Indiana

Night of the Living Ed

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

I ran into Marion County Democratic County Chairman Ed Treacy this week.  I would like to say it was a pleasant, cordial yet somewhat lively meeting. I would like to say that.

I had invited Ed on my radio program to debate GOP County Chairman Tom John on the Mayor’s budget. I never got a reponse back from the County party so when I saw Ed I told him it would have been nice for him to come on and we’d like to have him on sometime.  We probably wouldn’t have agreed on much but it would have been fun and fair. 

Ed told me he would never come on my radio program. He said he doesn’t do “entertainment shows.” And he also called the program a “POS.”  That’s a polite way of writing “piece of s****.”  

Now I was a bit taken back by Ed’s statements.  But I have to give him credit for at least being honest to my face.  I won’t hold his statements against the members of his party.  I think most of them are decent people who I just have a different philosophical perspective on how government should run.  And while we may disagree, it is a rare moment when we interact that we are disagreeable.    So they have nothing to worry about.  Ed, on the other hand, is a different story. 

Maybe Ed is starting to get up there in years and forgot one of the key jobs of a County Chairman; promote his party’s agenda.  Former Chairman Mike O’Connor would have never let an opportunity like this slip by.    Now I don’t blame Ed for not wanting to face me and engage  in a discussion.  I’d be hesitant if if I were going head-to-head with someone who was my intellectual superior.  I’d also be worried about throwing verbal grenades at someone who would just pick them up, pull the pin and throw them back.    And I’d probably sweat like a Girl Scout at R. Kelly’s house if I had to argue on the merits and couldn’t just talk out of my rear.  But oh well. 

Ed, if you ever change your mind, I’ll be more than happy to sit and talk.  The door is always open, but until then it just may feel like open season from time to time.  I miss Mike already. 

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).