning the White House. Please.
Obviously some candidate in the county believes that black voters have shit for brains — and I don’t think that candidate is Tim (The Prick) McGinty.
More on this contest later …
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.
One Response to “MANSFIELD: It Takes One To Know One”
Dick Peery
Congresswoman Fudge’s reasoning seems crystal clear to me: If an elected official violates the public interest, the only thing we can do is take him out of office. If we keep him, we endorse his actions, including the incredible handling of the death of Tamir Rice. Maybe his successor will be worse or maybe he will get the message: If you mess up we’ll do the same to you. That’s democracy. Abstentions are just a weak cop out when people are chosen to represent their communities. It means decisions will be made only by special interests. It’s like quarterbacking from the stands instead of on the playing field.