The Wilder Walk

Here's an excerpt of a piece about Mayor Doug Wilder penned by yours truly for Brick Weekly:

...One aspect of Wilder’s landslide win stood out above others -- he had won handily in every part of town. That feat offered welcomed evidence that with proper leadership citizens with different backgrounds and conflicting agendas can still find common ground, even in Richmond.

Now, nearly three years later, many who supported Wilder wholeheartedly are shaking their heads, wondering what in the world happened to all that positive momentum?

While it’s obvious the sad answer to that question is that Wilder has willingly squandered his glorious mandate, nonetheless, some of his supporters remain loyal.

Click here to read the entire piece at Brick.

Mayor Wilder now reminds me of the Lone Ranger character in a Lenny Bruce routine that was made into a wonderful cartoon short, “Thank You, Masked Man (1971)”

In a scene a man tells the Lone Ranger he’s soon going to be out of business. The man tells him that he’s no longer needed to drive off rogues and other trouble-makers, because the Messiah has come.

The Lone Ranger shoots back, “Well then, I'll make trouble because I'm geared for it.”