I Am NOT Darren Wilson.

Rise Up Righteous Ghost of John Brown! Rise Up!

Your country calls...

No Norman Rockwell Nostalgia This Thanksgiving

None at all.

Betrayal

So Robert Reich posts on his Facebook page "Here's what I hope we've learned from the debacle in Ferguson, Missouri," and then lists several of the "lessons" he takes from the Grand Jury's decision in the case of Officer Darren Wilson. His first point, the subject of this post, runs as follows:

(1) When there’s conflicting evidence about whether an unarmed person has been murdered by a police officer, a public jury trial is the appropriate process for determining guilt or innocence, not a grand jury in which there’s no opportunity to cross examine the accused.

This lesson troubles me because it makes it appear as if no one knew that a Grand Jury investigation is not the proper forum for a suspect to appear as a witness on his own behalf. EVERY FIRST YEAR LAW STUDENT KNOWS THIS.

My response, then, to Mr. Reich, who, I assume, is sincere, is as follows:

Your first point is standard operating procedure. Why was it not followed in this case?

We have to presume that the prosecuting attorneys in this case all made it past their first year of law school and so they were well aware of standard operating procedure in a Grand Jury investigation.

This presumption, then, should lead us to infer that the prosecution in this case had no intention of bringing Darren Wilson to trial.

This was not a mistake on the prosecution's part but a deliberate attempt to thwart justice.

The federal government should take jurisdiction in this case and prosecute everybody involved for civil rights violations.

One would think that President Obama and Attorney General Holder....

Oh nevermind.

1991

Ferguson

Chris Hedges: A Voice In The Wilderness

Pure Righteousness.

Meanwhile, Back in the Police State of "Emergency"...

Missouri governor declares state of emergency, mobilizes National Guard ahead of protests

Mazzini: 1805-1872

“Ideas ripen quickly when nourished by the blood of martyrs.”

--Giuseppe Mazzini

It's funny how such statements are spun, depending upon who utters them. In the mouth of a 19th century Italian revolutionary, these words are stirring truth. In the mouth of a 21st century Iraqi revolutionary, on the other hand, these words are proof that the speaker is a blood-thirsty fanatic.

If it weren't for double-standards, most Americans would have no standards at all.

Did Einstein Really Say This?

Probably not, but it doesn't take a genius to know that it's true...

Why Read the Newspapers?

Just read chapter 5 of The Grapes of Wrath. We have all been here before...

Armistice Day

It's the hidden histories that matter, not the Master Narrative of the victors.

Something We Like To Forget...

The "Founding Fathers" who are worshiped by the religious and political right in the U.S., as well as by many who consider themselves on the "left" (a delusion, as there is no U.S. left), conveniently forget that the Founders they worship understood that a standing army is the enemy of democracy. Here is an article by someone who gets it:

You don’t protect my freedom: Our childish insistence on calling soldiers heroes deadens real democracy

The Democratic Party Sold Us Out, Plain And Simple

The Democratic Party implosion - World Socialist Web Site

Too bad we are incapable of thinking outside the two-party box. And voting for a third party in a two-party system is about as effective as bringing a slingshot to a gun fight. WE MUST DISMANTLE THE EXISTING SYSTEM. Impossible, you say? Fine. Just admit that you've given up on America.

Looks Like There's Something Happening In The Paris Of Appalachia

Conflict Kitchen.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Tom Tomorrow may be the last sane individual in America.