Regarding the Mayor and Mrs Kilpatrick's speech on January 30, 2008

As usual, Mayor Kilpatrick still showed his true colors, (No Manners, No Class, No Social Graces) soon after arriving at the church. All I could wonder was where was the influence of his mother, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who is an astute experienced politician that rarely had any public problems while she has held office. But unfortunately, even with many advisers around him at that hour, Mayor Kilpatrick still exhibited the thug-like behavior that was expected of him. Is there anyone with any common sense or backbone in his camp?

Before the televised speech at the church, as the Mayor exited the Cadillac Escalade, he was rushed by news reporters and photographers. Channel 7's (WXYZ) investigative reporter Steve Wilson, one the major media thorns in the Mayor's side, immediately asked him who was Christine Slowski, the woman that was allegedly to have been with the Mayor while he gave a speech in North Carolina during the MLK holiday. Mayor Kilpatrick's reaction was to shove Mr. Wilson and then knock back the camera of Free Press photographer Mandi Wright, thus striking her in the face with the camera. Channel 7 displayed the incident on last night's broadcast and Ms. Wright's video footage is also on the Detroit Free Press website. If I had been the Mayor's Security Chief, I would have already had a wall of security in place for the mayor and his wife to pass through as they walked into the church. If I had been his lawyer, I would have seriously instructed and demanded that the mayor Say or Do Nothing that would display any of the arrogance that he has been charged with by certain folks and the media.

As I watched Mayor Kilpatrick and his wife address the city last night from his church, the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ on the northwest side of Detroit, I could not help but feel sorry for Mrs. Kilpatrick. You could tell that their speech was rehearsed and that they were reading from a teleprompter. Their body language was very stiff and impersonal, especially exhibited when their hands touched, which should be expected under the circumstances. However my view has not changed regarding Mayor Kilpatrick after last night's speech. His leadership of this city has had too many problems, and I still want him to leave office, although he has emphatically stated that he will remain as Mayor of Detroit. We still will have to deal with him for a while longer.

During that broadcast, I could sense Mrs. Kilpatrick's feelings of helplessness and even despair, since she is caught up in a web of deceit, and has a lot to lose. The potential impending outcome for Mrs. Kilpatrick could be dealing with her husband being charged with perjury, resulting in conviction and jail time. Her life could dramatically change and she may have to uproot her children from the area that they have grown to know. Some may say that Mrs. Kilpatrick is complicit in this affair, either unknowingly or maybe because she could have been involved in some of the incidents. Or some may believe that she may have chosen to tolerate or to turn a blind eye to her husband's illegal and extramarital affairs because she enjoyed the lifestyle that his position afforded her. I just hope that she can stay strong, and keep herself together for the sake and well being of her children.

However, the parties that I feel for the most, are the children. The family's 2007 Christmas card is being featured on Ebay. I know for a fact from my own personal experience, that children can be cruel. I can only imagine the ribbing, teasing, and insults that the Kilpatrick and Beatty children will have to endure in the future. No matter how much protecting/sheltering and care is taken by the school officials and their parents, those children will receive some taunting and hear some ugly comments from some schoolmates and folks on the street.

Below is the transcript of the Mayor and Mrs. Kilpatrick's address of the city with links.

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT: Private pain the focus

January 31, 2008

This is the complete transcript of the televised speech Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, gave to Detroit on Wednesday night:

KWAME KILPATRICK: "Good evening, Detroit. I want to start tonight by saying to the citizens of this great city, I'm sorry.

To all of you who have believed in what we've been doing here since 2002, to all of you who have believed in me, in my leadership, to all of you who have stuck with me through very difficult times, to all of you who prayed for me: I'm sorry.

For the embarrassment and the disappointment the events of the past few days have caused you, for what you as my supporters, many of you, have had to hear as you traveled around our city to beauty shops and barbershops, what you had to hear when you were in church this past Sunday from people who know that you have supported me.

For those of you who have not always been Kwame Kilpatrick supporters, but who lift up our city, who live in our city, who support this town in various ways, I truly apologize to each and every one of you individually and to the whole city.

Most of all tonight, I want to make a public apology to my entire family, and specifically to the four people who I love the most in this world.

