Patrick Cannon – a black Democrat in his fourth month as mayor of Charlotte, N.C. – was arrested Wednesday on multiple public corruption charges (including theft and bribery).
According to federal authorities, Cannon solicited up to $1 million in illegal bribes from federal agents posing as commercial developers – promising to pull strings for their projects in exchange for a wide array of gifts.
Cannon, 47, faces up to fifty years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted.
According to The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, Cannon received cash payments as well as “airline tickets, a trip to Las Vegas, and use of a luxury SouthPark apartment” from the undercover agents.
In one instance on February 21, he allegedly took a briefcase with $20,000 cash inside from the undercover agents in the mayor’s office.
Sheesh … this guy needs to take lessons in thievin’ from Da Mayorhood.
Or maybe not …
Cannon served for nearly 20 years on Charlotte’s city council before being elected mayor last year. He will remain mayor, incidentally, until he either resigns or is convicted.
94 comments
Fucking stupid cockroach
Does this somehow mean there is hope for Columbia, yet? Hey FBI et al, yoohoo, look at us down here!!!!
His is coming. You can bet on it.
Won’t happen, Jean Toal et al control the feds in SC as well. They won’t dare cross her and the empire. She/They will never let something like Operation Lost Trust happen here ever again.
Wrong……the express is on the way!
Wouldn’t mind seeing, but I won’t believe it until I see it. It’s been promised too many times for too many years.
“California state senator accused of wire fraud”
Check out this dude arrested by the FBI today — he operates BIG TIME and puts the local boys to shame. Maybe the FBI is on a roll – hopefully to Columbia!
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/california-state-senator-accused-of-wire-fraud
“Shrimp Boy” is probably not the best nickname to have when being sent to the Big House.
*thinks for a minute*
Can we start calling BigT/GrandTango “Shrimp Boy”?
— and I could put money down that the current cons just can’t wait for him
Really…..
Hopefully they will not ignore Horry County.
One down, 456,789 to go!
Will, why mention in the first line of the article that he is black? You include a picture of him Are you implying somehow that his race had something to do with the charges against him? Because it sure seems that way.
Liberals are OBSESSED with race. It matters to them more than anything.
That is their crutch.
Evidently you are too. Why mention that he is black in the article? You don’t read white man arrested, ever. FU.
There are shady politicians across party lines and ethnicities, but to say that a white men wouldn’t be arrested for the same thing is not true. Also, Columbia’s (black) mayor has been under investigation by the FBI since 2010 and Jean Toal is protecting him. It’s not a black/white thing, it’s a who’s who thing.
Exactly. So why mention race in the article at all? It’s irrelevant.
Its not irrelevant to racists.
It’s more of a response to the glowing headlines you see out of the LameStream(TM) media these days. ie. “Charlotte Elects Black Mayor”, “South Carolina’s First Minority Female Governor”. If you ask me they all of these headlines are of the same race baiting ilk. All of it should stop, but until it does you are going to see it hyped on the positive and negative sides of these issues.
I’m not saying white men wouldn’t be arrested. I’m saying they wouldn’t say white man in an article. It’s racist, period. That’s what I’m saying. Nothing more, nothing less.
rac·ist
?r?sist/
noun
1.
a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
How do you surmise that anything is racist about pointing out his race? Divisive, yes. Racist, no. This word racist has been used to often over the last 6 years that it really has no meaning any longer.
If I have to explain it, you are one.
The words racist and racism have been so misused of late that they really don’t mean anything, but go ahead and keep using them. I’m sure you’ll correctly apply them sooner or later.
So why don’t you explain to us why people who are not racists, go out of there way to point out a persons race every time a black person commits a crime but never when a white person commits a crime. Why identify a corrupt politician as a black Democrat, but not identify a corrupt politician as a white Republican.
No idea Jack, I certainly don’t and wouldn’t know where to begin. It’s divisive to point out one’s race in a story like this, but it’s not racist or a form of racism. People like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton have stripped these words of any true meaning. Jessie Jackson calling Daryl Issa a racist the other week for the calamity that ensued at the end of the latest Lerner hearing is a classic case. A disagreement between a white Republican and a black democrat is NOT a case of racism and labeling it such takes away from very real racism that’s alive and well in America.
“No idea Jack,”
Now see, I think that is a lie. I think you know exactly why. And while I agree the words racist and racism are frequently misused, or more accurately frequently used without adequate evidence, this is not such a case.
Bless your heart.
No thanks.
So, if I were say you are a moron and had to explain it, you are one?
Simple, you do believe that and you point out a persons race as vindication of your belief and to convince others of your belief.
FITS is to the left, or liberal, just like you. You are obsessed w/ race. He just slipped and voice what you all think…Yall just usually are trying to figure out how to get an advantage from playing the race card.
