Paid Distraction

 

If I had the chance to talk to Mike Williams, The first thing I would ask him. "Which union are you representing"? You do know there are two. The department as a whole seems to be moving ahead without either one of them. The council just approved the police budget with everything they were asking for. The union's demands weren't even part of the negotiations. According to Mike Williams their raises would cost around $2M for the whole force. This campaign has cost the city more than that already. That's a mere fraction of the $241.5M allotted for year 2014.

This little tidbit slid under the rug. Black citizens haven't noticed that the Memphis police have only took their fight to the street in the white community. I don't have the statistics to prove my point. But I bet East Memphis has some of the lowest crime numbers in the city. Except maybe  car thefts and speeding tickets. Most adult residents have a car. They held up signs at Poplar and Highland. Why didn't they take their fight to Airways and Lamar or Brooks and Elvis Presley? If  they really want to get to the heart of the matter. They would stage their protest at Third and Crump.  That's where all the crime is happening. But they won't go there. Six to eight blocks away drunks can walk the streets after a night out on Beale. But in the poor neighborhoods you can't sit on your front porch.

This whole thing reminds me of an episode of  "The Boondocks".  With Mike Williams being our local version of Rev. Rollo Goodlove.. He talks a good game in front of  the  t.v. cameras and on WDIA. But it's a different story behind closed doors or when talking to people who really know the deal.. The Commercial Appeal doesn't even acknowledge him as the leader. He is about as effective as Janis Fullilove on the city council. She is only one vote out of  thirteen. She can talk the whole meeting but that doesn't mean a thing if the other members don't agree. It excites her base while the people who make the decisions focus on other things. Since they both are employed by the city. Whether they accomplish anything or not their salary stays the same. They're nothing but a paid distraction.