Nixon Aide Reportedly Admitted Drug War Was Meant To Target Black People from the Huffington Post
GREAT WORK from Harpers Magazine on Nixon's "War on Drugs"!!
The money quote from John Ehrlichman in 1994:
“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Showing posts with label Civil rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Civil rights. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2016
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
George Wallace Re-dux!
Donald Trump is running the most explicitly racist campaign since 1968 (Paul Waldman) from The Week
"After decades of rhetorical evolution from Republicans on matters of race, Donald Trump is now running the most plainly, explicitly, straightforwardly racist campaign since at least George Wallace's third-party run in 1968, and maybe even Strom Thurmond's in 1948."
"After decades of rhetorical evolution from Republicans on matters of race, Donald Trump is now running the most plainly, explicitly, straightforwardly racist campaign since at least George Wallace's third-party run in 1968, and maybe even Strom Thurmond's in 1948."
Sunday, September 20, 2015
CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY NUGGET!!
How the South’s Public Enemy No. 1 climbed onto the Supreme Court from the Washington Post
"The opening chapters of Wil Haygood’s engaging “Showdown” make clear that even if Thurgood Marshall had not made it into history books as the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States, he would have deserved a place in American history as one of the best, most effective lawyers of his generation. In truth, he should be considered one of the best lawyers in the nation’s history, for during the 1940s and 1950s he tied together a string of legal victories that not only served the aims of his clients — they helped transform American society."
"The opening chapters of Wil Haygood’s engaging “Showdown” make clear that even if Thurgood Marshall had not made it into history books as the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States, he would have deserved a place in American history as one of the best, most effective lawyers of his generation. In truth, he should be considered one of the best lawyers in the nation’s history, for during the 1940s and 1950s he tied together a string of legal victories that not only served the aims of his clients — they helped transform American society."
Friday, September 4, 2015
What Happens When a Black Judge Stops Handing Out Harsh Sentences
Whites Quit Working With Black Mississippi Judge, Then He Got Sacked (Justin Glave) from the Daily Beast
"Rickey Thompson started a drug court to start treating offenders and stop imprisoning them. Then he says officials quit sending him offenders altogether.
"Rickey Thompson started a drug court to start treating offenders and stop imprisoning them. Then he says officials quit sending him offenders altogether.
An INCREDIBLE story! Check it out!
Trigger-happy Cop Shoots One of His Own
Trigger-Happy Cop Shot One of His Own and Kept Blasting Away from the Daily Beast
"A detective who worked narcotics with an undercover officer walked up to a car, shot his fellow officer twice, and then seven more times against the victim’s pleas."
"A detective who worked narcotics with an undercover officer walked up to a car, shot his fellow officer twice, and then seven more times against the victim’s pleas."
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Our Mother Was Not a Spy!
The Meeropol Brothers: Exonerate Our Mother, Ethel Rosenberg (Michael and Robert Meeropol) from the New York Times
"Our mother was not a spy. The government held her life hostage to coerce our father to talk, and when that failed, it extracted false statements to secure her wrongful execution. ;... It is never too late to correct an egregious injustice. We call on the government to formally exonerate Ethel Rosenberg."
"Our mother was not a spy. The government held her life hostage to coerce our father to talk, and when that failed, it extracted false statements to secure her wrongful execution. ;... It is never too late to correct an egregious injustice. We call on the government to formally exonerate Ethel Rosenberg."
Sunday, June 14, 2015
A perfect penalty coming out of an imperfect justice system
What do you think of the death penalty now, Justice Scalia? (Leonard Pitts) from the Miami Herald
"The argument against the death penalty will never have the visceral, immediate emotionalism of the argument in favor. It does not satisfy that instinctive human need to make somebody pay — now! — when something bad has been done. Rather, it turns on quieter concerns, issues of inherent racial, class, geographic and gender bias, issues of corner-cutting cops and ineffective counsel, and issues of irrevocability, the fact that, once imposed, death cannot be undone. Those issues were easy for you to ignore in mocking Blackmun. They are always easy to ignore, right up until the moment they are not. This is one of those moments, sir,..."
The predictable outcome when a perfect penalty comes out of an imperfect justice system.
"The argument against the death penalty will never have the visceral, immediate emotionalism of the argument in favor. It does not satisfy that instinctive human need to make somebody pay — now! — when something bad has been done. Rather, it turns on quieter concerns, issues of inherent racial, class, geographic and gender bias, issues of corner-cutting cops and ineffective counsel, and issues of irrevocability, the fact that, once imposed, death cannot be undone. Those issues were easy for you to ignore in mocking Blackmun. They are always easy to ignore, right up until the moment they are not. This is one of those moments, sir,..."