Liberal-trarian is a hyphenated religion…(think about that one for a while…if you don’t figure it out, ask me, and I’ll feed you the answer)…..
Could you be any more stupid?
It’s a basic question – unless race is somehow central to the point of the story, why mention it at all?
Stealing is stealing, whether it’s the mayor of Charlotte or the Lt. Governor of South Carolina (see Ard, Ken). How many articles about Ard mentioned that he was white?
I for one thought he was an alien. The purple robe thingy didn’t help.
Actually, John has a valid criticism. Corruption is corruption regardless of race. It is a trivial detail in this instance, but the fact that it was mentioned shouldn’t go unnoticed.
FITS was the one to bring up race first, but I forget, you think he’s a liberal (or Liberal-Tarian) anyways.
An equally valid question is that, given this kind of story involving a white politician instead, does FITS refer to them as a “white Republican” or “white Democrat” in the post? That might make it a bit more harmless, but still curious as to why it matters that they were white. It would mean he’s fair, but still focusing on something that should be entirely insignificant.
TL;DR: You’re a confused little troll who probably won’t read this anyways.
Well we know he does not. This site has repeatedly alleged that Bobby Harrell, Rick Quinn and others are corrupt. I have never once seen Bobby Harrell referred to as a white Republican or Rick Quinn referred to as white Republican.
The thing about racists is they are typically so racists they do not know they are racists.
Oh, they know. They just deny, deny, deny.
FITS and you have the same political philosophy …He is your mouthpiece.
You are absolutely clueless and incorrect. Your brain must hurt every day.
You both support liberals after all is said and done. And you hate Republicans, despite their success rate for people, and your failure….
Why do yall ALWAYS run from who, and what, you are???
A lot of people who go around calling people racists don’t know the difference between racism and divisiveness.
One of those people would be you.
Finally, Smirks admitted that FITS is a “liberal (or Liberal-Tarian)”….Thank you, bro…
Probably been stealing since he could crawl.
Kind of like you mom has probably been whoring since she could fuck? I mean, she is female, right?
Is she a politician too?
Billy Ray Valentine, Capricorn.
Detroit, Charlotte….How far can Columbia, a bastion of democrats, be behind them???
“behind them”. Columbia’s crooks are smarter than Charlotte’s.
They have not been caught (yet) with their stealing.
Soon, I hope. The last time I looked, shit runs/rolls downhill….
There are 8 folks in that photo and 5 are negroes. By the way, when does the cockroach patrol reach Columbia?
They haven’t invented a big enough can of Raid yet.
Would this trap work?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2589961/Monster-15-inch-rat-terrorises-Swedish-family-chewing-CONCRETE-wall-make-home-kitchen.html
” luxury SouthPark apartment” ..? OMIGOD – what happened to Kenny?
Kenny wasn’t killed, just pimped out.
“He will remain mayor, incidentally, until he either resigns or is convicted.”
Rob Ford on line 1 Patrick.
Ray Nagin on line 2.
Marion Barry on line 3.
He resigned yesterday.
Damn! He should have called me first.
Just one word…. “typical”
Typical of what?
Good lord. What a dumbass.
I just wonder if you went to Columbia with a bunch of briefcases of money, how many roaches could you catch?
Methinks they must have a few more brain cells in Cola, or better handlers, or the po po’s on the take.
A corrupt, black, Democrat politician?
Quick, someone call the Department of Redundancy Bureau!
So your point is that that black politicians are more corrupt than white politicians. Interesting. What facts do you have to back that up other than typical racists stereotypes. I feel pretty sure I for every corrupt black politician you could name, I could name two white ones.
But then again I guess a racist does not need facts to know the truth. Its like religion, he knows it in his heart.
I’m hesitant to join in coversations like this, because I know how some people will perceive it. I doubt there are any real statistics of comparing the corruption of black politicians versus white politicians. We know that many, regardless of color, are corrupt.
However, look at Africa and the corrupt governments there, who often steal aid meant for their people so they can lead the life of a billionaire while their people starve. It happens elsewhere too, of course, but it’s endemic in Africa.
You are right. You probably should not have joined the conversation. You are a traditional racist. There are many reasons besides race for all the problems in Africa you mention, but you identify the one that enforces your racists beliefs.
Perhaps one day you will pick up a European history book and read about how poor people in Europe lived during the dark and middle ages. How wealthy war lords stole food from the peasants surrounding their castles and allowed people to starve while they feasted behind their castle walls. Perhaps you would even find out that at one point the King of England made it illegal for a non-noble to hunt game in most of the forests of his kingdom under pain of death. Even though there were starving peasants. I guess the reason that happened is because they were white people. We know that never would have happened if they had been Asian or Black.
“You are a traditional racist.”
Cool, there are racist orthodoxies now.
