In the matter of the U.S. Justice Department versus Kwame Kilpatriclk, The Detroit News' editorial page editor has no compassion, no wistful reflections, no mixed feelings about the criminal defendant's 28-year prison term.
Here's some of what Nolan Finley writes a few hours after Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds imposed sentence Thursday afternoon:
I used to fret about what Kilpatrick could have been, thinking of him as a brilliant talent who simply went astray. But now I think he’s fulfilled his destiny.
Kilpatrick told the court, “I’m ready to go to prison.” Turns out, he was born ready. His corruption trial left no question that every move Kilpatrick made throughout his career was calculated by how it would benefit him. He was never anything more than a crook. . . .
Finley feels it's appropriate that for the next 28 years, Kilpatrick "will fill his time counting minutes, hours and days."
He’ll miss graduations, weddings and funerals. His schedule will be penned by someone else. The food he eats will be selected by someone else. He’ll sleep where someone else tells him to sleep. He’ll hug his children and grandchildren when they come, only when someone else says it’s OK. He’ll be absent from three decades of family photographs.
That’s a lot of missed life. A lot of time. And it comes in exchange for a lot of damage.
