Where’s the Outrage?

Keith Olbermann points out that Bush was hiding behind Petraeus.  So, today Bush came out and attacked MoveOn.org.  I’m waiting and hoping/hopeful that MoveOn.org strikes back with something intelligent, thoughtful and original.

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Partial transcript of the Special Comment:

<snip>

First off, it’s “Democrat-ic” party.

You keep pretending you’re not a politician, so stop using words your party made up. Show a little respect.

Secondly, you could say this seriously after the advertising/mugging of Senator Max Cleland? After the swift-boating of John Kerry?

But most importantly, making that the last question?

So that there was no chance at a follow-up?

So nobody could point out, as Chris Matthews so incisively did, a week ago tonight, that you were the one who inappropriately interjected General Petraeus into the political dialogue of this nation in the first place! (more…)

 

 Special Comment - Hypocrisy [6:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Countdown by ecthompson
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The resident Black correspondent Larry Wilmore comes on the Daily Show to explain the OJ thing.  As with most of the the Daily Show stuff truth and humor are mixed together.  This is a great segment.  Wilmore finally says that Blacks do not need to support OJ any more because he is plain crazy.

 

 TDS - OJ [4:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues, The Daily Show by ecthompson
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I was looking for this last night. I knew that the Jena, La. DA held a press conference. So, I went to the Alexandria newspaper and looking and searched. It is poorly organized like many Gannett papers.  I wasn’t able to find his press conference. Today, a link was posted on the NYT blog to the TownTalk paper.

I’m sorry I feel that the DA was tired of taking the heat for being a racist.  So, he is trying to spin his way out of trouble.

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Here is DA Reed Walter’s statement:

Good afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to begin by introducing Justin Barker. Justin is the young man who is the victim in this case. With all the focus on the defendants, many people seem to have forgotten that there was a victim. The injury that was done to him and the serious threat to his survival has become less than a footnote. But when you’re talking about justice and a criminal proceeding, you can not forget the victim, and I will not.

Next, I must tell you that in Louisiana criminal proceedings a criminal defendant is protected against a prosecutor’s saying things outside of court to prejudice the case. So, no matter how much I would like to say, and no matter what you ask me, there are likely to be certain areas that I simply can’t go into. These are rules that are properly established to preserve a defendant’s presumption of innocence, and I must live by them. Nevertheless, I do want to set the record straight on a few things that the news media seem not to understand and to answer your questions as best as I can.

This case has been portrayed by the news media as being about race. The fact that it takes place in a small southern town lends itself to that portrayal. But this case is not and has never been about race. It is about finding justice for an innocent victim and about holding people accountable for their actions. That’s what it is about.

Some specific aspects of the case seem not to be well understood. Let me begin with the incident involving the hanging of three nooses on the high school tree. This was an awful act. It was not a prank but a vicious and crude statement by some people I truly wish I could have prosecuted. I searched the Louisiana statutes for an offense that fit that act, but it is simply not there. [Read more →]

Tags: Civil Rights, Race by ecthompson
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Huge crowd in Jena.

The Jena 6 must know that they are not alone.

From YahooNews:

Thousands of chanting demonstrators filled the streets of this little Louisiana town Thursday in support of six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.

The crowd broke into chants of “Free the Jena Six” as the Rev. Al Sharpton arrived at the local courthouse with family members of the jailed teens.

Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader, said the scene was reminiscent of earlier civil rights struggles. He said punishment of some sort may be in order for the six defendants, but “the justice system isn’t applied the same to all crimes and all people.”

The six teens were charged shortly after the local prosecutor declined to charge three white teens who hung nooses in a tree on their high school grounds. Five of the black teens were initially charged with attempted murder, but that charge was reduced to battery for all but one, who has yet to be arraigned; the sixth was charged as a juvenile.

“This is the most blatant example of disparity in the justice system that we’ve seen,” Sharpton told CBS’s “The Early Show” before arriving in Jena.” You can’t have two standards of justice.” (more…)

 

 Supporters head to Jena [0:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues, Race by ecthompson
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Finally. Mychal Bell has been in jail since December. Finally we have a national audience to shine the light of justice into this dark corner of America called Jena, La. March is planned for tomorrow in Jena. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will be there. Folks from Houston and Atlanta will be there. David Bowie has given $10,000 to the Jena defense fund. There is some real momentum building.

Jena is a town of 2900. So the town will be overwhelmed by the expected 40,000 people. The Jena DA has spoken out. He wonders why no one has talked about the victim. Look, if 6 guys jump some dude who is minding his own business then everyone talks about the victim. When, there has been a series of events in which Blacks have systemically have been given the shaft time after time then we are all less sympathetic to the victim.

Look, all that I want is fair and equal treatment. That’s it. The dude who pulled a shotgun on some of the black students needs to be charged. The White dudes that beat up a Black dude and this happened before the 6 Black dudes jumped on the White guy. The White dudes need to be charged with something. Oh, and didn’t the White guy, the victim taunt the Black students just before they kicked his butt? Here’s the whole story.

BTW, when you watch the video, please look for the woman who says that she is going to close her shop today.  Why?  “Because we (I) don’t know what’s going to happen.”  This is Jena in a nutshell.  This says it all.

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From WaPo:

Spurred by the Internet and a popular disc jockey’s nationwide urban radio program, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on a sleepy rural Louisiana town to protest what they say are excessive criminal charges against six black teenagers involved in a schoolyard brawl.

About 500 tour buses bearing thousands of riders were scheduled to depart from cities across the United States in the wee hours today for Jena, La., about 230 miles northwest of New Orleans. They will join others who will travel by airplane, automobile caravans and motorcycle convoys in what organizers say is a protest reminiscent of the Freedom Rides of the 1960s.

The demonstration was originally set to coincide with the sentencing of one of the defendants. But even though a state appeals court dismissed his battery conviction last week, organizers decided to go ahead with the rally. In addition, they asked people across the country to dress in black today to show solidarity with the demonstrators. (more…)

 

 Jena 6 - March today [3:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Civil Rights, Race by ecthompson
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