Fields quits ExecCom

So says Fox13; according to the story, Fields resigned to avoid any problems for the party, presumably to avoid any more ouster attempts and and more division. sounds like unnecessary problem dodged, right? WRONG.

THIS little gem is buried in the story: Norman says the ExecCom will meet on June 28 and consider banning Fields from the party for LIFE.

Look, folks, you haven't done a DAMN thing since you got elected, and you don't need to fool around with this crap. You're starting to prove Upton right when he says you don't get anything done; this is a waste of time. How does fooling with this get any Democratic candidate elected?

Where's the ward & precinct? There's no Kennedy Day dinner this year, where's the fundraising? Some of the people on the committee have told me that they have trouble getting the Chair to respond to anything.

It's time to LEAD, Brother Norman; Fields is GONE and y'all need to move on and ACCOMPLISH something.

UPDATE: My sources tell me they have planned a fundraiser for July 26 at the Rendezvous from 5-6:30 P.M., no $$ amount known at this time. Well, it's a start, but why did it take this long? Also, they need to cancel the meeting to permanently ban Fields; if his House District wants to keep electing him (why they would, I don't know), it's their RIGHT, and the ExecCom does not have the right to usurp the power of the Democratic electorate of that district.

CORRECTION: David Holt reports that the meeting was scheduled prior to the Fields funfest, my apologies.

Brassmask and Autoegocrat dissect the "2007 Political Conspiracy"

B rocks the house HARD with this lengthy but precise post.

Please go read all of it, even though it's long (print it out if you have to), because it tears apart the cases of both Mayor Herenton and Richard Fields regarding this ludicrous tale of a potential sex scandal.

Then, back it up with Autoegocrat's excellent commentary on B's essay, they're both so good that I'm only linking to them, you need to read them both.

Go do it, it's the weekend and you have time.

Then, you'll understand why the whole thing is bogus and the last act of desperate people, and I'm NOT talking about Gwendolyn Smith!

UPDATE: Bob at 55-40 has a terrific take on this as well.

This is beyond the pale

Mayor Herenton's Captain Queeg-like performance at his news conference on Thursday was arguably the strangest political event I have witnessed in my 35 years as a Memphian (as of Sunday!).

Of course, Richard Fields has denied the allegations of the "waitress", Gwendolyn Smith, saying that she had told them she knew of Herenton partying with strippers at the Madison Hotel.

Look, our player of a mayor is 67 years old, unmarried, and I don't care what he does in his private life, as long as I don't have to watch. It's not my business as long as all the parties involved are consensual and of legal age, and no one has suggested otherwise.

It is the TIMING of all of this that interests me, one month from the filing deadline and just as Chris Davis at the Flyer has begun to dig hard into what may be a scandal with the sale of Memphis Networx. Coinky-dink? I think not.

This could blow up in his face, as well as that of Herman Morris, and what better way to divert attention from the Networx fiasco than to have this pop up? I haven't been watching Bush and Rove operate all these years for nothing, folks, and I would not put it past Herenton to have known about this before this time and waited until now to make a fuss about it.

Look, I CAN'T sound any more paranoid with this idea than Herenton did at his presser; all he needed was to roll a couple of steel ball bearings in his hand and it would have been Queeg on trial all over again. He invoked that God had revealed this "plot" to him, clearly playing to his base, desperately hoping for sympathy.

He ain't getting it here, that's for sure. If yesterday didn't convince you of his lack of fitness for duty beyond December 31, do us all a favor and don't vote; this city cannot survive four more years of his mismanagement, as the arrow keeps pointing downward.

Thaddeus has the right to crow this morning

For over a year, Thaddeus Matthews has attacked local attorney Richard Fields.  His latest story suggested that Fields was involved in a plot with local car dealer Russell Gwatney and the cousin of one of Fields' ex-wives to involve the Mayor in a sex plot.

Guess what?  Marc Perrusquia of the CA has picked up the story!  This sounds, as my friend Richmond put it, Keystone Kops-like in its descriptions.  I would be remiss if I failed to note that several of Thad's commenters have poked holes in it already, but l am waiting to see what Perrusquia does with this in future days.

H/T to Darrell Phillips at MMP.