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A federal jury in Tampa vindicated a police chief in a sexual harrassment case last week. A female police officer had charged that the police chief had.... I dunno, done something to upset her. This case had everything in it: race, sex, power... no doubt we will see it as a movie-of-the-week in the sweeps next fall.
But none of that was of special interest to me. My focus this week is not about sex or harrassment or any of that. The plaintiff may indeed have had a valid case; but I know better than to get into that here. (That gray sedan with the two goons in it is still tailing me.)
I'm a big fan of the jury system in our country. Thank goodness that the jury in the O.J. Simpson case was but an exception to the careful consideration given by most citizen juries. And if you do not like how juries do things, remember that next time you try to wiggle out of your social responsibility. A few years ago I was a prospective juror on a high profile murder case here in Tampa. The defense attorney asked general questions of several of us, one at a time down the line. When he got to me, the first question he asked me was my age. Why would he want to know that, I asked myself; he had not asked anyone else their age? Was I going to have to reveal my age in front of everyone in the courtroom. Was I under oath? Would this go on my permanent record? For a brief moment, I considered asking the judge for a sidebar... but then I realized that this was just another symptom of midlife crisis. After a short hot-flash, I answered the attorney, "Same age as Jack Benny... honest." Moments later, I was excused from the jury.
Anyway, back to the case I was discussing. The jury awarded the plaintiff absolutely nothing in her claim against the police chief. But it did award her $22,000 to compensate for the way the City of Tampa dealt with her after she made the charge. They concluded that city officials first did not take her claim seriously, and then pressured her to drop her case. Jurors said that the testimony of the mayor, long-time politican Dick Greco, helped them make up their minds. When the mayor entered the courtroom for his testimony, he stopped to shake hands with several people in the courtroom. He cracked jokes while he was on the stand. Said one juror, "He treated us like we were idiots. He was just so nonchalant." The jury forewoman added, "If this is what the city of Tampa has to run it, it's in a lot of trouble."
Maybe so.
Greco supporters would say that that was just the mayor being the mayor: back-slapping, glad-handing, schmoozing the crowd. The mayor has a long record of political and public "service" in this area. He was the mayor here back in the seventies, and then left to make a fortune with the DeBartolo family. He escaped being swept up in a financial scandal associated with real estate in Tampa several years ago. And now, he's back again to help the City of Tampa build our own special bridge to the 21st century.
The mayor takes pride in his skills: "I do understand politics maybe as well as anybody in the world."
Maybe so.
I was not in the courtroom when he made his appearance, but it sounds as though he was just the mayor being a schmuck. And that's my point.
Perhaps it is still true that back-slapping phoniness wins elections and makes people cheer. Maybe it's always been that way.
But we're the generation that was going to change all of that. In the sixties, we rallyed against the lies and the phoniness. We were "mad as hell" and we were not going to take it any more. Dick Greco is not a boomer; he is from an earlier generation. I hope that politicans who act like that are on the way out. If we stick the principles that we choose to define ourselves in the sixties, we can do something about it.
No, Dick Greco is not one of us. But Bill Clinton and Al Gore are. That, on the other hand, presents a whole different set of concerns... but not for today. Today I am celebrating that members of this jury did the right thing with respect to this mayor's behavior.
I hope they're boomers. They have served us well.
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden last December. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |  |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is "The Boomers' Next Frontier," by boomer Debbie Holland. Nothing serious here. This is just a short series of observations and ruminations of a delightful boomer. Yep; this book will make most of us, especially those of us who grew up in the 60s, feel right at home. This will make a great gift for any boomer in your life. |
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Copyright © 1997-98 Miracle Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
rev. 04/09/99