Third in a series
Re “Was the Compton Mayoral Election Stolen?”
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Dateline Compton – “The purpose of the D.A.’s drawn-out prosecution of me is because they don’t want me to run for office,” says former Mayor Omar Bradley.
“I am beginning to understand why that is. It has come to my attention, I am a hybrid.
“I actually am liberal Republican I am something (the downtown District Attorney’s office doesn’t) want to exist.
“I am somewhere between Truman and Eisenhower,” says Mr. Bradley, who is facing two corruption-related misdemeanor accusations in September after losing a runoff for mayor 3½ weeks ago. “They don’t want that.
“We should be fiscally sound and make rational decisions, but at the same time we should have a heart for the needy. At the same time, we should not have a welfare state. We should encourage people to do the best they can do.
“If they are going to get a check from the government, it should be for doing something. I don’t care how low it is. Do something. To do nothing and get a check, is to encourage mediocrity and to kill hope. No one wants to hear that.”
Mr. Bradley asserts that sprawled at the bottom of the pile of his decade worth of legal problems is the SEIU, the far-flung and powerful Service Employees International Union.
“Because,” explains Mr. Bradley, during the ‘90s when he launched his 2½ terms as mayor, “I would tell their workers in Compton ‘You are going to work, and being black is no excuse.’
“Too many black people use the excuse of being black to be mediocre. I don’t believe in that. I am not ever going to accept it.
“I don’t believe black people are incapable. I believe everybody has the capacity to do something that can improve our society. To the bottom of my heart, I believe that.
“When I went to jail, everybody had something to do. Doing something, having something to do, gives you purpose. I don’t care if it is just to get up and turn the flowers in the pot. Or to put fertilizer in it.
“Everybody should want to have purpose as long as they have breath.”
(To be continued)
