Detroit Breakdown

Newt Gingrich made a statement to the world that many people already knew: Detroit is a disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to pile on, but the city of Detroit is a mess. Everyone knows it except the people in charge of the city. The city council holds the Motor City hostage by bickering and fighting amongst themselves. The Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, has proven to be a hoodlum and a tool for even more racial divide in one of the most racial divided cities in the country.

The school system is a complete joke and the State has tried taking over it's operation, but people in the city would never let that happen. Most in the city would rather leave things as they are to avoid getting help from "outsiders." It's a really warped mentality which again speaks to the racial divides of the Metro Area.

Add to that mess the fact that the governor of the great state of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, has driven it into the ground, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Gingrich may be speaking out of turn in some ways, but maybe being able to look at something from the outside in gives him better perspective than those living in the middle of the situation.

Since Cheryl and I left the Detroit area, it's easier to see some of the things that hold back a place I will always love. There is this underlying mentality in Detroit that you are owed something or you deserve something "just because." The unions have a little something to do with that, but I'm not a union hater. They have their place in the marketplace, but there has to be a correction of the pendulum swing.

Living in Ohio near one of Honda's plants, I see first hand the fact that the Big 3 aren't the only game in town anymore. Honestly, most Americans would say that the Big 3 are irrelevant. There has to be some big changes in Motown when it comes to the automotive industry.

There is also a really negative attitude that pours out of people in the Metro-Detroit area. Not everyone, but there are a lot of angry, ticked off, ornery people there. Where I especially see it is in the sports world. Whether you are talking about the Lions, Wings, Tigers or Pistons, there is a lot of doom and gloom. I enjoy the Wings & Lions so much more since I moved. It's hard to explain, but in talking with others who have moved on, I am not the only one to suggest this.

Detroit will always be my hometown, I just wish it could make a comeback. Maybe more people need to speak out and start bringing attention and help to the Great Lake State.