Advertisement

Executed murderer had official accomplices

Texas inmate David Ray Harris went to his death with no excuses on June 29.   ``Sir, in honor of a true American hero: Let's roll,'' Harris said when asked if  he had a final statement. By echoing the words of a passenger before he and  others attacked the hijackers of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, possibly   causing the jet to crash before reaching its intended target in Washington,   Harris apparently wanted to sound heroic.

But Harris was no hero. He was  a cold-blooded killer who also almost caused the execution of Randall Dale  Adams, an innocent Ohioan Harris helped frame for the first of two murders we  know Harris committed at a young age. Only because Adams had good trial  attorneys whose objections to the actions in the kangaroo court that convicted  him and an appeals attorney who exploited those objections to the hilt was  Adams' life saved by the U.S. Supreme Court three days before his scheduled  execution in 1979.

Prosecutors asked that the Ohioan's sentence be  commuted to life in prison rather than face the possibility of retrying Adams,  who had no prior record,

Candidate Kerry

I tried shouting "Kerry-Edwards" on the step out to my garden. The cat yawned, and the flowers drooped. Democrats know this in their hearts. Twit them about Kerry's dreariness, reminiscent of thin, cold chowder or Weeping Ed Muskie, and one gets the upraised hand and petulant cry, "I don't want to hear a word against Kerry!" It was as though the Democratic candidate has been entombed, pending resurrection as president, with an honor guard of the National Organization of Women, the AFL-CIO, the League of Conservation Voters, Taxpayers for Justice and the NAACP. To open the tomb prematurely to admit the oxygen of life and criticism is to commit an intolerable blasphemy against political propriety.

Commission

An open letter to progressives: vote Kerry and Cobb

There is no greater political imperative this year than to retire the Bush regime, one of the most dangerous and extremist in U.S. history. As people dedicated to peace, economic justice, equality, sustainability and constitutional freedoms, we are committed to defeating Bush.

The only candidate who can win instead of Bush in November is John Kerry. We want Kerry to replace Bush, because a Kerry administration would be less dangerous in many crucial areas, including militarism, civil liberties, civil rights, judicial appointments, reproductive rights and environmental protection.

But while helping Kerry-Edwards defeat Bush-Cheney, we don't want to endorse Kerry positions that are an insult to various causes we support, including movements for global justice and peace that have burgeoned in recent years. Indeed, we want to communicate to Kerry and the world that we oppose many of his policies, including some that are barely distinguishable from Bush policies.

Accordingly, we encourage progressives to organize and vote strategically this year.

Missing Government Documents- Berger and Bush

The details and media reaction to missing government record concerning former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and Resident George W. Bush is very important. Sandy Berger made some notes on the efforts of the Clinton Administration and accidentally removed COPIES of some documents on the subject. No original documents are missing and no facts are being hidden from public view by Berger’s actions. Berger screwed-up but there is no cover-up! Bush’s military records have been found to be conveniently and permanently destroyed.

Right Wing Talk Radio, Fox News and Republican politicians have been spinning the Berger incident as some kind of Clinton cover-up. The facts make their arguments bad jokes on the voting public. Taking copies of documents and leaving the originals are not cover-up behavior. The timing of the leak about the Justice Department investigation certainly looks fishy. The 9-11 Investigative Commission report is due to be released this week. Creating a non-issue controversy to distract voters from the failures of the Bush Administration seems to be a standard operating practice for the Bush Republicans.

Ralph Nader Sleeping with the Enemy? Let's Be Fair

Democrats and liberal defenders of John Kerry are throwing tantrums over Ralph Nader's new found affinity for conservatives who are aiding his ballot efforts in swing states. According to a Detroit News report, Greg McNeilly the Executive Director of the Michigan Republican Party said, 'We are absolutely interested in having Ralph Nader on the ballot.' Indeed these Republicans hope Nader will siphon votes away from Kerry, and tally the state's 17 electoral points on George Bush's score card come election day.

Right-wing organizations are also putting their efforts behind Nader out West. Citizens for a Sound Economy, an anti-tax, anti-government group run by Republican powerhouse Dick Armey, wants Nader on the Oregon ballot. A rigid Christian anti-gay group, known as Oregon Family Council, also believes voters should have a chance to pull the lever for Ralph in the fall. As you can imagine, Democrats aren't the least bit pleased with these recent developments. And they are the first to happily point out Nader's new bedfellows.

Out of their own rage over Nader's challenge to politics as usual,

Fahrenheit 911 is Fair and Balanced

Amen! Besides the titles you mention, there are a plethora of journal articles and books published circa 2000 that thoroughly outline the almost 10-15 years' previous failed attempts at getting the pipeline built, UNOCAL vs. The Argentineans-who-also-wanted-rights-to-it, recent Afghan history, etc. ... one such is

Taliban : militant Islam, oil, and fundamentalism in Central Asia / Ahmed Rashid. -- New Haven : Yale University Press, c2000.

It has a nice little map near the front of it of the proposed route of the pipes.

Maxey Lynch
Gainesville, FL

Nader and the conspiracy of silence

Always partial to monopolies, the Democrats think they should hold the exclusive concession on any electoral challenge to Bush and the Republicans. The Nader campaign prompts them to hysterical tirades. Republicans are more relaxed. Ross Perot and his Reform Party actually cost George Bush Sr. his reelection in 1992, yet Perot never drew a tenth of the abuse for his presumption that Nader does now.

        Of course the Democrats richly deserve the challenge. Through the Clinton years the Democratic Party remained "united" in fealty to corporate corruption and right-wing class viciousness, and so inevitably and appropriately, the Nader-centered independent challenge was born, modestly in 1996, strongly in 2000, and now again in 2004. The rationale for Nader's challenge was as sound as it was for Henry Wallace half a century earlier. I quote from The Third Party, a little pamphlet by Adam Lapin published in 1948, in support of Wallace and his Progressive Party:

"Look at Nelson Mandela"

AUSTIN, Texas -- We cannot let pass without salute Martha Stewart’s remarks after being sentenced to five months in prison. In the long history of amazing things said by people in peculiar circumstances, you must admit, this ranks right up there. “There are many, many good people who have gone to prison,” she observed. “Look at Nelson Mandela.”

        We live in a great nation.

        Unfortunately, we are all likely to be driven batty if this presidential campaign gets any worse, which it is likely to do. Last week, I was on book tour doing one chat show after another and so got to experience first-hand the Republican orchestration of their talking points. And an impressive display it is. Truly, they speak with one voice, repeating the same thing over and over, never off-message -- just remarkable.

ADC Update: Contact ADC if Approached by the FBI

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has noted a recent wave of reports from across the country indicating that FBI agents are contacting Arab and Muslim Americans, including citizens, for what has been described as voluntary interviews.  ADC would like to remind members of the Arab, Muslim, and Arab-American communities that equal protection and due process rights are afforded to everyone, including non-citizens, in the United States.

Unlike previous initiatives, the FBI has not communicated to ADC any plans to conduct such interviews. ADC urges anyone who is contacted by the FBI to contact the ADC Legal Department and provide details of the incident by calling (202) 244-2990, sending a fax to (202) 244-3196, or via email to legal@adc.org.

Upon request, ADC will do its best to provide third party observers, in cases where potential interviewees would want such additional safeguards. Additional useful "Know Your Rights" information can be found on the ADC website at:  http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=275.

Pages

Subscribe to Freepress.org RSS