That’s the one thing I never really got about the Free Press. The one thing you could always count on them to do that distinguished them from the Detroit News was that they ran articles about how great Detroit was, despite all evidence to the contrary. Who are they trying to fool? And which of Detroit’s problems would be solved if they did get people to believe it?

Dan on February 4, 2007 at 1:30 pm

I’ve been to detriot 3 times….what a terrible place to live. It makes baltimore look lighter as far as the crime rate goes!! The girl that I went there to see, today she’s–eh I can’t say it here.
So it makes me laugh how the free press tried to tell me how “wonderful” Detriot is. Hey, wrestlemania is coming there in a cuple months…I wonder how that’s gonna go.

Squirrel3D on February 4, 2007 at 2:43 pm

debbie should not make fun of the mayor he is the best mayor since mayor macheese from mcdonalds and you cant forget about the great aquarium in the motor city they bragged about it in there flyers only to go visit it its closed because they did not know how to fill the tank and feed the fish

PNAMARBLE on February 4, 2007 at 2:52 pm

“Hey, I have an idea to fix the city!”
“What is it?”
“Let’s close the zoo!”

Dan on February 4, 2007 at 7:42 pm

As much as I hate to agree with Debbie about the problems of Detroit, at least I don’t gloat about it and have a hissy phoney “white rage” fit. Not saying that Debbie is a racist (but anyone with a few functioning brain cells can figure that out….) but with comments like “D-Mecca ain’t the place to be . . . or be seen.” speaks volumes about her. I live in Ann Arbor, which I sure Debbie hates because it filled with some many “types” of people and while I freely admit I don’t go to Detroit very often, I would never say it’s no place to be seen. Is Debbie afraid Ann Coulter and Michlle Malkin will drive through the city, in a bulletproff car of course, and see her and disown her? And of course notice how Debbie doesn’t even cite anything from the article to debunk it, but she’s Debbie…
AS I NOTED, THE TOP REASONS A SUPERBOWL IN DETROIT IS NOT MORE DESIRABLE THEN ONE IN MIAMI ARE WEATHER AND TEMPERATURE. IF THAT’S RACIST, TAKE IT UP WITH G-D AND THE WEATHERMAN.
CONSIDERING THAT I GREW UP IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD, WENT TO A BLACK HIGH SCHOOL, LIVE IN A BLACK CITY, AND LIVE IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD, WHERE ALMOST ALL OF MY NEIGHBORS ARE BLACK, IT’S NICE TO KNOW THAT YOU THINK I’M A RACIST AND A “WHITE RAGER”. SINCE YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY IGNORANT OF MY REFERENCE, “D-MECCA” IS THE REFERENCE THAT THE “FIVE-PERCENTERS” OFFSHOOT OF THE NATION OF ISLAM USES FOR DETROIT. AND FRANKLY, IT ISN’T THE PLACE TO BE OR BE SEEN, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A CRIME VICTIM. JUST ASK DETROIT BOOSTERS DENNIS ARCHER, JR. (THE FORMER MAYOR’S SON, WHO IS BLACK) AND LIMOUSINE LIB DETROIT BOOSTER DENISE ILITCH (WHO LIVES IN RITZY, WHITE BLOOMFIELD HILLS, FYI). BOTH WERE RECENTLY MUGGED DOWNTOWN. THEY’RE LUCKY THEY WERE ONLY MUGGED.
INTERESTING THAT I LIVE IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD AND CITY, BUT A LIMOUSINE LIBERAL LIKE YOU WHO CRITICIZES ME ON RACE LIVES IN MOSTLY LILY-WHITE ANN ARBOR. THE FACT IS THAT WHERE I LIVE THERE ARE PLENTY OF REFUGEES FROM DETROIT, AND MANY OF THEM ARE BLACK. ARE THEY RACIST, TOO? AND, IF NOT, THEN WHY ARE THEY NOT RACIST FOR ESCAPING THE CITY, BUT I AM. DOUBLE STANDARDS DON’T FIT YOU WELL. BUT A DOUBLE WIDE MIGHT (WITH ALL DUE APOLOGIES TO THOSE LIVING IN DOUBLE WIDES).
NOT SURE WHAT COULTER AND MALKIN HAVE AT ALL TO DO WITH THIS POST OR TOPIC. BUT MY OPINION IS NOT INFLUENCED BY WHAT ANY OTHER COMMENTATORS THINK. THIS IS MY VIEW AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN. PEOPLE LIKE ME AREN’T “GLOATING.” WE WISH DETROIT WAS A BOOMING, BUSTLING DOWNTOWN LIKE CHICAGO OR ANYWHERE ELSE. EVERY DOWNTOWN HAS HAD A RENAISSANCE–EVEN FORMER “MISTAKE ON THE LAKE,” CLEVELAND–EXCEPT DETROIT. AND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM. THE MAJORITY OF THE VOTERS ARE BLACK, AND THEY CHOSE THEIR LOT, THEIR EXCRUCIATING TAX RATES, SCHOOL BOARD THAT “RUNS” HORRIBLE SCHOOLS, AND A CORRUPT, DO-NOTHING MAYOR WHO CHOSE A DO-NOTHING POLICE CHIEFTESS WHO ALLOWS CRIME TO FESTER.
AS THE EXECRABLE DR. PHIL MIGHT SAY, “HOW’S THAT WORKIN’ FOR YA’?” JUDGING BY THE GROWING POPULATION OF THE CITY WHERE I LIVE, IT ISN’T WORKING TOO WELL. AND I WELCOME THEM, BECAUSE THOSE WHO HAVE THE INITIATIVE TO LEAVE ARE EXACTLY THE CITIZENS ANYONE WANTS AS NEIGHBORS, BE THEY PINK, PURPLE, BLACK, OR WHITE.
AND FINALLY, LEARN TO READ. READING IS, INDEED, FUNDAMENTAL. I NEED NOT CITE ANYTHING FROM THE ARTICLE. THE HEADLINE AND TOPIC OF THIS POST IS “MOST UNBELIEVABLE SUPERBOWL HEADLINE.” I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS AND MEANT WHEN I WROTE IT. NOT SURE HOW “HEADLINE” IS NOW “ARTICLE TO BE DEBUNKED,” WHICH I SIMPLY DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE THE TIME TO DO.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

