An Example Overdue

Monica Conyers will face a judge on December 1st for her sentencing in the Synagro sludge bribery scandal.

Few Michigan politicians have provided the entertainment value of Ms. Conyers over the past few years. Her hair trigger temper and combative personality have led to altercations from the Motor to the Mile High City, and her willingness to say whatever is on her mind, however disadvantaged that mind might be, has made her a barrel of laughs.

The shtick loses its guffaw value once it crosses over the line into outright criminal activity, and as an admitted seeker of bribes for political favor, Ms. Conyers represents the worst sort of threat to a voting republic.

The maximum sentence is five years and it is a sentence deserved. We will always have corruption, and we will always have people willing to play the game, but the citizens of a city mired in decades of untold abuses should be shown that they cannot be gamed without the abuser paying a price. Civic pride must start somewhere and perhaps it can commence with the statement that "we will be taken advantage of no more."

Detroit deserves better and because of that, Monica deserves the max.