Good point. I think racist arrive at their racism from different places. Some are born into a racist environment. They grow up in a racist family and they hold deep seeded beliefs in the inferiority of blacks. Then there are racists who are just angry white people who feed into propaganda. They have no real evidence that black people are dumb or bad, but everyone says so, so it must be true.
I am willing to admit, that I probably should not use the word traditional, but I think Original Good Old Boy has probably been a racist his entire life. He has obviously spent a lot of time rationalizing his beliefs to have arrive at a conclusion the problems in sub-Sahara Africa are attributable to the fact the people there are black.
I’m willing to bet that you are ignorant. That you have a closed mind. That you see things like intelligence studies and FBI crime statistics and ignore their conclusions. That instead you choose ignorance over any knowledge that goes against your pre-set beliefs.
In your small-minded world, you pretend that everyone is the same — everyone is equal. And anyone who dares to note that, you know, there may be differences other than the color of skin, is a racist.
The term “racist” is used way too loosely today, and you are proof of that.
“The term “racist” is used way too loosely today…”
Maybe so, but not in your case.
If a “traditional racist” is one who observes behavior and notes it accordingly, then I guess you are right.
Do you discount the bell curve? What about FBI crime statistics?
Do you really think all things are equal among races; that athletic ability, intelligence, endurance is all the same, while only the color of the skin is different? Is believing in all-things-are-equal a precursor to being a non-racist?
It’s one thing to say that one race is superior to the others (that is traditional racism), but it’s a different matter to observe that not all races are the same; some are stronger in different areas, and some are weaker.
And yes, Europe has seen a lot of turmoil, and there have been a lot of bad people. What I was descibing is a modern day scenario where the peoples of Africa and Europe and everywhere else have the benefit of widely dispersed knowledge and technology. It’s not the middle ages any more. We are no longer limited by a Malthusian ceiling.
And Europe also brought us the renaissance, the enlightenment, and most of our modern technology. To pretend that it’s all based on historical timing and environment is to ignore the overwhelming evidence that says otherwise.
Are you saying that because you feel that white politicians are more corrupt than black politicians or it is simply because there are just more white politicians than black politicians?
I am saying race has nothing to do with your propensity to be corrupt, but that racists do not believe that.
Race may or may not be a culprit with your propensity to be corrupt, but there is a correlation to higher crime numbers. First one I found was from FBI stats, table 43A, from 2011. For fraud and embezzlement (typical crimes that get politicians in trouble), 31.8% of all fraud crimes and 32.4% embezzlement crimes were committed by blacks. Considering that blacks are 12.2% of the population, it means that they are almost three times more likely than other races to commit these sort of crimes.
I know you asked for real data, which I gave you. But I’m also sure in your narrow worldview that me simply providing these stats means I’m a racist.
No, it means you are a dumb white redneck. Lets ignore the fact that black people are far more likely to be arrested on flimsy evidence than white people. Lets further ignore the fact that grand jurys are far more likely to return an indictment on a black person than on a white person. Lets ignore the fact that once charged black people are far more likely than white people to be convicted. Lets even ignore the fact that once convicted black people are far more likely than white people to be sent to prison.
Lets instead focus on your central argument. Fraud and embezzlement are not typical crimes that get politicians in trouble. Bribery is the crimes that get politicians in trouble, and there are many more cases of white politicians being convicted of taking bribes than there are black politicians being convicted of taking bribes. What’s more I am confident that over the history of the US the dollar volume of bribes taken by white politicians dwarfs the dollar volume of bribes taken by black politicians. So under your analysis we should presume White people are genetically more corruptible than black people.
Of course making that argument would be just as dumb as making the argument that black people are more corruptible than white people based on FBI stats on embezzlement.
Oh, and by the way, Bernie Madoff, a white guy, probably embezzled more money than the combined sum embezzled by all black persons convicted of embezzlement in the last decade.
Wow. A dumb white redneck. That’s clever. Quite the debating skill you have there, sport.
I find it ironic that you demand proof and when it’s presented you bring up vague and unsupportable positions about how blacks are more likely to be convicted on flimsy evidence. Is this something your middle school teacher told you or do you have actual proof. And even if that were true, how much does it affect the crime statistics? Are blacks only twice as likely to commit those crimes instead of three times as likely?
You also commit the logical fallacy of assuming that because a higher volume of dollars has been committed by white people (again with no proof; just speculation) that means a higher percentage of whites commit those crimes. It doesn’t work that way, sport. That doesn’t change the numbers of actual offenders, nor the percentages based on race.
As to your non sequitur in mentioning Bernie Madoff (who isn’t even a politician), I’ll just mention Robert Mugabe who is a politician. It’s irrelevant to the percentages of actual hard stats, but since you brought up an anecdote, I thought I would do the same.
First, calling someone a dumb white redneck is a superior debating skill to calling someone ignorant, which I believe you did earlier in this exchange.
