"JoAnn Watson is the Ted Cruz of Detroit City Council," Laura Berman writes in the Detroit News: "The junior Texas senator compares Obamacare to Nazis. She likens Kevyn Orr’s decision to lease Belle Isle to the state to rape."
No hyperbole goes too far for either of them.
“It should never be touched,” she said of the “treasure” of Belle Isle. “It’s a disgrace before God to have this outrageous seizing of an asset.”
Like Cruz, Watson understands the language of the demagogue and the strategic power of just saying no to the future, even as it unfolds. From her pulpit in the hothouse atmosphere of City Council, she calls out abominations, knowing there are “amens” to be had out among the fearful, who always have more to lose.
“It should never be touched” might well be the anthem of dug-in Detroiters, those remaining who cling to a Detroit that’s a kind of ancient city-state, its citizens standing ready to fight off invaders. In this construct, the state doesn’t represent the public; it’s an evil empire trying to wrest away territory from its rightful owners.
They would prefer a scruffy, not-so-belle island that’s in city hands to an improved park that’s leased by the state.
