Bram & The Trib weigh in on Ford-Gate.

Today, Bram from the Pgh Comet & The Tribune Review weighed in on the growing suspicion around the administration and its' dealings with the URA. There seems to be a rising tide of questions about how business is being done on Grant Street. Expect a larger chorus of interrogators to descend on the 5th Floor of the City County Building with questions about corruption in the Ravenstahl Administration. Whether the allegations are true, the deeper scrutiny into city affairs will provide a level of transparency that in the end will benefit not only city government itself, but more importantly the taxpayers who support it.

The Trib pulled no punches today in an editorial entitled: A putrid deal: Hush Money It starts off a little something like this...

"Is the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh a corrupt criminal enterprise? Is the administration of Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl? We are forced to ask these serious questions in light of activities that reasonable people could conclude suggest both."

If you thought the intro was juicy check out the conclusion...

"Now, the URA will pay Pat Ford six months beyond his contract expiration to prevent him from making further public allegations and from filing a lawsuit. Well, if Ford's allegations are baseless, and therefore reckless, why's he being paid off? And what was Ford going to sue for? He wasn't terminated, he quit, under an ethics cloud, and he's not even in town anymore. This deal is putrid. Somebody's hiding something. Who? And what? Both are great questions for a grand jury."

This morning Mr. Bram from the Pgh Comet provided us with a Keith Olbermann-esque analysis and call to action for all citizen's of Pittsburgh.

"We must make ready to shoulder this burden on our own. Whatever entreaties ought be facilitated to higher authorities have been facilitated already. There's no profit in waiting on avenging angels to do our dirty work.

We should all conduct ourselves as though We the People are the sole arbiters of justice. That should be more than sufficient to throw off this yoke of infantile and self-serving gall.

Woe betide any clique, or Committee, or Conference that dares run interference on behalf of the sordid old status quo in Pittsburgh. Change is inevitable -- fundamental change. The occasion for it is the stale and increasingly ludicrous sameness championed by the callow functionaries presently inhabiting our City Hall.

The levees of machine politics are topping, and they will break soon or sooner still. It only remains to be seen who will be on the leading edge of this change -- who will be scrambling to catch up to it -- and who will be left behind."

Are these voices a militant minority of Luke-Haters? Or does this reflect a bigger problem for the Mayor as the 2009 primary nears. STAY TUNED.

It's Been A Long Time...

In all the excitement of my state by state travels on behalf of an unnamed group that pays my bills, I didn't realize I have not posted in like a month. WOW

Anyway a lot has been going on, too much to keep us with:

- A grassroots movement to draft a young, smart & scrappy State Rep from the South Hills to run against Mayor Luke
- Mayor Luke throwing the City Council President's hat into the ring
- Bram got interviewed by the Feds
- The bonus-gate scandal in Harrisburg, hold your head PJ!
- Jesse Jackson went gangsta rap on Barack (Must've been listening to that new Weezy too.)
- Barack Obama's about to embark on this biggest European tour featuring an American since David Hassellhoff
- The New Yorker cover
- Lil' Wayne sells over million records in a week, discusses the prison industrial and disses Al Sharpton in one fell swoop
- Nas releases the NWord Album to critical and underground acclaim

Well, all this stuff is very entertaining in some way or another. If this is just a preview of fall 2008 & the beginning of 2009, well keep blogging, taking videos and sharing your most private thoughts over the airwaves.

In the meantime, my homie State Rep Tony Payton is ringing my phone...

Could be some good stuff!!!

Until next time enjoy this selection from the Microphone Fiend Rakim Allah




- Rakim Lyrics