The predictable outcome when a perfect penalty comes out of an imperfect justice system.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Police -- Living with Decades of Killings and Set-ups
When Cops Cry Wolf (Frank Serpico) from Politico
"I call it “testi-lying.” It has been a regular practice in police forces across the United States, at least since I served on the NYPD: official testimony that is made part of a police after-action report but is a pure lie, an invention. In the old days police would carry a “drop gun” or a “drop knife”—an inexpensive weapon cops would bring along on patrol to drop onto or next to a suspect they had taken out so they could say he had threatened them. Today you don’t even need to do that; all you have to do to justify the use of deadly force if you are a police officer is to say that you feared for your life, for whatever reason. If the victim dies, that just means there will be one less witness around to contradict the testi-lie."
"I call it “testi-lying.” It has been a regular practice in police forces across the United States, at least since I served on the NYPD: official testimony that is made part of a police after-action report but is a pure lie, an invention. In the old days police would carry a “drop gun” or a “drop knife”—an inexpensive weapon cops would bring along on patrol to drop onto or next to a suspect they had taken out so they could say he had threatened them. Today you don’t even need to do that; all you have to do to justify the use of deadly force if you are a police officer is to say that you feared for your life, for whatever reason. If the victim dies, that just means there will be one less witness around to contradict the testi-lie."
Sunday, March 8, 2015
How Much Has Black Life Really Changed In 50 Years?
Selma Anniversary from the Huffington Post
"As the ceremonies begin this weekend to celebrate the landmark civil rights march, it is important to reflect on the progress -- or a lack of it -- that's occurred when it comes to true racial justice and equality for all African-Americans."
"As the ceremonies begin this weekend to celebrate the landmark civil rights march, it is important to reflect on the progress -- or a lack of it -- that's occurred when it comes to true racial justice and equality for all African-Americans."
Saturday, January 24, 2015
MARTIN LUTHER KING NUGGET [of a sort]!!
Read the letter the FBI sent MLK to try to convince him to kill himself from Vox
"When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech before huge crowds on the National Mall in August 1963, the FBI took notice. "We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security," FBI domestic intelligence chief William Sullivan wrote in a memo two days later."
For those who are nonchalant about surveylance, this letter's text and the accompanying quotes from FBI files should remind people how dangerous our own government was and can be when we give them a free pass.
"When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech before huge crowds on the National Mall in August 1963, the FBI took notice. "We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security," FBI domestic intelligence chief William Sullivan wrote in a memo two days later."
For those who are nonchalant about surveylance, this letter's text and the accompanying quotes from FBI files should remind people how dangerous our own government was and can be when we give them a free pass.
Friday, January 16, 2015
People of NYC React to Police Protests
New Yorkers Turn Their Backs On Police Protests, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds from Quinnipiac University
"Police union leader Patrick Lynch's comments that the mayor's office had blood on its hands are "too extreme," voters say 77 - 17 percent, the independent Quinnipiac University Poll finds."
"Police union leader Patrick Lynch's comments that the mayor's office had blood on its hands are "too extreme," voters say 77 - 17 percent, the independent Quinnipiac University Poll finds."
Saturday, January 10, 2015
When the Whole World is Watching ...
It’s Time for Pervasive Surveillance — of the Police from Raw Story
"We need recordings, and we need them not just to investigate high-profile shootings. There is a growing demand for accurate recording of the entire spectrum of police activity, making greater transparency of policing an urgent priority. However, recordings by themselves are not a magic bullet."
"We need recordings, and we need them not just to investigate high-profile shootings. There is a growing demand for accurate recording of the entire spectrum of police activity, making greater transparency of policing an urgent priority. However, recordings by themselves are not a magic bullet."
Friday, January 2, 2015
What the "Old Hands" Have to Say about the Bush Torture Program
Why torture doesn't work: A definitive guide (Ryan Cooper) from The Week
"Dick Cheney says torture is effective. But the Nazis (and the Soviets and the Viet Cong and the Stasi) would disagree."
"Dick Cheney says torture is effective. But the Nazis (and the Soviets and the Viet Cong and the Stasi) would disagree."
New York’s epic white backlash
How a horrid 1960s relic is still with us today (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"O’Reilly, Hannity and a defiant NYPD are fighting battles of 50 years ago. The chaos ended but the backlash endures."
