Marion Barry Lives in Bizarro World

That's really the only explanation for this unbelievable piece in the Washington City Paper. Loose Lips reports that B*tch Set Me Up Barry actually criticized fellow City Council member Kathy Patterson for being - SOFT ON CRIME!

I couldn't make this crap up if I wanted to... from the City Paper:

Barry kicked off his harangue by announcing with great disgust that “people are being murdered on the streets of Washington!” He should know something about murders. When the police chief reported to Mayor Barry, the District’s annual homicide tally topped 440 for four years running. (In 2005, the city recorded 196 murders).

Then Barry began to zero in on his mark: “Some of our colleagues are soft on handguns,” he bellowed. “Soft! On! Handguns!” Barry then held up a D.C. map and gave a quick tour of where handguns have been seized. At the end he noted that seizures were “very few in Ward 3.”

“Yet we sit around and are nice and gentle about guns,” Barry said. “Mrs. Patterson, I know you care, but you don’t care enough.”

Barry is apparently miffed at Patterson’s unwillingness to support his bill, which would force judges to impose a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence upon those convicted of handgun possession. Patterson is no fan of the mandatory minimum. “The research shows mandatory minimums do not serve to deter crime and do not serve to rehabilitate,” she says.

“[Mandatory minimums] tend to send lots of young African-American men to prison.” She backs an approach that gives judges more leeway in dealing with first-time offenders, including the option to lock up convicted gun toters for 10 years. That’s not tough enough for Barry.

“I’m gonna start naming names on this council,” Barry shouted, “and let the public know you are soft on guns.” He also rattled off a list of members who share his views, including Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray, Patterson’s only opponent in the Democratic primary race for council chair.