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By Joel Thurtell
Remember all that Kwamegate hype the media dished out about how bad the mayor’s scandal was for Detroit?
Terrible for business.
Drum, drum, drum: Kwame had to go so Detroit could recover from its text message-induced economic malaise. Businessmen Dave Bing and Peter Karmanos Jr. twisting the prosecutor’s arm to sweep Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick out of office pronto to save Detroit’s economy. Business before justice.
Now I’m confused. If Detroit was in such bad shape thanks to Kwame, how do I reconcile this headline in the Thursday, September 11, Detroit Free Press?
“Detroit’s packed hotels offer hope for a busier downtown.”
Wow! That was fast — one week after Kwame cops a guilty plea, the city is suddenly jammed with four conventions and every hotel room booked? How did they manage such a quick turnaround?
Imagine that — thousands of people around the country watching the mayor confess on TV and heaving great sighs of relief. “Detroit is safe! We can go there!” And reaching for the phone to book a hotel room.
Kwame’s not the only one who can do a comeback.
What’s this? The same Freepish story reports that “visitors found themselves in a similar state two weekends ago, as Detroit welcomed the Grand Prix, the Jazz Festival and Tigers fans, along with attendees for cultural, music and gaming offerings.”
Wait a minute — TWO WEEKS AGO?
Two weeks ago, why, that was before Kwame pleaded. We were in the middle of the rush to force him out. Headlines were so big they were actually knocking the glass out of vending machines.
Why, tankers were lined up pumping ink into the dailies’ presses.
Is there something our crusading paper forgot to tell us?
Or, hmmm, maybe chose NOT to print?
Those hotel rooms weren’t miraculously booked after Kwame’s guilty plea. You know they were paid for months ahead of time.
That whole Detroit business malaise story was a crock.
If Kwamegate was so bad for business, if people were shunning Detroit and its upper-case headline scandal, how did all those hotel rooms get rented?
Could it be that Kwamegate wasn’t bad for business, after all?
Oh yes, the Freep story mentions one — just one — cancelled convention. A meeting of black mayors. Well, that would be a no-brainer, but it’s hard to blame Kwame for a media frenzy he didn’t create. You can’t pin a business downturn on one cancellation.
Apparently, from the hotel point of view, there was no downturn.
Except in the heads of editors.
Things are looking up for Detroit now that Kwame’s out — that’s what the Free Press wants us to think. The next step in that logic is to give thanks to the Free Press for saving Detroit from Kwame. You can bet that line will be high up in the letter they send to the Pulitzer Prize judges.
The Free Press has chosen not to deliver its product in large parts of Detroit, effectively redlining huge numbers of people. What did they accomplish?
They saved the suburbs from Kwame!
Who will save us from the Freep?
Drop me a line at joelthurtell(at)gmail.com
