marym625

marym625's Journal

December 15, 2014

"Threaten me or my family and I will use my God given and law appointed duty to kill you"

That's a tweet from a San Jose cop. Story is in the first link at end of post.

Instead of recognizing there's a problem, cops continue to defend killing unarmed citizens. They retaliate using the simplest of insults, taking the #BlackLivesMatter mantra and twisting it to #CopsLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter, and go as far as threatening death for peaceful protesters walking on street.

They have beaten people doing nothing more than sitting and sprayed mace directly in the eyes of live streamers.

The police unions are justifying the deaths of everyone killed by cops, including Tamir Rice.

They treat the loved ones of those killed like criminals, grilling and detaining John Crawford's girlfriend for 90 minutes before finally telling her, "As a result of his actions, he is gone.” They handcuffed and threw Tamir Rice's 14 year old sister into the back of the squad car when she saw her little brother lying bleeding on the ground. When Mrs. Rice came to the scene of her son's murder, the cops threatened to throw her in the back of the car if she "didn't calm down."

They demand apologies from sports teams and team members for supporting justice. This is not just the Ferguson and St Louis cops, now the Cleveland cops are pissed at the Browns.

The Police in Seattle stated openly that "A liberal after my money in taxes may be my opponent, but a socialist attacking the Constitution and my liberty is my enemy." This is one of the nicer things said on various "cop talk" types of blogs across the country.

They are wearing tshirts with horrible slogans, including a particularly disgusting Hemingway quote:

It is obvious that cops all over the country have no intention to even try to understand. With the militarization of police, the 2005 SCOTUS decision telling police they needn't protect life, the wanton attitude and actions by so many cops, and so very little support for change or even recognizing change is needed, there is no way to deny that this is a war. It's a war on people of color, on the mentally ill, on the poor and on anyone at all that demands change.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/cal-cop-investigated-for-threatening-tweets-i-will-use-my-god-given-and-law-appointed-duty-to-kill-you/

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/14/john-crawford-girlfriend-questioned-walmart-police-shot-dead

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-some-seattle-cops-think-the-problem-is/Content?oid=6266406

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/12/president-of-cleveland-police-demands-apology-from-browns-for-protest

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/01/cleveland-police-unarmed-black-pair-lawsuit

December 14, 2014

A post all younger DUers should read

Those that don't remember a time when Republicans and Democrats could actually have a conversation. Might not have gotten anywhere but it still would be based in reality.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025957341

December 13, 2014

I love the idea of Sanders or Warren as President

And a Warren/Sanders or Sanders/Warren ticket would be a dream come true.

However, we need at least one of these two in the Senate. The loss of both would be like when we lost Byrd and Kennedy. 2 years apart but a loss that really hurt America

Just curious, which would you want on the 2016 Presidential ticket?

December 13, 2014

Day Of Resistance a National Call To Action

December 13, 2014 is the Day of Resistance. Find your protest here

http://fergusonresponse.tumblr.com/

CHICAGO PROTEST:

List of Demands For Humanity

http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/248643832?width=360

December 13, 2014

Day Of Resistance a National Call To Action

December 12, 2014

Without prosecution for torture, we've lost all credibility

Senator Barack Obama called those that broke US and international law by using torture, criminals. Candidate Obama softened his words on investigation and prosecution. Eventually, President Obama, gave immunity to the guilty parties and even worked to block any prosecution both nationally and internationally.

Whether you are a staunch Obama supporter, someone that has slowly found fault with his policies or have had problems with his actions, or lack of actions, from the beginning, the current dismissive attitude shouldn't be a surprise. The words, however, are a bit shocking.

Even with the attitude not being a surprise, that is not to say that the words are not outrageous. The one sentence, "we tortured some folks" is dismissive and should never have come from the leader of the free world. Even with Executive Order 13491, which ended the torture allowed by Bush, the words spoken by President Obama since May of this year, will make it difficult to defend ourselves and others against the torture of US citizens or any people. We will be hard pressed to oppose and condemn torture by any government of their own citizens or citizens of other countries.

I don't understand why this is being defended by anyone. I don't understand the excuse that the President's hands are tied. We have prosecuted those that tortured, including Japanese people after WWII for water boarding, and we shouldn't be any easier on US people. We didn't allow the Germans to get away with the "just following orders" and we should not be immune to the same.

It isn't just the report itself that will put our citizens and military in danger of being tortured, it is our lack of action to bring those who performed it, and ordered it, to justice. We have lost all credibility.

The links below are both reference to factual events and opinions throughout the last decade. I am not saying, by posting them, that every opinion is correct. I just wanted to post reminders of what was being said and done at the time they were published. Most of the links include links and reference to other relevant articles. I included one post from DU that was well received back in 2003.

http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/05/19/letter-congress-continuation-national-emergency-respect-stabilization-ir

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1605312&mesg_id=1605312

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/07/1349523/-President-Obama-s-nuclear-option-on-torture

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041602768.html

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/31/obama-justice-department-immunity-bush-cia-torturer

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/wikileaks-cable-obama-quashed-torture-investigation

http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/faqs/accountability-and-prosecutions-torture

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012004743.html

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/02/rend-f03.html

http://m.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/EnsuringLawfulInterrogations

December 12, 2014

Is it too late?

I posted this question a year and a half ago. So much has happened since then that is incomprehensible. I don't know how we can ever come back.

We have a president, a democratic president, that actually said out loud, publicly, "we tortured some folks." We tortured some folks. This came from the mouth of the man that gave hope to millions of us 6 years ago. The leader of the free world, the President of the United States of America said, "we tortured some folks." As William Pitt said, "In my name. In your name. In our name."Never again, in my name.

We are fighting, yet again, to not have the country shut down but that's the preferable choice to passing a bill that will allow the criminal bankers that ruined the world economy, do it all over again. A bill that will cause elections to be completely useless.

We have a National Defense bill that includes a little provision to take sacred, Native American land and hand it over to a mining company that will desecrate and plunder the land for profit.

We have black men and boys hunted down in the streets, murdered by cops. The cops are not just not charged, they're hailed as heroes. We have public officials complaining about protests instead of representing their constituents.

This was my post July 2013. Nothing in it has changed for the better. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023282476

I see no light at the end of the tunnel.

December 9, 2014

Does anyone else have a bigoted, frigid, phone?

My auto correct doesn't know the following words

What it
changes
word to What I type

Lisbon Lesbian
Gayle Gay
bisected Bisexual
Sepulveda Sexual
Transgressions Transgender
Godfrey God
cathodic Catholic
Muslin. Muslim
protectant Protestant

There are more but you get the idea.

But it does know Buddha.