Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Steve Ross is my friend, and I am proud of him.

I am proud of the grace that he showed today when his nomination to the Metro Charter Commission was pulled back by Mayor Wharton due to opposition from At-Large Councilor Joe Brown. He never complained or whined, and he was grateful to be considered.

He never even got a vote because Wharton got the yips at the first sign of trouble. Consensus has its DISadvantages, folks; if Wharton does this every time Joe Brown whines, Joe Brown may as well be Mayor.

I. however, do not pretend that I have the grace or restraint of Steve Ross, so I am pissed off.

Brown was upset about some things Ross had written about him, so he raised hell and tried to provoke a fight with Councilor Shea Flinn, who had supported Steve from the beginning. From the Daily News article, Brown said this to Flinn:

“I’m a real man,” Brown told Flinn at the end of the exchange. “I’m a real black man. I hope you are a real white man.”


Councilor Brown, are you THAT insecure about your manhood? Are you THAT thin-skinned about what Ross wrote? You kept referring to Steve as THAT BLOGGER, never even referring to him by name. Well, I'm a blogger and I'm a man, too, and what you did to Steve Ross was not exactly manly, pal.

Never mind that Ross has written the most though- provoking work this year on the Charter and the changes that need to be made, your manhood was apparently in danger, so you whined like a little girl until Wharton backed down and pulled Steve Ross, and then you didn't even have the guts to vote on Ross' replacement, Richard Smith. At least Janis Fullilove had the intestinal fortitude to stand up for what she believed in when she voted no, but you did nothing.

I don't know about North Memphis, but I know enough about South Memphis and the Mound to know what they would say about that: "You a punk, Joe Brown!". And if I see you out and about, I'll say it to your face.

Joe Brown's pettiness and churlishness didn't just hurt his friends, it hurt the COMMUNITY. Joe Brown disrespected Steve Ross, he disrespected the blogging community, he disrepected the CITY OF MEMPHIS. Richard Smith is a good guy and he will be a solid addition, this is not about him at all, this is about what Steve Ross brought to the table for all of us. Now, he won't have a chance to help shape what this community will be in the future, and it's a damn shame.

And all because Joe Brown is a punk.

7 comments:

Newscoma said...

Amen, Cracker!

Tom Guleff said...

This defines Memphis, more times than not. Steve Ross is a bright and sincere fellow, and Memphis needs him. Just another opportunity flushed by the political class. How sad.

Smart City Consulting said...

As is too often the case around here, it's the good people who are the first to be attacked. Steve would be the preeminent members of the charter commission.

Vvixen said...

Wow, am I the only one struck that not only were Joe Brown's remarks racist, they were also blatantly sexist? "I'm a real man. A real black man!" What was that really all about? Male dogs snarl at each other like that when they fight for dominance. Was this just a pissing match? I thought it was about appointing a Charter Commission to represent the citizen's interests. It's too bad Steve Ross got sacrificed so that Joe Brown could prove to the new mayor that he's got balls.

callmeishmael said...

Too bad they couldn't just admit their mutual humanity and--well--then go at it! To do so, however, would imply something beyond the usual Memphis way of making decisions.

Anonymous said...

I'm wanting to see you call Shithook Joe a punk to his face, and I hope you stroke his sorry ass out while you're at it.

captainkona said...

LOL,

You flatlanders have all the fun in this state.

You can't get a TN-1 politician out of their tomb long enough to start some drama.