Just another distinguished member of the democrat party.
I'm sure it's somehow Bush's fault, in fact, he was probably just saving the Constitution.
*********************************************************** Commentary: Sen. John Ford’s Constituents Should Thank Him for His Service, Then Show Him the Door
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Something that a University of Memphis history professor recently said troubled me. Mostly because I fear he’s right.
The professor, Charles Crawford, told the Associated Press that the reason why embattled Tennessee state Sen. John Ford, a Memphis Democrat, may not be tossed out of office by his constituents is because he’s “the African-American political leader that a lot of white people love to hate, and that makes him a hero in his district.”
Some hero he is.
The political legacy that the 62-year-old Ford began building in the 1970s is quickly devolving into the stuff of a “Jerry Springer Show” episode. During a hearing earlier this year on whether his child support payments should be increased, Ford told a judge that he was responsible for maintaining two households – one with his pregnant ex-wife and their three children, and another with a girlfriend and their two children.
And neither one of those women were responsible for Ford being in that hearing. A third woman whom he had impregnated was the one who wanted more money from him.
Sounds to me as if he may be more Mack Daddy than lawmaker.
And the fallout behind Ford’s peccadilloes is mounting.
Since neither house that Ford keeps with his ex-wife or girlfriend is in his district, the revelation that he travels between them has led to questions as to whether he lives in the area he represents. He is also being investigated on ethics charges for receiving more than $230,000 from a consulting company with financial ties to the state’s Medicaid program for the poor. He even wrote a law on his own behalf; a law that keeps child support payments lower when a father has to support other children.
But in spite of Ford’s scandalous behavior and dubious ethics, I can see how he may very well wind up being more victim than villain to the people he represents.
Many times, black people in poor, struggling districts tend to respond to the person who articulates their anger and their frustration over their lives. The economic and social isolation, plus the feelings of victimization by a larger society tend to create a feeling of “us versus them.”
Because of that, embattled public figures like Ford are viewed as a metaphor for all the evils that dog black people. Many of us tend to automatically defend our celebrities and elected officials, because we see them as one of us. We see the white reporter asking tough questions of people like Ford as attacking the race, not trying to inform us about someone who may not be operating in our best interest.
That makes it easy for politicos like Ford to claim that they are the victim of the “white media.” But those who are tempted to buy into that excuse need to get a grip. And soon.
Ford is no victim of the media. He’s a victim of his own bad judgment, hubris and lack of control. The media didn’t make him go out and create his own harem. He did that. And it didn’t make him abuse his power either. He did that.
What also makes Ford’s situation even worse is that he became involved in politics in the 1970s, during a time when the white power structure was really working hard to discredit and destabilize strong black leaders. So to me, Ford, of all people, should have known better than to fulfill the worse stereotypes that many white people already hold about men like him.
Yet it is a certainty that at some point, Ford’s personal troubles will become so burdensome that it will limit his effectiveness in office. And his constituents need to consider that.
They shouldn’t view this situation in terms of what’s black and white, but in terms of what’s real. They need to ask themselves whether he is the best they can do. They need to ask themselves whether they are hurting white people – many of whom want to brand poor black people as unintelligent anyway – or are they hurting themselves if they keep a guy like Ford in office and all his accompanying baby mama drama.
Ford may have done some good things in his time. If so, it’s time for the people in his district to thank him. And to tell him goodbye