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Here Comes the Old Boss, Same as the New boss . . .

The ProJo story about Buddy Cianci cutting off his probation bracelet kind of reminds me of a song by the Who, Won't Get Fooled Again, but I may have reversed the lyrics somewhat.

I was talking to a City Councilor recently, yeah, one of Providence's, about the recent riot in Billy Taylor Park and about how it really only happened because Councilman Kevin Jackson (who operates in Ward 3 as if it is his own little fiefdom, where he can do as he pleases because he is in tight with David Cicilline, the Mayor of Providence) and, yeah, the Councilperson, a long time veteran, says Jackson was able to pull an illegal permit just a few days before the event and not notify the police department or anyone, as required, because Jackson is a relic from the Cianci administration and still does things the way they were done then, a little tit for tat, votes for favors, you get the drift. In other words, he throws his weight around as a friend of the Mayor.

* Sieg Heil, Herr Jackson, Sieg Heil!

Does Jackson realize how widely he is despised by the new, prevailing demographic in Mt. Hope?

Jackson thinks that the City Ordinances do not apply to him, which is why he authorized the Park to be used without a Parks Permit, without the required insurance binder, without the required entertainment license for live, amplified music, and he allowed a major street (Camp St.) to be closed illegally, resulting in a riot that still has Mt. Hope shaking and in which the entire Police Department's 3 -11 shift had to respond to, leaving the rest of the City unprotected and the neighborhood shaken and vandalized.

That is also why he steadfastly refuses to take any responsibility for the riot that set Mt. hope back ten years. He thinks that he can stonewall and that it will go away, be forgotten. He and Lt. Campbell think that we have moved beyond it. Oh, they wish! Are they bosom buddies or what?

But the truth is out. By his documented actions, year after year, by pulling illegal permits for African American events in Billy Taylor Park that invariably end up in violence and by pandering to and protecting African American drug dealers in Mt. Hope by political pressure on the Police Department to go lax on law enforcement in Mt. Hope, Jackson has set up the Mt. Hope community and the Police Department for failure and for racial conflict, while he comes out looking like a hero to the African American community in Mt. Hope and delivers the vote to whomever is running and also insures his place in the current political firmament. The truth is out!

The Councilperson made the point that Jackson still operates the same way under Cicilline that he did under the corrupt Cianci administration in which the law was routinely ignored, so, not much has changed.

Both Alix Ogden, Head of the Parks Department, and Bernard Levy, DPW Traffic Engineer, are Cicilline hires, and they are rightfully afraid of political hari-kari by opposing a friend of David's when he asks for an illegal permit. After all Ward 3 is Jackson's Little Kingdom, and he is the Mayor's friend and earliest supporter in his bid for Mayor besides their other common interests.

Ogden and Levy do not want to lose their jobs.

Not much has changed. New boss, same old, same old! Shit!

Weren't we supposed to get a new, enlightened way of doing things under the Cicilline administration? Transparency?

We all know that Jackson is a panderer, a pander-bear and that David panders to Jackson, and so what does that make Cicilline: no better than Cianci?

Hello, New Boss. You ain't no better than Buddy.

Don't count on my vote: for anything. Ever.

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* Sieg Heil is a German phrase, which literally means "Hail [to] Victory." During the Nazi era, it was a common chant at political rallies.

Saying the phrase in Germany today is a criminal offense punishable by up to three years of prison (StGB, section 86a). The same is true for expressions that might be mistaken for "Sieg Heil". Usage for art, teaching and science purposes is exempt from punishment.

I use the term here in a contemptuous, satirical manner to condemn the way Councilman Jackson manipulates race against race in Mt. Hope much the same way race was manipulated against race in 1930's Germany.

Of course some argue the German contention that they never intended the dire consequences that resulted from the Nazi political manipulations, but history well documents how setting race against race ends up in disaster. It starts small and grows from there.

Posted at July 28, 2007 1:13 AM