MANSFIELD: Fattenin’ Frogs for Snakes

Fattenin’ Frogs for Snakes

One has to scratch their head in wonderment at Brent Larkin’s recent column, which seemingly urges a very valuable asset to the Black community, namely State Senator Nina Turner, to take on the political suicide mission of running against the very able Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. A columnist really shouldn’t be encouraging an up-and-coming leader to make a misstep that will kill off her political career.

Larkin is a seasoned and savvy professional, so one has to wonder why he didn’t call Congresswoman Fudge before writing the story… he certainly called virtually everyone else (except for Mayor Frank Jackson and George Forbes… or maybe Larkin did call them and just didn’t want to print what they had to say).

The very next day the PD reinforced and strengthened Turner’s creds with the electorate by praising her for the courageous stand she took in regards to a thinly disguised, Republican-inspired voting reform measure that will limit votes in urban communities. The praise (along with her photo on the front of the Metro Section) was well deserved; Turner is a true champion for her constituency… but so too is Congresswoman Fudge.

Note to Nina: Please, please, you’ve got a great career in politics ahead of you if you simply wait for the right shot… don’t listen to the amplified voices of a close circle of friends, supporters and pundits (who just might have ulterior motives that have nothing to do with your continued career success).

As we say in the Black community, someone could just be “fattenin’ frogs for snakes” — pumping up Turner’s ego to the point she makes a terrible miscalculation, one that will cost her in ways she is perhaps too much of a naïf to imagine. Something rotten is going on here, but as Shakespeare says in the Merchant of Venice, “… at length, truth will out.”

New Ethical Standards

The new county administration, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s office, called area contractors in for a little chat: The gist of it went something like: “There’s a new sheriff in town and the old ways of rigging bids and bribing officials is not going to fly anymore, period.”

But one has to wonder why the “new rules” don’t apply to the unethical, immoral and downright dirty practice in the local construction industry — contractors and trade unions alike — of doing virtually everything they can to keep minority workers and contractors locked out?

To my knowledge no mention was made of racial parity (or the lack thereof) at the meeting… which, of course, lets the offending parties know to just keep right on doing what they’ve been doing for years: Discriminating. I guess these were “selective” or “situational” ethics being discussed at the meeting. Some things never seem to change around Cuyahoga County.

That’s Why the Lady is a Tramp

The public spectacle posing as justice going on in Judge Dick Ambrose’s courtroom (popularly known as The Cleveland Strangler Case) turns Lady Justice into a trollop, a whore and worse… all for the sake of satisfying our most base desires. It’s like looking at a gory train wreck where bodies are strewn all about; we don’t want to see the carnage… but we can’t force ourselves to avert our eyes.

In order to keep this Jerry Springer-like three-ring circus going, County Prosecutor Bill Mason has had to turn Lady Justice into a real, live slut. He’s taken the Scales of Justice out of her hand and replaced it with a crack pipe; he’s painted her lips ruby red; put long eyelashes and inch-deep face powder on her face; snatched off her robes and replaced them with a mini-skirt so short the whole world can look under it and see what she had for lunch yesterday; put a pair of fishnet stockings on her long legs; and finished the ensemble off with a pair of black, spiked-heeled, patent leather ‘ho boots… and then he’s sticking the public with the bill for this travesty.

Again, 10 of the 11 victim families signed a petition begging Mason to accept a guilty plea from this walking piece of human excrement, but no, Cleveland’s “Trial of the Century” must go on… even if no one outside of town is paying any attention.

Last week two women who encountered Sowell and lived to tell the tale took the witness stand and emotionally recounted the ordeal they went through. I suppose they were two of the higher moments of the trial to date, but I have to admit I’m really not paying all that much attention.

Knowing full-well that I’m headed for some shaky ground here, and that some folks are bound to get pissed off at the following… but, nonetheless, as a society we’ve become so addicted to seeking our own personal 15 minutes of fame that these women eschewed having their identities protected so they could vent their emotions from the witness stand for the whole world to see. The only dry eyes were perhaps theirs… in spite of all of their angst neither could summon up a tear it seems.

I certainly don’t intend to denigrate the trauma they no doubt experienced, and perhaps confronting this monster from the witness stand gave them some sense of closure… but, then again, perhaps they were just manipulated by the prosecution, once again used by forces beyond their control.

But this trial won’t be complete until some male relative of one of the victims bounds over that railing, grabs Sowell by his scrawny neck and proceeds to choke the living shit out of him in full view of all of the players in this sordid drama.

Just think of the pandemonium that would ensue: Stacks and stacks of legal papers flying into the air as defense lawyers and prosecutors scramble for cover while court bailiffs and sheriffs deputies all dive into the melee to save the life of this creepy motherfucker, in the process knocking the court reporter ass-over-shit-can, until Judge Ambrose pulls a pearl-handled Smith & Wesson .44 caliber Buntline Special from under his judicial robes (hey, this is Ohio, and you can carry a gun anywhere!) and fires a round into the air to restore order. Wee-doggie, we’re having some fun now!

The video of the incident is on all of the local news outlets and in less than an hour goes viral… becoming an international YouTube sensation. Top that, Casey Anthony; this is Cuyahoga County and we really know how to put on a dog-and-pony show.

As I’ve stated many times before, I’m unalterably opposed to state-sanctioned murder… it’s barbaric and a complete waste of public monies. Before Sowell is executed 20 years from now literally millions of our tax dollars will be wasted on litigating the inevitable, all the while he’ll inhabit a single cell on death row where he’ll be playing handball with his own shit.

Better to accept the guilty plea, place him in the general population in Lucasville, and let prison justice takes its course. Some convict — already doing life without the possibility of parole — will snap his chicken neck or stick a shank into his bloodless heart within two years… guaranteed, three years tops… and the world will be a better place after this turd makes his unholy exit.

Hey, it’s only state sanctioned and carried out murder that I’m against; I’m down by law with “real, legitimate” justice.

Running Amok

The recent incident of bands of Black youth supposedly running buck wild at the Coventry Street Fair in Cleveland Heights and then allegedly marauding through neighborhoods portends a potentially serious problem, and not just for that suburb. Flash mobs, created by texting, are becoming a national nuisance that we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with in a sane, even-handed and fair manner. However, given our nominal responses to these types of threats, we’re most often heavy-handed rather than even-handed… especially if Black youth are involved.

Race certainly complicates this complex issue, but at the end of the day we simply cannot allow youth — no matter their race — to run wild through the streets. In this day and age one of them (excited by mob mentality) will, sooner or later, pull a gun and start firing indiscriminately. This is already occurring in inner-cities, and certainly will eventually spread to suburban areas if left unchecked.

My good friends at the ACLU, ever-watchful that police don’t go too far in designing and enforcing laws to curb this type of behavior, are right to be concerned… but in the end, it won’t be one of their kids laying wounded or dead in the street, a victim of random gunplay — it will most likely be a kid of color. And for that reason we have to come up with reasoned, effective solutions to this new menace. Next week I’m going to began putting forth some suggestions that perhaps no one will like, but that are (or at some point will be seen as) necessary. If you don’t recall Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant 1971 adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ chilling classic A Clockwork Orange, I suggest you order it from Netflix or pick up a copy at your local library.

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.

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