RSSENDORSEMENT: Michael Nutter For Mayor
Because he is The One to lead us out of the matrix of our own bullshit. Michael Nutter has got game: he speaks in complete paragraphs, with subsections A., B., and C. and attendant footnotes, which also have their own subsections A., B., and C. He has run a campaign of ideas — smart, principled, and aspirational — for solving just about every problem this city faces, while his opponents have offered the usual empty sloganeering, racial semaphore and coded entreaties to their respective bases. If that makes you a wonk or a nerd — well, you can call us Potsie and Ralph Malph.
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Because Nutter is the only Democrat running for mayor whose child attends a Philadelphia public school that alone makes him the only candidate with a truly enlightened self-interest in reforming the school system, and a willingness to put his own flesh and blood on the line to prove it. Because fixing the schools is essential to our evolution into a 21st Century city. Because its easy to talk about improving the public school system while writing the tuition checks to Germantown Friends but its another matter entirely to put your kid in the mouth of the lion while you are trying to tame it. Because he believes the casino issue has been bungled terribly and Harrisburg essentially railroaded the city with the legislation that made it possible. (We’re looking at you, Dwight Evans.) Because he believes citizens have a right to fight the casinos and are right to do so. Because he wants to revise the zoning code to include things like realism and best practices, instead of the usual no-bid nepotism, purchased patronage and and pay-to-play kickbacks.
Because he wants to put 500 more cops on the street over next four years AND he gets Stop Snitchin as Councilman he spearheaded a number of initiatives for improving police/community relations. Both are badly needed; the combination of the two is absolutely crucial. Because Nutter has been the only candidate courageous enough to state the obvious: That Philadelphia is in the grip of a “black genocide,” as self-inflicted from within as it is aggravated from without; that it is simply a statistical fact that black people do most of the shooting and most of the dying in this city. It only perpetuates the crisis to pretend otherwise in the name of political expediency or white liberal guilt. Because more will surely die while his opponents use Stop & Frisk as a wedge issue to divide and conquer the black vote in the name of civil rights. Because nobody watchdogs the Fourth Amendment more jealously than Phawker, but the time has come to disarm the war zones — starting with illegal guns that kill indiscriminately and without accountability.
Because he wants to put 500 more cops on the street over next four years AND he gets Stop Snitchin as Councilman he spearheaded a number of initiatives for improving police/community relations. Both are badly needed; the combination of the two is absolutely crucial. Because Nutter has been the only candidate courageous enough to state the obvious: That Philadelphia is in the grip of a “black genocide,” as self-inflicted from within as it is aggravated from without; that it is simply a statistical fact that black people do most of the shooting and most of the dying in this city. It only perpetuates the crisis to pretend otherwise in the name of political expediency or white liberal guilt. Because more will surely die while his opponents use Stop & Frisk as a wedge issue to divide and conquer the black vote in the name of civil rights. Because nobody watchdogs the Fourth Amendment more jealously than Phawker, but the time has come to disarm the war zones — starting with illegal guns that kill indiscriminately and without accountability.
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Because what’s really tearing apart this city isn’t race but class — the yawning chasm between the minority who want for nothing and the ballooning majority who want for everything. Because when the legitimate economy can’t sustain the populace, an illicit economy takes its place, transforming vast sectors of the city into hives of casual criminality where the biggest gun on the block is the boss. Because the vast majority of the 140-dead murder rate are instances of the have-nots killing each other over what little they have — usually a patch of drug turf, but sometimes it’s over something as stupid as a pair of sneakers or an Iverson jersey. Because that’s as appalling as it is embarrassing.
Because for the rest of us to go about our hip, happy Center City lives with our unlimited Wi-Fi and our bottomless lattes, blissfully ignorant of the carnage or reassuring ourselves that ‘that kind of thing doesn’t happen here’ is, quite simply, immoral. Because Michael Nutter is the only candidate with the courage to stand up and say: THIS MUST STOP. Now is the time for all good men and women to stand up for Michael Nutter. Because no matter what happens on Tuesday, Michael Nutter will be remembered for being on the right side of history in an election pitting the corrupt and contented against the agents of change.
Because for the rest of us to go about our hip, happy Center City lives with our unlimited Wi-Fi and our bottomless lattes, blissfully ignorant of the carnage or reassuring ourselves that ‘that kind of thing doesn’t happen here’ is, quite simply, immoral. Because Michael Nutter is the only candidate with the courage to stand up and say: THIS MUST STOP. Now is the time for all good men and women to stand up for Michael Nutter. Because no matter what happens on Tuesday, Michael Nutter will be remembered for being on the right side of history in an election pitting the corrupt and contented against the agents of change.
May 11th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I’m voting for this guy, but stop ‘n’ frisk is still a pretty major civil rights issue. It’s like traffic stops for pedestrians.
May 13th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I do intend to vote for Michael C. Nutter on Tuesday 5/15. All the candidates seem shady to me, and suspect to tell you the truth. So I intend to vote Nutter for mayor, not so much because I believe in him, but moreso because I have no confidence in the other guys. And I understand the apathy of the people who do not vote. In other words, the apathy of Philly voters is high and I understand that like I understand 22% being undecided. I think, and I hope I’m not being deceived, that Nutter has passion and good intentions. I seriously doubt he can do all he promised, but I suspect he’ll give it the old college try. I do believe he’s a friend of the people, and I have anxiety that this guy is a master of deception or a master of mind games or that he’ll be corrupted by other powerful politicians later. Scuzzi, I digress. I don’t know what website to visit to get his bio, specifically when did he first go to City Council and what else has he done? Also, how does he plan to address or resolve the issue of homelessness? And, last thing, will he work with the D.A. to stop police brutality? Anybody can say yes, it would be politically correct, but does Nutter have a clear vision or a specific agenda to stop this growing problem that has been allowed to go on for too many years? I need answers ASAP because, watch this now, I’m not ga-ga for Nutter, I was undecided until very recently, and though I plan to vote for him 5/15, I have not committed myself to him in November.
[Carlos, Michael Nutter’s official site his here and his Wikipedia page is here. Best. –The Ed.]
May 16th, 2007 at 10:47 am
I supported the Nutter for Mayor 2007 campaign by voting for the former city councilman yesterday. Congradulations on the win. I’m still waiting to receive his bio via e-mail, and I still wanna know what he plans to do about the growing problems of homelessness and police brutality. Those two factors combine when the police use the anti-loitering ordinance to harass anybody downtown who don’t fit a certain criteria, i.e., they don’t look like a tourist or like they can afford to live or operate a business in Center City. There were times when I or my companion was really, really tired - or we had sore feet or a bellyache or a migraine headache or felt faint and dizzy. And it ain’t right that the cops always bother us but there are open drug markets in West Philly, North Philly, Kensington, Germantown. And prostitution on Woodland Avenue in Southwest Philly, near the police station, let’s go there with it. Why don’t the cops tell them to take a walk? The last two mayors proved time & again that they only care about Center City, money, tourism, and we need a mayor who really give a damn about low income neighborhoods. And, last thing, 5/13/1985 was a sad day in our city’s history. Knowing all we do now, what would Mayor Nutter have done different about the MOVE organization? Only City Councilman John Street and Lucien Blackwell went to the scene of the incident and screamed at the firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Where was Nutter when the fire was burning?
May 16th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Michael Nutter sounds like Marvin the Martian. This is why I am voting for him.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
[…] MOMENTS IN DEMOCRACY: “No, no, that was yesterday. This is today. This is a NEW day.” – Michael Nutter, waving off a chorus of boos from the crowd at the mention of Tom Knox, during […]