We've Only Just Begun

The race for the next mayor of Philly has officially started. With the latest entry to the race, Bob Brady, see Brady launches his mayoral bid, the fun now begins.

Blogger Philebrity describes a strange YouTube video about the Brady campaign for Mayor, in The Curious Mystery Of The Bob Brady Racist YouTube Clip, noting:

Today, Bob Brady and his campaigners are celebrating Brady’s entrance into the Mayor’s race — one long in coming, and promising to be one of the more visible campaigns of the quickly gathering May storm. To some, Brady is a peacemaker among unions, pols and wards frequently at odds; to others, he’s representative of a Philly Dem scene still oddly content with back room deals and letting unions swing entire elections. But today on our daily YouTube crawl, we noticed something utterly baffling to us.

Describing the video, Philebrity continues:

[S]et to DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat,” the clip ruminates on a clip of Chaka Fattah speaking on the House floor, before moving to stock footage of young black men dancing in the street, then Mayor Street, then, absurdly, Mumia Abu-Jamal and stills from pro-Mumia rallies. Suddenly, Bob Brady’s face appears on the screen. The montage continues, until just about the end, where a legend bears: “THIS MAY, DO THE RIGHT THING,” followed by a shot of a “Fattah For Mayor” placard with “Fattah” x’ed out in spray-paint, and ammended: “Brady For Mayor.”

Weird is right. Philebrity puzzles over its meaning & origin:

The imagery and sequence of the whole thing suggests a play on a racist’s worst nightmare; the video suggests that if Fattah were to be elected, Philadelphia would be overcome by an African-American presence, with dancing in the streets, and lots and lots of Mumia and Street. Or maybe we’re crazy. But we don’t think so. Whether or not this is in fact a video put up by the Brady campaign, we can’t say, but we doubt it. This feels like political suicide. So here’s the question: Where is this coming from, and who the hell is doing it? We’re presently looking into it, and promise to report what we find. Stay tuned.

The "stay tuned" didn't take long. Next up was the take down of the video (got that?), Bob Brady Update: Underground Poster Makers Quickly Running Out Of Rhymes. However, Philebrity saved the day (and the video), and re-posted it on Youtube here.

Then there was this.

The Next Mayor blog reports, in Brady's candidacy is now 90 minutes old, that a Daily News reporter found this Brady poster. From the streets to the internets. My, my -- someone out there doesn't like Bob Brady too much.

I have to say, I don't know too much about Brady. For an interesting view of Brady, see this Philadelphia Magazine piece, The Maybe Mayor.

At this point, I'm still considering my options, as they say, although my leanings are for either Nutter or Evans. I attended a "meet & greet" for Evans a few weeks ago (on the day of the Eagles wildcard playoff against the Giants, no less) and was favorably impressed with him. I was always a Nutter fan, but I'm not too wild about his plan to sidestep civil liberties for security. I agree violence in Philly is at a crisis stage & we need to take drastic measures. I'm all for gun control and police protection measures, but I just don't buy giving up our constitutional rights to do so. I think there's a way to do both, without resorting to a further erosion of our rights. Bush has done a good enough job of that without any further help.

One final observation. As I was reading about the Brady stuff, I realized why I felt so at home in Philly. Philly politics are just like Scranton politics -- cozy & corrupt. It used to be said that death never stopped anyone from voting in Scranton. When people talk about how bad things are here, I joke that I'm sure I'm still voting in Scranton, even though I left over 30 years ago.

(Via Attytood)

Tags: Philadelphia, Philly, Politics