Second, the position that blacks are charged,convicted, and imprisoned more often than whites for the same crimes are not unsupportable. There a plenty of stats to show that.
Third, you are the one who started using non-politicians. You used FBI statistics on embezzlers. Not politicians who are embezzlers. So Bernie Madoff is just fine. Politicians rarely embezzle money, unless its from their campaign contributions, and I am confident you have no evidence that black politicians do that more than white politicians.
Third the crime that gets politicians in trouble is bribery. I am equally certain you have no evidence black people are more likely to take a bribe than white people.
Finally, while volume of money stolen may not equate to any percentage of whatever you want to use to reach your racist conclusions, it sure as heck means whites steal a lot more money than blacks; and you only have to use common sense to know that white politicians have taken more bribes than black politicians. But people with common sense don’t even make these stupid arguments.
Consequently your entire argument is a bunch of crap created in your mind to justify the fact you think black people are inferior.
Yeah, I called you ignorant because you are displaying ignorance. Look up the definition. It’s not a slam on your intelligence, sport. It’s saying you are uninformed.
I know you want to argue “common sense” and things about which you “are equally certain” but I’m actually arguing statistics. And those statistics aren’t taken from the 1950s, when your comments about all the flimsy evidence may have more merit. No, they were taken from 2011.
Let me ask you these questions. If it’s indeed true that blacks commit crimes in general at a higher rate than whites, it it racist to comment on such a thing? Are science and biology racist too?
Oh, and by the way, Bernie Madoff, a white guy, probably embezzled more money than the combined sum embezzled by all black persons convicted of embezzlement in the last decade.
Way to go, Tom. You’ve demonized the Good Ol’ Boys, now the JOOOOOOOOS.
Who’s next, Kemosabe?
*Pulls out his broad brush*
Name a non-corrupt black, Democrat</b, elected (so Alvin Greene doesn't count.) politician?
You know, I cannot assure you or anyone else that anyone is not corrupt, and nothing I can say is going to convince a racist of anything. Racist are going to believe black people are corrupt because they are black. That said there are plenty of black Democratic politicians you have no evidence are corrupt and the fact you say they are corrupt is your opinion based partially on your racism.
So I will start with Barack Obama, Cory Booker, and Maxine Waters. You have no evidence any of these people are corrupt.
Now you name a white Republican politician who is not corrupt.
Obama is a product of the Chicago Democratic Machine. The stench of corruption surrounds them all…white, black, or Jewish. Remember Michelle’s 6 figure *job* when Obama was Senator?
Corey Booker….maybe.
Maxine Waters? Suuuuuuuure ,buddy.
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/09/12/ron-paul-one-of-the-most-corrupt-members-of-congress-report-finds
Consider the source.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/washington-post-elizabeth-flock-resigns_n_143100html5.
As is pointed out in comments on the link you posted:
Why do I need to consider the source. Your argument for Obama being corrupt is he is from Chicago. In other words no source at all. This is certainly more evidence of corruption than you have.
The bottom line is this, you assume people are corrupt because a bunch of right wing sources say they are corrupt and because of their race. None of your sources are credible and your assumptions about race are baseless.
From one of TBG’s notoriously unreliable right wing sources….
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2008/12/why_is_chicago_so_corrupt.html
Now,Tom, what race/ethnicity do Daly, Emanual, Rostenkowski, Obama, Blagojevich, Beavers et al share?
I feel pretty sure I for every corrupt black politician you could name, I could name two white ones.
TBG feels sure he could name 5 white politicians for every 2 black politicians that you could name.
Math ain’t your strong suit, Homie.
Be careful wielding Occam’s Butterknife, you might poke your eye out.
He should have written en editorial on civility….
Mayor Benjamin must be shitting bricks. Knowing he’s been under investigation by the FBI for going on 4 years now and watching this happen to his contemporary Cannon, has to be nagging it him daily. Shoulder rubs and ego strokes from Runyan will only ease the tension so much. What is it with these guys and shady real estate deals?
Maybe, but then again, maybe T-Bone is just laughing at this guy for being a newbie at this corruption gig.
Wonder if this asshole would be interested in being on the CPD or joining the Lott Klan. I believe he could help out as he had a talk radio show.
I haven’t followed the mayor’s comments but I’m sure they would follow the hilarious bit from George Carlin and the words politicians use when feeling the heat…
This has bee blown out of proportion
We want to get to the bottom of these allegations
Mistakes were made
I have faith in the American judicial system
followed by
What ever happened to being innocent until prove guilty
Do we still have an FBI office in South Carolina? Have they done anything about the Jean Toal events? Lexington County? Horry County? Jim Clyburn and SC State? Richland County Election Commission? Jasper County Superintendent of Education? Bobby Harrell?