Kwame Kilpatrick is awful, just awful

I still have no idea why this man was elected for a second term.

In a way reminiscent of the Monica Lewinski scandal, Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit and America's first "hip-hop mayor" has been caught in a sex scandal with his chief of staff. Recently sexually explicit text messages from 2002-2003 between himself and Christine Beatty were uncovered. But unlike President Clinton, Kilpatrick has done little to improve the economic state of Detroit, which as been in steady decline since the 1960 race riot. His track record is already soiled with low-brow scandals involving naked parties, hard drugs, using city funding to purchase himself a new automobile or two, and threatening to cut funding for some of Detroit's few cultural highlights, such as the Detroit Zoo and annual Independence Day Fireworks, as a way of political persuasion. After a week of seclusion, Kilpatrick emerged to make a public apology.

During Wednesday's 10-minute appearance, Mr Kilpatrick apologised for "the embarrassment and disappointment" caused by recent events.

He did not refer to the text message scandal directly, but he apologised to his family and his supporters for the pain he had caused them.

"I want to make a public apology to my entire family, and specifically to the four people who I love the most in the world," he said, referring to his wife and three sons.

Mr Kilpatrick, 37, who could run for a third term next year, went on: "I am the mayor. I made the mistake," he said. "I am accountable."

But he rejected rumours that he might resign.

"I would never quit on you," he declared. "Ever."