Monday, August 11, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com i5 ELAINE MORTON- NATR ALL E-MAIL MORTON AT EMORT@UMICH.EDU Addicted to D. C. MUS ) Q REDUCE r EISSIONS, t 5s A Butman mentality A fter my third viewing of "The Dark Knight" - the spectacular sequelto 2005's"Batman Begins" - the caped crusader was on my mind. And as I was browsingg through the Detroit news and reading about Mayor ROBERT Kwame Kilpat- SOAVE rick's recent run-ins with the law, I suddenly realized that Batman's troubles with organized crime in fictional Gotham City seemed surreally familiar. Kilpatrick was released Friday from an overnight stay in Wayne County jail. He was originally in trouble for firing two police officers in connection with the discovery of his secret text message love affair, with his chief of staff Christine Beatty. Friday brought him two additional charges - for assault. No reasonable politician should ever expect to remain in office under such scandalous conditions, but Kilpatrick obstinately refuses to face the consequences of his life of crime. His attitude that he is above the rules has transformed him into Detroit's clownish but criminal "Joker." The Joker of "The Dark Knight" is a sadistic, psychopathic killer - and though Kilpatrick's crimes lack a violent edge (mostly, that is), his attitude matches the super villain in its absolute disrespect for the pre- cepts of honorable city governance. Kilpatrick does not wear the Joker's clown makeup, but he has still man- aged to turn the office of the mayor into a bad joke. As Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Detroit City Council and WayneCountyProsecutorKym Worthyalltakestepstoremovehim from office, he responds with noth- ingbut contemptfor their authority. He actually told Detroit TV station WDIV: "My grandfather always said thatifyou're digging agrave for someone - dig two, so (Kym Wor- thy) better be careful," in reference to Worthy's attempts to have him removed. The movie scene where the Joker calls in to a TV station to threaten Gotham City seems eerily similar to this. But Kilpatrick is not the only villain. Gotham City also has the Falcone and Maroni crime fami- lies - Detroit has city council. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently wiretapping certain city council members for taking bribes from Synagro, a Houston-based company that was recently award- ed a lucrative sludge-recycling con- tractfor the city.Several citycouncil aides and personnel were caught on tape taking bribes from Synagro representatives. In a Detroit Free Press article from July 2, two sourc- es close to Synagro said that they were surprised how cheaply some public officials could be bought. The antics of the dirty crooks in city council are so blatantly criminal that they seem like they belong in a movie plot - but this is really hap- pening, in our city! "The Dark Knight" introduced Harvey Dent, a district attorney who was championed as Gotham's savior. Instead, he was betrayed by his own officials and handed over to thevillains.Asimilar problemexists in Detroit - any effort at reform would be handled by untrustworthy people. If there are any city officials still trying to change things, they could be in danger, as evidenced by Kilpatrick's sinister words for Kym Worthy. Enter Batman. While a masked- vigilanteiscertainlynotwhatwould save the city of Detroit, Batman's attitude of sweeping, unequivocal change and higher justice is what the people of Detroit must embrace in order to have any hope of sav- ing the city. We must wake up to the fact that the city is as bad as it can get, and no one can change that except for us. We can't rely on our current crop of city officials to fix anything. Every person in office in Detroit needs to be removed and replaced. Nothing is too drastic at this point. It's hard to know what will work. But what won't work is sitting back and watching the mayor, the city council and other city officials try to out-maneuver each other. They are all villains. We are the hope. We are Batman. Meet Detroit's cast of criminals. The caped crusader has no superpower - he does nothing that your average person could not theoretically accomplish. He is well-funded and well-equipped, but it is his resolve to do right that makes him a superhero, not flashy abilities. And while no single person's resolve will be enough to save Detroit from its grim fore- cast, if the whole Detroit area - from the inner city to the outer suburbs - can come together and recognize the need for a Batman mentality, we might be able to succeed where our leaders have not. Robert Soave is a summer associate editorial page editor. He can be reached at rsoave(&umich.edu. For one week every summer, my family gets together for our annual camping trip up north. The best part of these trips is sitting aroundu the campfire, together, talk- ing and catching up. Usually the conversation is TOM light-hearted, MICHNIACKI my aunts and uncles making fun of how old they are as my cous- ins and I talk about the cute girls who walk by. But thisyear, something different happened. Maybe it was inevitable in an election year, the conversa- tion came to politics. This was the question at hand: Is experience in Washington a necessary quality in a ;president president? The question -intrigued me - even enough to get me to look away from the Carmen Electra look-a- like strolling by. At this point in the .campaign season, John McCain age jokes abound. But it's been a while since there's been a real debate about Barack Obama's greenness - not in environmental terms, but rather relating to terms served in office. While this might turn some voters away from him, it doesn't bother me - in fact, I think it's one of his strengths. I may be one of the few who believes this, but I think too much experience in Washington is a bad thing. A large percentage of politi- cians seek office because they feel that they can make a difference in the lives of others. They want to improve their communities and pro- vide greater services to the public. But sadly, time and time again we've seen positive political goals vanish once officials get to Wash- ington. They seemingly forget about their hopes of helping people, get- ting caught in perpetual games of power-grubbing. Sitting around the campfire I couldn't help but analo- gize; political power is a lot like that wonderful can of SPAM you eat while camping - once you get a taste of it you never stop wanting it. That reality has made the term "Washington" practically tanta- mount to "corruption." The longer politicians, live and work under negative influences like lobbyists and special interests, the more cor- rupt they themselves become. The number of favors they must pay back to these manipulators soars as their political experience grows. And as our elected officials settle themselves further and further into contributors' pockets, more and more noble promises that they once earnestly intended to keep fall to the wayside at an accelerated rate. Too much time in Washington can be bad. Experience in Congress before being elected is not what makes an extraordinary president. For instance, look at Abraham Lincoln - that's right, an Abraham Lincoln reference. He only served one term in the House of Representatives before becoming president. Sur- prisingly, that term ended about ten years before he was chosen as com- mander in chief. Thank you, History Channel. Why years of experience are overrated. Today, Lincoln would be consid- ered far too freshman for the Oval office and probably would have never have gotten elected. Yet, he is considered one of the greatest presidents. His legacy teaches us that time spent in Washington is not necessary to obtain political great- ness, and pales in comparison to liv- ingamiddle-class orpoverty-ridden life. Politicians should be spending less time in D.C. and more time fac- ing the challenges that are rampant throughoutthe United States. I want my president to be extremely educated, but I also want him to know what it feels like to be thousands of dollars in debt from student loans. My leader of the free world must be grateful that he resides in the luxurious White House because he has spent time talking to and trying to understand those who live without a roof over their heads. The kind of experience that mat- ters most when it comes to picking a president is time spent facing and understanding the adversity that Americans encounter every day. This type of experience gives a poli- tician the empathy and knowledge necessary to make judgments that are best for the majority of the coun- try. Truly experiencing the life of an average American is the best way to gain an understanding of the real hardships facing the nation. Tom Michniacki can be reached at tmich@umich.edu.