Coolio – Put Him Away, End the Ignorance…

(Akiit.com) Yes, this may sound arrogant and elitist but Mo’Kelly is ok with both of those criticisms. Some crimes simply “offend” Mo’Kelly. Wait…let’s clarify that. Crime in general is “offensive” but some crime is more offensive than others.

For example, take Artis Ivey Leon Jr. and his uber-offensive behavior as of late.

Oops, my bad. Folks don’t know who the hell “Artis Leon” is. “Artis” is best known by his “stage name”…Coolio.

Maybe it’s just Mo’Kelly. But if you had the name choice between “Coolio” and “Artis”…it would seem that Artis would be the overwhelmingly easy pick.

Guess not. Then again, Mo’Kelly has never smoked crack.

After “Coolio’s” latest round of buffoonery, it makes the name choice all the more understandable. It’s no coincidence that “Coolio” rhymes with “foolio.”

Last week “Artis” pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his March 6 drug arrest at Los Angeles International Airport. “Artis” pleaded not guilty to one felony drug charge and misdemeanor counts of battery and possession of a smoking device. A “smoking device” is the court’s way of saying “crack pipe.”

And oh yeah, also charged with possession of CRACK. Let’s not forget THAT tiny bit of minutia. Never forget to pack your crack.

Toiletries…check.

Underwear…check.

Passport…check.

Boarding pass…check.

Crack/crack pipe…CHECK!

At the risk of over-analysis, let’s walk through this foolery of “Foolio.”

It’s been more than seven years since 9/11. If you can’t take a bottle of lotion or your favorite meal made by your mother on a plane, you probably can’t take aboard your monogrammed crack pipe set either. If you can’t sneak on a bottle of water, odds are you can’t sneak on crack either.

Call Mo’Kelly cynical, but it would just seem like he has it right on that one.

If Mo’Kelly can’t take his afro sheen on the plane, then surely Artis can’t take his glass phallus. Fair is fair.

We can imagine how this “transpired.”

(Artis Leon Jr. takes off his shoes and empties his metal valuables into a plastic bin as he slowly makes his way to the metal detector at LAX.)

“Please remove all laptops from their carrying cases and place them into a bin and have your boarding pass available as you pass through the detector.”

(Artis stands at the ready to walk through the detector.)

“OK, sir…please walk forward.” (He motions for Artis to step through detector…Artis passes through without incident. He stands at the end of the conveyor waiting for his “valuables.” The TSA agents closely examine the X-Ray and consult one-another.)

“I need a supervisor over here!” (They examine the X-Ray.)

“What’s the problem?”

“That’s a crack pipe.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m from Compton. I know a crack pipe when I see one. Not only that, the crack next to it is a good indicator too.”

(Coolio hears the conversation then becomes defensive. He yells…)

“Uh, that ain’t mine! But the crack next to it…now THAT is mine. Can you hand me my crack please…I have a plane to catch.“

Mo’Kelly wasn’t there, but guaranteed, that’s what happened. And that level of stupidity is just a portion of what’s so offensive. What’s REALLY offensive is that Artis has since pleaded not guilty.

Not guilty?!

Never mind the fact that everything in an airport is videotaped, especially in and around the metal detectors.

Everything.

Never mind that Artis has had a long and documented drug addiction history prior to this “misunderstanding.“ He at one-time was a well-known crack dealer. Never mind that crack and crack pipes usually have a person’s DNA on them. Never mind that the odds of having both crack and a crack pipe planted in your luggage are somewhere in the neighborhood of “Never-Ever-Trillion” to one.

Never mind any and all of that. We’ll just push that mountain of common sense aside for the moment.

Artis now has the unmitigated gall to plead “not guilty.” That is ignorance on top of buffoonery and it is simply offensive beyond words. Artis is a documented crackhead caught with both crack and a crack pipe at an airport…presumably on videotape. Do your time, pay your fine and then keep it pushin’ straight to the Betty Ford Clinic. Instead, he will likely argue some vague variation of an illegal search, mistaken attribution or conspiracy to frame a has-been, irrelevant rapper.

And honestly, that’s only the half of it.

The latest arrest of Coolio rings all-too-familiar with an ongoing discussion of El DeBarge. Mo’Kelly received considerable criticism for not being “sympathetic” to the addiction problems of DeBarge.

El DeBarge is no more sympathetic “because” of his drug addiction than “Artis.” The decisions they’ve made are theirs and theirs alone. It was their own decision to put that crack pipe in their mouths and ruin their families and their careers…REPEATEDLY.

Often times hitting rock bottom (no crack pun intended) is the BEST push in the right direction to get one’s life together. The last thing in the world Mo’Kelly would want is another free pass for Coolio. A light sentence or probation only ensures another crack incident, one that may very well endanger the lives of others in the process. This is not about wishing ill upon Coolio or any other addict. At the same time, this has everything to do with not enabling the criminal behavior which has transpired over the course of many, many years. It is a danger to himself and more importantly a danger to the innocent people around him. If you don’t think a person high on crack is dangerous on an airplane at 35,000 feet…then you too just might be high.

Yes, Mo’Kelly is clear, this is an unpopular stance. But Mo’Kelly is also clear that you don’t wait until the worst case scenario to do what’s best. There are too many families and lives I’ve personally seen ruined by drugs because folks didn’t do the right thing at the right time.

If Foolio doesn’t have sense enough to avoid bringing his crack and crack pipe to the airport in 2009, he is clearly unfit to exist amongst the general public. Put Artis/Foolio in general population for his crimes instead and then rehab. Don’t wait until something tragic happens to decide to do the right thing. If he can’t control his demons, then we as a society have a responsibility to do it for him. What Mo’Kelly has to say may be unpopular and may arguably be unkind…but you won’t be saying it’s untrue.

Written By Morris W. O’Kelly

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