Thursday, July 2, 2009
Willie Herenton: Assman?
Posted by Bruce VanWyngarden on Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 10:20 AM
From Wikipedia: Asshole (or arsehole in British English) is slang for the anus and is often used as an insult. It is formed from arse, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary has been used since the 11th century to refer to the rump of an animal and since the 14th century to refer to a person's buttocks. The combined form arsehole is first attested from 1500 in its literal use to refer to the anus. ... Its first appearance as an insult term in a newspaper indexed by Google News is in 1965.
At least the mayor has history on his side. In his interview with Jackson Baker in this week's Flyer, Memphis mayor Willie Herenton called his future congressional opponent, Steve Cohen, an "asshole." In discussing what might have happened if he had run into Harold Ford downtown after a heated phone conversation with the former congressman, Herenton said, "I would have whipped his ass." Is there a pattern here?
There is, and it's classic Willie Herenton verbiage, designed to get attention and stir up a reaction — for better or worse. When Jackson called me after the interview on Monday and drolly reported the mayor's remarks, I was amazed but not shocked. I was also a happy editor, since I knew we had a bombshell quote that was sure to draw readers to the paper and to the website. (Is that so wrong?) As I wrote in my column this week, Herenton is the Memphis media's best friend. That doesn't mean it's good for the city. Just the opposite.
At some point — a long time ago, in Herenton's case — the game grew wearisome. Attention for attention's sake makes Herenton a happy man, but it does nothing to move this city forward. Such name-calling antics are divisive, childish, and create heat, not light, at a time when this city desperately needs to unite and move toward the light of progress.
This adolescent, tough-guy chatter needs to become history. The exception being that most Memphians would probably tell the mayor not to let the screen-door hit him in the ass on the way out.
Related Stories
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Willie Herenton: The Exit Interview
A combative Herenton reviews the past with Jackson Baker and looks forward to one more fight.
- Jul 2, 2009
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Letter From the Editor
I moved to Memphis in 1993, a few months after Willie Herenton moved into office as the city's first elected African-American mayor.
- Jul 2, 2009
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'Attention for attention's sake makes Herenton a happy man'. This shows a strong sign of low self esteem, common sense and minimual management skills. A wise man is reserved and not self-serving. Wille reminds me of young school bully, whose primary goal is to destroy anything he can't understand. CASE IN POINT: "Willie isn't the only person in memphis or anyother town who came up hard and disadvantaged, but made great in-roads to success". The chip on his shoulder will some day be his greatest down fall and he can blame only himself. In order to feel good about himself he adds to his work environment people of little knowledge and minimunal management skills, in order to seem BIG!, but, only in their eyes. If the people of the 9th district decides to send willie to D.C., then they will get what they deserve. Chumps like willie will not survive inside the beltway. I work for the FEDs going on 30 years and his type is considered fresh road kill. Prime example; Willie screwed up the school system, rocketed this town to number one in taxes, blight, HIV, rape and crime which puts Memphis on the map for all the wrong reasons. Now, before anyone get too upset for not kissing the great one's ass, remember, these comments are coming from a Black Man. When he braggs about cleaning up the inner-city by sending his crime ridden trash out east, he and his housing director should be ran out on a rail! I am for anyone who can get the job done, be they Red, yellow, green black or white, that can put this town back on even footings.
Let's be honest. Like many, I, want to get the hell outta here. But I can't, because I can't afford to move. King Willie is holding this city hostage. He is a megalomaniac narcissist who doesn't give one friggin damn about Memphis anymore. He is in it for Willie. Eff history. I wasn't amazed or shocked, Bruce. It is what we have come to expect in this hole of a city. Eighteen long years is enough for this man, but he will play, yet again, to the most reptilian minds in Memphis. He will try to claim, that somehow, he has been put upon and made low because he is black. I voted for Willie the first two times. I voted for Obama. I do not see color. I see integrity, character, honesty. Willie W. Herenton is void of all.
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