Public pressure is growing in Phoenix for the FBI and DOJ to do their job.
...and free the 5.
1 year ago
Showing posts with label andrew thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label andrew thomas. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Fascists, White Supremacists dominate AZ Republican Primaries.
The Fascists all but swept the Republican Primaries here last night, and in most of their strongholds the Democrats won't have much chance come November. We're still holding out hope that the corrupt Andrew Thomas loses to the incompetent Tom Horne, but overall, it's a bleak Wednesday morning in Phoenix. Having no tv is a good excuse to get out and about on a night like last night, so I brought my "Bury Hep C..." signs with me to the AZ GOP Party HQ to witness the tragedy unfold. It was far worse than I expected. It looks like many of my friends took one step closer to spending the next few years in an Arizona state prison, all for the love of Food Not Bombs, music under the bridge, and sidewalk chalk. Freedom of expression and human rights will soon be tossed out of the back seat by Thomas' Law and Arpaio's disorder.
I was pleading more than protesting with my signs to fight Hep C , standing quietly across the street. When I saw what was happening on their big screen - and in the audience of small people - I thought it would be foolish to be caught disrupting the occasion without my own witnesses. The media was out in full force, of course, but seemed to be thoroughly co-opted. With the exception of a few words of encouragement from parting celebrants, I was virtually ignored.
from Monday morning's demonstration,the message I brought to the Republicans Tuesday night.
The scene at the Republican's party - ringed by MCSO deputies - was truly disturbing. I had to close my eyes and imagine that it was just a bloodbath between klansmen and skinheads, as whomever was left standing would likely still go on to try to destroy the rest of us.
Huppenthal - chair of the Senate Education Committee that brutalized teachers and children last year - may be the next State Superintendent. They're moving in for the kill with the kids.
Unless there's a Libertarian coup in November, the Maricopa County Attorney's office is actually losing Romley to Arpaio's buddy, Bill Montgomery. I never thought I'd be sorry to see that guy go so quickly, but I think darker days are ahead.
Whoever went up against Russ Pearce didn't stand a chance in hell, of course - I haven't even trolled the internet to find out if there was some miraculous upset in his race. He wasn't to be seen in Phoenix, as far as I could tell - I suspected he was celebrating in Mesa with Tea Partiers, Neo-Nazis, and the other white supremacists out there.
Most troubling, perhaps, is that last nights winners didn't come out of far right field without a lot of help from the "center". These people were the official nominees of their party. The crowd unabashedly cheered Arpaio and Thomas (whose race remains too close to call) as they slapped each other's backs and smiled for the cameras without another protester in sight.
The list goes on and will be verified and complete to be pondered over by pundits soon enough. Suffice it to say, it looks like it's about to get a whole lot worse in this state before it gets better, so watch each other's backs out there, my friends. SB 1070 is what brought these people their victories last night. This may have been the Summer of Human Rights, but this fall will undoubtedly see some ethnic and political cleansing in a Season of Hate as this Republican slate solidifies their base by doing what they do best: demonizing unions and immigrants, incarcerating the poor for profit, and dismembering the traitors in their own ranks.
We can certainly hope that the legions of registered Republicans who voted for the lesser of their many evils will join the Democrats and the independent voters in an upset in November - it would suggest that we finally have a more progressive electorate, if nothing else.
For my part, though, even with a Democratic sweep I don't expect the oppressed to be liberated by any part of this political machine. Instead, I pray for revolution. Perhaps this blatant horror will be precisely what we need in order to unshackle our own feet, free our own neighbors, and take back both the land and the resources for the people and other living beings whose ancestors long pre-dated the Anglo invasion.
Until the next time we meet dancing in the streets, comrades - be strong, and remember the power of song. There remains a hell of a battle ahead, which will come to us if we don't go out and meet it full on.
With my utmost respect to the Resistance -
In solidarity, forever.
Peg
Monday, June 21, 2010
Arizona Attorney General candidate debates this week.
The KAET Channel 8 schedule says that tonight are the Republicans, and tomorrow are the Democrats, but everyone else says the following, so I'm going with the AP version. Presumably, this is being held at the KAET studio tomorrow at 7pm, though none of the press releases say so. Remember to catch the Democratic candidates Wednesday, too.
If you have questions for the station, direct them here:
If you have questions for the station, direct them here:
--------------------from KAET------------
Contact
Send your comments
We welcome your comments and suggestions. Contact Horizonby e-mail at Eight@asu.edu
by telephone at 602-496-2308
or by mail:
Eight, Arizona PBS
Arizona State University
555 N. Central Ave.; Suite 500 (map)
Phoenix, AZ 85004-1252
ATTN: Horizon
Ask Your Questions
Do you have a question you would like to ask the Horizon guests? We may use it during the broadcast.Email your question to Horizon@asu.edu
-------------
GOP candidates for attorney general to face off
By The Associated Press
Published: June 21, 2010 at 6:51 am
The two Republican candidates for Arizona attorney general will face off Tuesday in a debate held by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas are vying for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 24 primary election.
