(Boy, that Eddie Perez is a real class act huh? - promoted by ctblogger)
For those who don't know him, Nick Carbone used to be the Deputy Mayor of Hartford. He has been a huge champion of Hartford. He was an early supporter of Ned Lamont, helping in the First Congressional District during the petitioning stages of the campaign, before the convention nailed down the delegate support to force a primary.
I bring all this up because Nick was savagely beaten after getting mugged Monday morning. He faces brain surgery, and is in the ICU at Hartford Hospital, according to the Courant.
This happened about three blocks from where I live, and I am really upset about it. Liz Dupont-Deihl, Ned Lamont's former press secretary, called me with concern, too.
Since I rolled my kayak last week and lost all my phone numbers, she gave me the number for Carmen Rodriguez, a close friend of Nick's who lives in the South End of Hartford. Carmen was a petitioner for Lamont, too.
Carmen, a sagacious woman, shared the sadness. I just got off the phone with her, and she said something that affected me: "Some kid has not learned how to be human."
We can decry the lack of education and after school activities that contributed to the beating. But what really depressed me about her analysis of the beating was that the people who did it loved violence.
They took his wallet, they didn't have to kick him to the point where he needed brain surgery.
Colin McEnroe criticized Mayor Eddie Perez today for El Alcalde's very political response to the beating - It's a bummer, but crime is down.
I prefer Carmen's take - that we are all responsible, and that we have to act. Carmen and I talked about some sort of candlelight vigil in front of City Hall. I can't do much organizing because of law school.
But she is talking to Sean Arena, the DTC chair herein the 'Beat, and they may try to get something together.
If they do, I would love to see MLNers involved in it. Hartford is a mess, and it's all of our problem. And Nick, who has been a progressive leader, deserves our support.
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