It’s been odd that Monica Conyers was given a local TV show; most politicians have to buy time to get the kind of airtime given to Detroit’s most quotable but ultimately corruptible politician. But today’s 60 minutes of television was a kind of surreality TV that most of the cable networks aspire to but seldom deliver.
Four days after pleading guilty to being on the take (and just a few months before she’ll be sent to prison for same), Conyers looked pleasantly into the camera and spoke as if she’d just tidied up a little problem with a parking ticket. At the outset she said she wouldn’t be talking about her legal troubles as she didn’t want to anger the judge and noted that she didn’t want to go to jail. On several occassions, she did apologize for anything that might have disappointed the citizens of Detroit. But after claiming that she’s leaving the city council before she legally has to, she talked almost buoyantly about getting back to being a mother and a wife and a homemaker. (Um, no, Mrs. Conyers; you’re headed for prison.) She also took the opportunity to tweak her former chief of staff, Sam Riddle, who has already been left high and dry by her plea. (She said that the stories he told Monday’s Detroit Free Press “are the reason I fired him,” and that she should have listened to her husband who told her to dispatch Riddle long ago.)
Oddly, she also decided to make endorsements in the upcoming council race. (She suggested voters return Martha Reeves and JoAnn Watson to the council, and then plugged Fred Hall’s candidacy.) But do you want the endorsement of a woman who’ll likely be in prison by the time the general election occurs?
If you haven’t seen it, this is ostensibly a “call in” show, and how serendipitous for Conyers that every caller seemed sympathetic to her cause. (“Detroit loves you,” one caller gushed, “you go, girl!”) So in the end, I was left to wonder not so much at Conyers (she probably would be foolish to make any comments regarding the bribery case before sentencing, and who can blame her for accepting unfettered access to the airwaves?) but at WHPR Channel 33. I’m all for public service television, and I can see fair value in a program that allows citizens to connect with the elected representatives to hear their issues addressed. But politicians need to pay for their commercials. And from the guilty plea, it appears Conyers has some extra money to do that.
-Devin
I missed this unfortunately broadcast, and I’m glad I did. I’m sure if I would’ve seen these events unfold before my eyes I might have accidentally put my head through my television.
she gonna go girl !
Not surprising…she has always been a person to blame others for her shortcomings and wears rose colored glasses to block reality. Her verbal and physical acts of unprofessionalism, along with her “personal gain” agenda has hurt the citizens of Detroit. When are these so-called “supporters” going to wake up and realize how badly she has tarnished and damaged the city?
I bet 50 people in total watched her show; 48 of them purely for the entertainment value.