VinnyM27 on February 4, 2007 at 9:27 pm

Vinny:
I can’t speak for Debbie, but from my perspective, these pro-Detroit puff pieces let the people who have run Detroit into the ground off the hook. Every time they lie and say, “No, really! Detroit’s got great X, Y and Z,” they’re excusing the behavior of all the Coleman Youngs and Kwame Kilpatricks who promoted corruption and cronyism as the main job of Detroit’s public servants (both elected and non-elected). I’ll be the first to show my happiness the day Detroit becomes a livable city again, but that’s not how things are there right now (let alone a “place to be seen”).

Dan on February 4, 2007 at 10:10 pm

I’d just like to know what the bad boy of the Internet, the Urkel of Blogging, Eminem’s Revenge, has to offer for solutions.

The_Man on February 4, 2007 at 10:15 pm

Detroit is a hole. There’s nothing that can be done about it from the extended metro area. It’s that way because people who live there make choices that end up keeping it that way.
It’s time we pick a new city center.

jpm100 on February 4, 2007 at 10:20 pm

I often get grief when I comment on what a hole Detroit is, but Debbie is absolutely right on the mark in this case. I live a half-mile north of the infamous 8 mile, and do venture into the city quite often to see the incredible music that comes to the city. I also go in to photograph the “ruins” of the city, but I’m always aware of my surroundings and thankfully have never been mugged. The amount of decay in the city is staggering. There are some signs of rebirth downtown, but the majority of the city is a wasteland, and with the current mindset, will continue to be.

spiralcity on February 5, 2007 at 12:05 am

why is detoilet so messed up? and why would anyone care if Debbie didnt like it?
(and I write this from a bunker under lafayette park..)
its because the city of Detroit is the focus of every white liberal cure there has ever been.
the black people of detroit never stood a chance.
every lisa simpson from the suburbs couldnt wait to get a poor black baby to save and now we have a canadian woman governor from harvard staking her entire ego on keeping the socialist juggernaut that owns detroit in power ad infinitum.
why cant the word get out? because its so obvious that the laura bermans of the world wont let anyone tell you any different. its like the news from the front broadcast in 1984. its all made up, its layered so thick that once you fight through one layer you are too tired to fight to the next and its all about getting wasted and driving around in your bling for the boys or helping for the girls.
the detroit that invented the automobile nd a huge list of other things, died long ago and it has been replaced by a concentration camp for rich liberals to inflict their egotism on a defenseless blacks that were slaves just a little while ago. now they get a new slavery and most of them love it. union job, cable, free health care. and the weather that so many bitch about really serves to just cut down on the competition.
we have indoor heating and te winter is really three months long so its not that bad.
there is a symbiotic relationship between the liberals in detroit and its their liberal buddies out in the suburbs that is sickening but oh so efficient. whole industries (focus:hope etc) have been born to keep the ball rolling so that dem millionaires have a place to go to get a soul stamp from the peeps. but thats the way we like it.
everything that people bitch about in detroit they profit from and they know it. so when youre sitting on rochester road at the same stop light as your boss, I get the whole city to play in. I dont mind, I’m big enough to hang and the burbs are just ten minutes away anyway with all there trumanville houses and knowitall libs. so what.
let em crawl over each other in the malls. If they think they can just walk down the street in a major city anywhere in the world without any defenses then they deserve what they get.
they all complain but they just love that red capitalism dont they..

