Straight From Dewey's Mouth

 

Today the radio talkshow "Realtalk" stumbled on something that was actually newsworthy. The show "Realtalk" is a local broadcast, that mainly deals with the mindset of some of our backwards thinking citizens. Fortunately they just make up a small number of Memphians. In my opinion there are still too many out there. I think most of them call or listen to this show. Jennings Bernard had a guest that had something relevant to say, for a change. Usually it's just an hour of his one-sided views, and those that agree with him. Except for the occasional unbiased caller like Otis and myself. Dewey Clark the former executive assistant to the former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, agreed to do a interview. Opponents of Mayor Willie Herenton have built a federal case(no pun intended), around the exchange of $9000. Willie Herenton besides being the Mayor of Memphis, is a millionaire. Why would he put all this on the line for a mere $9000? Only someone with limited knowledge of finance would come to this shortsighted conclusion.

Mr. Clark stated that he has repeatedly tried to give the local media the true story. Since it didn't indict the mayor, they didn't want to hear what he had to say. Much to my dismay he repeatedly mentioned my favorite local newsource, WREC Channel 3 News. After thinking about it, I guess that's a good thing though. They didn't lie just to make a story, as obviously they could have done. After hearing what Mr. Clark had to say about the mayor. I can see why no one televised his statement. Jennings Bernard claimed he changed his story. In their original conversation he understood him to say, that money changed hands. His point of argument seemed to change, after Mr. Clark gave his interview. I'm not surprised he didn't understand what Mr. Clark said. He usually gets the cow by the tail. I listened to what he had to say, and I perfectly understood everything he said. He plainly stated Mayor Willie Herenton never received a bribe from him. The reason Mayor Herenton was implicated to begin with, was due to Mayor Campbell and his attorneys trying to divert attention. Mr. Clark testified that he accepted bribes for Mayor Bill Campbell who was the one on trial anyway. He repeated several times that he didn't think Mayor Willie Herenton was that kind of man. Mr. Clark has never changed his statements. He gave AJC.com as a site on the internet, everyone can go to and find the documentation. You can also retrieve the transcripts of the actual trial. You can't be more accurate than that.

In all fairness, you must admit the money did change hands. If the IRS doesn't file charges, the mayor must be clean. If someone just gave you $9000, wouldn't you take the cash? I think the money was given in exchange for favors. That doesn't mean the favors were granted. Had the mayor been crooked, that would just have been a drop in the bucket. Mayor Herenton has always maintained, at the first sign of impropriety in the relationship he backed out. When you discover someone isn't going to go along with the game, do you ask for your money back? That would be like an admission of guilt, by the one who gave the money.Dewey Clark is just being a standup guy, not being a snitch so to speak. They went after Mayor Willie Herenton, he just didn't take the bait.