First, I want to apologize to my sons, Jelani, Jalil and Jonas. For the first time in my life, I had to have a conversation with my 12-year-old twin sons about very grown-up things. It was, without a doubt, the hardest conversation that I've ever had in my entire life.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to make a public apology to my wife, Carlita, who I fell in love with when I was 19 years old. We decided to build a family together, and we did that.

Our marriage has not been perfect, but it has been great. Now, I put her in a situation which many couples deal with in the privacy of their own homes, but in our case, it's on the front page of the newspaper. This dynamic, strong, caring woman has been forced to go through this very difficult experience because of me. I truly apologize to you.

As many of you know, I'm not the type of person who displays my emotions in public, but I have to tell you I've felt more emotion in the last week than I have in the past 20 years. I've been truly hurting. I've been hurting because I know that many of you are hurting. And most of all, I've been hurting because I know my family is hurting. And I'm responsible for that.

Over the past few days, there's been some speculation about who is in charge of the city. Make no mistake about it, since 2002, I have been in charge of the city.

There have been ups and downs, there have been hills and mountains and valleys, but through it all, I remained in charge of the city. I believe we built a team here that understands the mission and focus and commitment that we must have to serve our citizens. We've done some amazing things, but we have a lot of work left to do.

Over the past few days, there has also been a lot of speculation about me resigning from office. Let me be clear tonight: I would never quit on you. Ever. We've got a lot of work to do, and with your help, I'm going to continue to lead this city in getting the work done. I am truly blessed and grateful that my wife is beside me tonight, and she has some personal remarks of her own to make."

CARLITA KILPATRICK: "It is very difficult for me to talk to you at this moment, but I want to let you know what is on my heart tonight.

Like all marriages, ours is not perfect. Like all people, we are not perfect, but through our commitment to God and each other, my husband and I will get through this. Yes, I am angry, I am hurt and I am disappointed. But there is no question that I love my husband. With the help of our pastor and others, we have been having very difficult, very frank discussions to work through some very painful issues.

Most couples who work through problems in their marriage are able to do so privately. Unfortunately, that option is not available to us. Our family has endured the most painful and intrusive week of our lives. Our most intimate issues have been laid out for all to see, for all to comment on, for all to dissect and analyze. However, this private matter is between me, my husband and God. We are deeply committed to working through these issues together as a family. As his wife, I know how committed my husband is to the City of Detroit. I am asking the citizens of this city to be committed to him, and our family, and to the continued growth of our city.

Allow our family the space and the privacy that is essential to anyone when they work through these very personal issues. Lastly, I would like to thank each and every one of you for all of your prayers and your uplifting words. Thank you."

KWAME KILPATRICK: "This has been a very difficult time for my wife and my family. I would ask, from this point forward, that if you have to attack someone, attack me. I would ask that you don't follow my wife, you don't film my kids going to school. I ask you not to have helicopters flying around our home. I ask that you leave them alone. I am the mayor. I made the mistake. I am accountable.

Because there are legal matters pending at this moment, unfortunately, I am unable to discuss any of those issues at this time. But I do have some personal words I want to share with you tonight:

Over the past week, our marriage has been opened up for public view. This has been a situation where, yes, it's been embarrassing, yes, it's been painful, but through all of that, through the grace of God, we've also had a feeling of thankfulness and freedom. We have committed to moving forward together, to make our marriage better and stronger.

Last week was the first weekend since I took office in January 2002 that I just put everything aside and focused only on my family. I know people have been wanting to hear from me, but I needed to do that first. I want to thank the people of Detroit for their patience in allowing us to have that time. We as a family needed to do that. I told my sons this past weekend that when you make a mistake, you learn from it, you get up, you dust yourself off and you keep moving forward.

Detroit, I am determined that we will keep moving forward. I am determined to continue the tremendous progress we are making in this city, in the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression.

Detroit, together we have managed to do great things. We have paved more streets than ever, we have built more new houses than ever. We have balanced our budget and wiped out a $300-million deficit.

We have developed 75 buildings downtown, large and small, we have built seven new hotels, we have built three new rec centers in neighborhoods that have not seen rec centers in 20 years. We are building out our riverfront, and we are not stopping now.

Detroit, please continue to pray for our family, for our city and for our continued progress. God bless you, Detroit. I love you, and I'll see you at work tomorrow.”

Free Press transcription of Kilpatrick's speech as broadcast on WDIV- Local-4