Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff goes after his favorite local political pinata, calling Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano America's worst politician.
Just when local viewers thought they had lost LeDuff to a national beat for Fox, local anchors assured viewers Thursday night that LeDuff will still be doing some local reports.
This time, he did the Ficano piece for his new national series for Fox called "The Americans with Charlie LeDuff." And because it's national audience, he refers to Wayne County as "Wayne County, Michigan."
He's gone after Ficano before. This time, he lists all Ficano's failures, including the county jail and his staffers going off to prison. He also mentions that his administration is under FBI investigation.
And LeDuff seems a bit incredulous that Ficano has chosen to run for re-election this year.
When confronted by LeDuff, Ficano has a new spiel. Previously, he would just tell LeDuff to call and set up an appointment if he wanted to talk to him. .
But this time Ficano adds this new twist: "I don't expect any media bullying" he tells LeDuff. Ficano also says to him: "Enough of the media bullying."
Not so sure how effective that bullying thing is, but apparently Ficano -- or his handlers -- think it's worth trying.
Meanwhile, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who has repeatedly complained that Ficano hasn't given her a big enough buget to go after criminals like rapists.
"He's a very good friend to rapists, murderers, robbers and child molesters," Worthy says.
We say "ouch!."
Vintage Charlie LeDuff. -- Allan Lengel
