Well if this doesn't say something to the citizens of Philadelphia, about the aloof-head THEY re-elected -->

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/7185828.htm

Jill Porter | STREET: NOTHING'S BROKEN
SAYS THERE'S NO NEED FOR HEALING
By Jill Porter
porterj@phillynews.com

THE CAMPAIGN stop was over and John Street was walking back to his Fairmount Park trolley.

It was only mid-morning but it was already turning into an Election Day as reprehensible as the campaign: marred by violence, tainted by intimidation.

"The campaign was disgusting, terrible," said teacher Linda Anderson, who'd arrived early at the polling place, at the William D. Kelley School, 28th and Oxford streets in North Philadelphia, to vote.

"I wanted it to be about issues," she said. But she watched it disintegrate into something else entirely.

She lauded Street for his record, for the towed cars and safer streets and improvements in education that had enabled her to transfer her 11-year-old son back to public school.

"I feel our city is making its way back," she said. "I want the improvements to continue."

But Anderson worried not only about the city's national image that was damaged by the ugliness, she said - but about how we'd come back together when it was all over.

And now, on the morning of Election Day, it was all over.

But Street seemed neither relieved nor mellowed by the comfortable cushion of a 20-point lead in the polls.

"It'll be much closer than that," he scoffed.

Street was still riled from the campaign, still embroiled in the rivalry, still harboring rancor.

He was still calling Sam Katz a "whiner," saying he'd personally endured "some of the most despicable, low-down" verbal assaults from Katz supporters without complaint.

"This isn't a tea party," he said, with scorn.

True enough.

But it didn't have to be a bloodbath, either.

And that's what it was, with injuries and indignities inflicted on voters up to the end of one of the most divisive campaigns in memory.

Now, the question was obvious: How could we recover from the wrenching descent into gutter politics?

And as John Street made his way back to his trolley tour, I asked him how he intended to heal the deep wounds of the vicious campaign.

Reach out to Katz? Use the balm of inclusive, conciliatory rhetoric? What did he plan to do to bring us back together?

And he said, simply and impossibly:

No healing was necessary.

Katz fomented racial conflict where there wasn't any, Street declared, insisting that "30 days from now" the toxic dust of racial division will have dissipated and harmony will have been restored.

"I had a peaceful administration for four years," he said. "I'm the only mayor who hasn't had a significant racial incident."

He took no responsibility for the tone of the campaign, and was unconvinced, it seemed, of the need for any reconciliation.

Was he being stubbornly blind? Self-righteously naive? Was he still raw from the campaign?

But last night, even after Street's victory, the call for healing came from Katz.

Today, perhaps, John Street will think better of his short-sighted words.

Today, perhaps, he can rise above his own resentments and recognize the work he has ahead.

Because today, his job is to somehow clear the battlefield and rebind the fabric of our tattered civic tapestry.

If not, John Street will only be a victor, not a winner.

If not, the next four years bode ill.

And we'll never achieve the peace, progress and prosperity that Linda Anderson and every other voter in this city deserves.

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[ PHILLYTIM.NET ]
ROCK AND ROLL HAS ARRIVED & THE STREET SHACKLES ON THIS CITY ARE GONE!

One thing that I will boldly mention is that the past 4 weeks have sent a clear message to me.

It's ok to be a racist.

And I further admit that, by the end of these past 4 weeks yesterday, a fraction of my vote for Sam Katz was because he is white. And a fraction of my vote for Sam Katz was because he is a Republican.

And I feel good about that.

And while I never called anyone the "N" word, it seems clearer to me that it applies to a certain upper-top figurehead in this region. And obviously that word is only used in a dire extreme as a bad, but justified, connotation to someone. Obviously not everyone of a certain race.

Just my thoughts. Care to share yours?

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[ PHILLYTIM.NET ]
ROCK AND ROLL HAS ARRIVED & THE STREET SHACKLES ON THIS CITY ARE GONE!

First and foremost. I don't think that anything justifies using or implying that word. Once you imply that, all that you do is promote emotional attacks and get nothing productive in returrn.

At the same time, you are noth the first person to point to the apparent racist attitude of some people in minority communities within this city. Do you really think that racism was the deciding factor here? Or was it more partisan politics?

Both. Blacks the voted for street did so because he was black. Whites the voted for Street did so because of their irrational fear of all thing Red.

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Jason
Lynn Swann 06'

"Individualism is absent when other peoples' standards, not reality and reason, are ones primary guide."

What racism are we talking about? What is the "apparent racist attitude" amongst "some people in minority communities?" Also, please call a spade a spade - what other community could you be referring to in this race besides blacks?

Why is it that black people cannot vote for someone because we like them, or because they've done a good job for us? Do you all really truly believe black people are so dumb that the ONLY reason they would vote for a candidate is because he is black? Not to say that his race was not PART of the reason they voted for him, but the ONLY reason? And what about the 75% of white people who voted for Katz? WHY DO YOU ALL REFUSE TO DISCUSS THAT?!!!!

Tim, if you want to start using the N word, walk up to his face and call him that, it is easy to sit behind a keyboard and spew crap like that, follow up your actions.

That word is obviously one high up in your vocabulary, and opbviously you think there are times to use it, well this is not one of those times, you may not like a man for his politics, but you call a black man the N word and it makes you just as bad as the guy weilding the 2x4 who hit someone over a campaign.

It's funny how you'll say Katz was going to bring people together, but as one of his supporters using the N word would have been in direct conflict with just that.

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I never once heard a white person say that if you vote for a black candidate you are less white.

While listening to tons of black talk radio I heard that numerous times, if you don't vote street you are selling "us" out, or you should be kicked out of the race....

Why is it that in the black community a different point of view is often seen, not as a person that comes to conclusions based on their own reasoning, but simply selling out the race.

"We" have to stop that

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Black conservatives are always called Uncle Tom's by other blacks. They call Colin Powell Bush's house slave. It's dispicable.

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Jason
Lynn Swann 06'

"Individualism is absent when other peoples' standards, not reality and reason, are ones primary guide."

Indigo,

I used the word apparent, because I am not sure that any or all of the accusations are true. They have been made by several people here and elsewhere. From what I have heard, the attitudes that were anti-Katz simply because he was a white candidate were not believed to have been solely expressed by just black people. One accusation that was made on the radio, (forgive me for paraphrasing) alleged that "race baters were out in droves firing up blacks, latinos and asian people throughout the city." How true do you think this is?

I don't claim that these are true, that is why I am asking what everyone's thoughts on this are. But you raise a good question: What about the racist attitudes of some of the white voters? Are the accusations of racism just bitterness and racism in disguise?


But which party/candidate/campaign do you think made race an issue in this election?

As we talked about on the blog, I think black people think that we should act as a collective unit. To many, a vote for Katz is a vote against neighborhood improvement, and when the majority of us live in the neighborhood, it is a vote against us. I don't think calling people Uncle Tom or saying they should be kicked out the race is right. Our forefathers fought for the right for us to be able to think for ourselves and come to whatever conclusions we wish. I will vehemently disagree with you, but no one holds a monopoly on blackness - no one can take it away despite your opinions.

That being said, I know Wil, that you don't feel any special attachment to black people based on our shared history and present situation, but realize that a lot of people, myself included, think that your attitude is despicable in light of the fact that people died for you to enjoy the freedoms you have today. To turn your back - which is what you do when you don't acknowledge your responsibility for us as a people just as our ancestors acknowledged their responsibility for YOU - makes many people's stomachs turn.