Ah, another old chestnut from the 1960s! Have to run to the barricades and take up arms against those who blame "pigs" and "THE MAN." The Ferguson shooting/protests combine with the police assassinations in NYC -- and here, like some time warp out of Star Trek, we are back in 1968. I genuinely think that there are millions of now silver-haired Americans who only feel fully alive (and what, twenty-five again) unless they are raging full-throated against those hippie/commie Jane Fonda-loving, pot-smoking, flag-burning, tree-hugging beatniks!!! Pardon me while my eyes roll in exasperation. -- Nuggetsman
"O’Reilly, Hannity and a defiant NYPD are fighting battles of 50 years ago. The chaos ended but the backlash endures."
Ah, another old chestnut from the 1960s! Have to run to the barricades and take up arms against those who blame "pigs" and "THE MAN." The Ferguson shooting/protests combine with the police assassinations in NYC -- and here, like some time warp out of Star Trek, we are back in 1968. I genuinely think that there are millions of now silver-haired Americans who only feel fully alive (and what, twenty-five again) unless they are raging full-throated against those hippie/commie Jane Fonda-loving, pot-smoking, flag-burning, tree-hugging beatniks!!! Pardon me while my eyes roll in exasperation. -- Nuggetsman
Friday, December 26, 2014
Closing Gauntanamo Gets Closer to Reality
U.S. Prepares to Accelerate Detainee Transfers from Guantanamo Bay Prison from the Huffington Post
"The Obama administration is accelerating its efforts to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center, preparing to move dozens of inmates out of the prison in coming months in a step forward for President Obama’s redoubled attempt to achieve a core national security objective before he leaves office."
"The Obama administration is accelerating its efforts to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center, preparing to move dozens of inmates out of the prison in coming months in a step forward for President Obama’s redoubled attempt to achieve a core national security objective before he leaves office."
Should Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & CIA Officials Be Tried for Torture?
War Crimes Case Filed in Germany from Democracy Now
"Cheney’s claim that he would approve torture again highlights a key question: Are top officials above the law, and will the impunity of today lead to more abuses in the future?"
"Cheney’s claim that he would approve torture again highlights a key question: Are top officials above the law, and will the impunity of today lead to more abuses in the future?"
What to Do With the Authors of American Torture
Prosecute Torturers and Their Bosses from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"These are, simply, crimes. They are prohibited by federal law, which defines torture as the intentional infliction of “severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” They are also banned by the Convention Against Torture, the international treaty that the United States ratified in 1994 and that requires prosecution of any acts of torture. So it is no wonder that today’s blinkered apologists are desperate to call these acts anything but torture, which they clearly were. As the report reveals, these claims fail for a simple reason: C.I.A. officials admitted at the time that what they intended to do was illegal."
"These are, simply, crimes. They are prohibited by federal law, which defines torture as the intentional infliction of “severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” They are also banned by the Convention Against Torture, the international treaty that the United States ratified in 1994 and that requires prosecution of any acts of torture. So it is no wonder that today’s blinkered apologists are desperate to call these acts anything but torture, which they clearly were. As the report reveals, these claims fail for a simple reason: C.I.A. officials admitted at the time that what they intended to do was illegal."
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Torture and Accountability: What About the Doctors?
‘Do No Harm’: When Doctors Torture (Julie Beck) from the Atlantic
"Medical officers used their knowledge to aid and abet the CIA's interrogation tactics."
"Medical officers used their knowledge to aid and abet the CIA's interrogation tactics."
Friday, December 12, 2014
Turning Loose More Detainees ... Finally
Obama Effort Leads To Surge In Guantanamo Releases from the Huffington Post
"With the sudden surge in transfers, Guantanamo is now at a turning point. The prisoner population is at 136 — down from a high of near 700 and its lowest point since shortly after it opened in January 2002 — with 68 of the prisoners cleared for transfer. Officials have said at least five more will be moved by Dec. 31."
"With the sudden surge in transfers, Guantanamo is now at a turning point. The prisoner population is at 136 — down from a high of near 700 and its lowest point since shortly after it opened in January 2002 — with 68 of the prisoners cleared for transfer. Officials have said at least five more will be moved by Dec. 31."
Frank Serpico's Comments on Eric Garner's Death
Serpico: Incidents like Eric Garner's death drive wedge between police and society (Frank Serpico) from the New York Daily News
"Cowardly cops living by the 'shoot first, ask questions later' mantra put the good guys in a bad light and threaten the public's right to justice."
"Cowardly cops living by the 'shoot first, ask questions later' mantra put the good guys in a bad light and threaten the public's right to justice."
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