Report from Detroit

Elizabeth in Michigan sends us this gloomy summary of politics in Michigan. Sounds even worse than the people running the UK, I think!

"I live in a country headed by George Bush.
Nothing else needs to be said.

I live in a state headed by Jennifer Granholm.
Under her leadership, Michigan's economy has sunk lower and lower and lower. (A recent Michigan opinion poll put her approval rating 1 point higher than that of Bush).

And the latest tidbit - the lead story on all the national news: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in jail.

Well, you can say this, I guess: This list makes for a beautiful mix of politics (Granholm is a Democrat), gender and race.

Grrrrrrrrr."

From www.bloomberg.com:

Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick spent a night in jail. For Jim Street, a 26-year-old resident of suburban Riverview, it's another chapter in a saga that has gone on for too long.

``His time is over, man,'' Street said as he queued up for food at a Detroit Lions exhibition game against the National Football League New York Giants Aug. 7. ``If he would have resigned awhile ago, it all could have been avoided.''

Kilpatrick, a Democrat first elected in 2001, was jailed for violating terms of his bond in a perjury case by making an unauthorized business trip to Canada. The 38 year-old mayor and his former chief of staff were charged with perjury and related crimes in March for allegedly lying under oath when they denied having an affair. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Kilpatrick left prison yesterday and addressed his staff at city hall, said mayor's office spokesman James Canning. The mayor ``thanked us for our support and told us to continue with our duties for the city,'' Canning said.