playertwo on February 5, 2007 at 5:21 am

Limo Liberal?…Oh, Debbie. Considering the limited information YOU offer people about yourself, I think anyone that isn’t a puppet, which this blog is full of, could make some very accurate guesses about your character that would include some not so pleasing labels. Dare I? Did I? No, I just pointed out your actions and words. I’m far from a limo liberal. Liberal yes but I’ve only walked by limos. Could you say the same, speaker for the people?
I would love to think that your intentions for Detroit are pure and good but just about everything on this site, which isn’t possibly accurate accounts about Islamic terrorism, is all about the separation you try to create between “You”, in your castle (figurative, of course) and “them” (or us…well not us, I guess me since I’m the only liberal here). I only wish there was some debate offered other than myself on here…What are you going to do? I guess just go to the liberal blogs go with ones own? And there is no questioning of anybody and everyone is happy!
I’m trying to leave but I can’t because I have to comment on one of your quotes.
“AND I WELCOME THEM, BECAUSE THOSE WHO HAVE THE INITIATIVE TO LEAVE ARE EXACTLY THE CITIZENS ANYONE WANTS AS NEIGHBORS, BE THEY PINK, PURPLE, BLACK, OR WHITE.”
That’s a nice way of saying “Welcome to anyone who is afraid of Detroit” and all the “stuff” going on there. You gotta read between the lines and I do. I really appreciate your response but I have to stop coming here…But please if you respond, tell me how many black friends you have, too. I’m laughing just at the thought of that…
Love you, Debbie! You should call in to Howard more….oh, wait. He’s not a Conservative Ideologue anymore (I won’t say Republican because you scare even them with your rants).

VinnyM27 on February 5, 2007 at 12:48 pm

From what I understand Detroit was a pretty good city to live in up until 1962 and also that Detroit never really recovered from the race riots of 1967.

Ripper on February 5, 2007 at 2:14 pm

Debbie:
I am a fellow conservative who also lives in a suburb of Detroit. While a agree with most of your views, you unnecessarily bash Detroit. I work downtown. I eat and play downtown. There are plenty of safe and fun things to do in Detroit. Restaurants like Seldom Blues, Rattlesnake, Harry’s Detroit, Southern Fires, Detroit Breakfast Grille, The Woodward, Union Street, to name a few demonstrate business growth despite what the Mayor Pimp does to ruin Detroit’s image. The atmosphere downtown around Comerica Park, the Fox, Ford Field and Gem Theater are electric on the weekends. My kids love to come downtown for Wings’ games, the Tigers and Lions. We take them to the Science Center, and yes we eat coney dogs with them at Lafayette. You may disagree with Detroit politics, but you don’t have to be disagreeable about the nice things that are happening in the City.

drummer on February 5, 2007 at 5:34 pm

Debbie,
On this topic it is so sad that you are right again. I count myself as one who really cares about Detroit. I was born in Detroit and have lived in the burbs all my life. I operate business in Redford Twp–very connected to the NW border of Detroit with so much of our clientele coming from the City of Detroit. I truly want to invest in the City–but so much works against that desire.
Debbie, you need to post the picture of “the Fist”– that hideous thing called art which was bogously tagged as a tribute to Joe Louis– Where: Corner of Woodward Avenue and Jefferson Avenue, right in the heart of downtown Detroit. It is sick symbol of “sock it to ’em!” erected under our first black mayor Coleman Young.http://www.anvari.org/cols/Strange_Statues_around_the_World/Fist_Of_Joe_Louis.html
Sad to say–this is what Detroit politics has been about as long as I have been alive–play the race and victim card to keep the liberal pols in place–but never really deal with the problems. It used to amaze me how even Detroit school board members would be granted limousines and limo drivers to shuttle them back and forth to their meetings. I could go on about this kind of stuff for several pages.
Suffice to say that Debbie’s response here speaks the truth. Thank G-d she is willing to speak it and not give the mess a free pass. You really want to help Detroit? Then call for a tax system that doesn’t penalize people for living or operating a business in Detroit. Crime? The city is so infested with crime–and until we stop blaming everyone else and hold people accountable it will never change. I had my own vehicle ransacked at an event by Ford Field last March–one month after the Super Bowl created the mirage that so much was changing in Detroit. I then sat at the first precinct waiting to file my police report. Watching for 2-3 hours what an average night of the kinds of calls coming in at the dispatcher’s desk and the way that unanswered dispatches stacked up into a pile was quite an education. Saddest of all was the defeated spirit of the officers given the impossible task of policing that area with the limited resources they have. Now they want to make the burbs pay higher insurance premiums so the residents can get auto insurance–in essense to subsidize the crime.
So much needs to change to fix the city–but Debbie is right on–with the way partnership between Detroit pols and the liberal state pols is so entrenched–it will have to get worse before it gets better. No phony superficial window dressing “events” can undo the reality of what Detroit has become. It is so sad. To you who say it is coming alive–No matter how you may perfume a pile, it is still a pile. Until we can get the bad guys out of power, it isn’t going to change. And they make it their life’s ambition to keep in power.

BB on February 5, 2007 at 7:33 pm