Poor Kwame!

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has tried to get his restitution payments, part of his legal settlement with the City in the aftermath of his scandal while in office, lowered to six bucks a month. Luckily, there is some justice in the world: Judge David Groner of the Wayne County Circuit Court has ruled that his payments cannot be adjusted. Kilpatrick's legal team is mulling an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.

The arrogance of the man throughout this entire ordeal is nothing less than staggering. His attorney claimed that “I don’t think he was ordered to live a more modest lifestyle. ... Is it better Mr. Kilpatrick drives a beat-up Yugo?" Perhaps not; but living in a swanky mansion and driving a Cadillac Escalade when he knows full well that he's expected to ante up $6,000 a month to the City of Detroit hardly seems like appropriate behavior either. It looks far more as though he's yet again snubbing his nose at his old constituents. Basically, he's telling the local taxpayers that he intends to live in however manner he feels and that his obligations to others are at his whim.

Oh, but someone else is leasing the mansion for him, attorney Alan Schwartz tells us. In that case, then, paying what he owes should be easier, shouldn't it?

The whole situation is one absurdity after another. Our belief is that Kilpatrick is simply trying to get out from under his obligations: how much effort is it worth to go after a guy 1500 miles away when county budgets are tight? He may well be gambling that that, along with the apathy which often grows among the public as scandals die, will in the long run allow him to escape justice.

Time will tell. Meanwhile, Detroiters are left with another example of the arrogance which all too often comes with power, privilege, and leverage. Ol' Kwame sure knows how to wield influence, and we're left holding the bag.