The Clean Elections Commission will hold a debate Wednesday with the Democrats running for attorney general.
Democrats David Lujan, Vince Rabago and Felicia Rotellini are running for their party’s nomination.
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Truth About AndrewThomas
This is an interesting website link that was forwarded to me this week by a friend in the Movement...check it out. For those of you who don't know, Andy Thomas is the vindictive former Maricopa County Attorney who is now running for the AZ Attorney General's office. He maliciously prosecutes his political enemies. That's largely what this website is about:
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Romley appointed new Maricopa County Attorney
Congratulations, Mr. Romley. We will be in touch, and look forward to working with you.
Peggy Plews
--------------------------
Rick Romley to Replace Andrew Thomas as New Maricopa County Attorney
By Sarah Fenske, Friday, Apr. 16 2010 @ 2:38PM
 |
| Rick Romley, the old (and now new) county attorney. |
We called that one.
As New Times' Paul Rubin predicted last week, former County Attorney Rick Romley got the nod from the Board of Supervisors today to replace Andrew Thomas in his old job. Thomas, of course, resigned earlier this month to run for attorney general; Romley, who held the post for 16 years before retiring in 2004, was the odds-on favorite to replace him.
And, as Rubin had predicted, the vote was 4-1, with Fulton Brock the only "no."
We heard this morning that Sheriff Joe Arpaio is threatening a lawsuit over the Romley appointment. To that, we say "Bring it on!" And, perhaps, also, "Go f*&% yourself, Joe." (Really, does anyone see any legal grounds for a lawsuit here?)
(Check out Romley's first act after he was named county attorney here. Check out Arpaio's and Thomas' reactions here and here.)
Romley is a Marine who lost both legs above the knee in the Vietnam War. A longtime Republican, he endorsed Thomas to be his successor in 2004, but quickly grew to regret that choice.
In 2008, he endorsed Thomas' opponent, Democrat Tim Nelson, saying, "I can no longer stay silent." He's worked part-time for Attorney General Terry Goddard and as a legal consultant to the Board of Supervisors during its conflicts with Thomas.
Romley was one of four finalists for the job, culled down from 11 contenders by a four-man committee. He's agreed to run for reelection in November, after which (if successful) he'll serve the remaining two years on Thomas' term.
But he'll probably face a challenger in the Republican primary. Thomas' people really wanted a prosecutor named Bill Montgomery to be chosen for the job instead; Montgomery threw his hat in the ring but wasn't recommended by the four-man advisory panel.
Montgomery already has filed papers to begin his campaign for the job. And believe us when we say Sheriff Arpaio won't be threatening any lawsuits over his candidacy.
In 2008, he endorsed Thomas' opponent, Democrat Tim Nelson, saying, "I can no longer stay silent." He's worked part-time for Attorney General Terry Goddard and as a legal consultant to the Board of Supervisors during its conflicts with Thomas.
Romley was one of four finalists for the job, culled down from 11 contenders by a four-man committee. He's agreed to run for reelection in November, after which (if successful) he'll serve the remaining two years on Thomas' term.
But he'll probably face a challenger in the Republican primary. Thomas' people really wanted a prosecutor named Bill Montgomery to be chosen for the job instead; Montgomery threw his hat in the ring but wasn't recommended by the four-man advisory panel.
Montgomery already has filed papers to begin his campaign for the job. And believe us when we say Sheriff Arpaio won't be threatening any lawsuits over his candidacy.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Chomsky on Fascism; VETO SB 1070.
I will have more on yesterday's Capitol protest later; this seemed relevant, though. Chomsky describes the Tea Party contingent well. They were there yesterday - indistinguishable from JD supporters, hundreds of ranchers, and rabid anti-immigrant forces. Hundreds of them, all told. And maybe 25 of us, mostly youth of color. Our opposition has no foundation for their claims, so they just called us names ("losers", "idiots") and told us to "go back to Mexico" (I'm a direct descendant of the first Pilgrim Governor, actually, and carry Brigham Young's genes in my blood).
Actually, I'm surprised I wasn't assaulted by one of the anti-immigrant people, because they were so agitated that a few of the women chased after me screaming when I went by them with DREAM Act fliers ("how about the 'Go Home Act'?"). Terrified people are easily exploited by men like Pearce and Thomas, and they turn into vicious, vindictive, brutal, entitled, racist, fascist beings.
Just watch what they do to us next - to both the migrants and their sympathizers. After yesterday's event, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Arpaio was elected as a Human Rights commissioner or something by AZ voters. As for us - I think we'll see lynching come back soon - or at least a surge in vigilantism/hate crime, police harassment, and abusive prosecutions against racial and political minorities in this state.
Boy, was there a lot of hate and fear on the State House lawns yesterday, and it wasn't coming from us. We know the arc of the universe bends towards justice - our kind, not theirs. We will work with her timeline. The Pearce/JD/Tea Party/White Supremacist crowd are the ones who are so afraid of the world out here that they have to carry guns everywhere - even though we're really the ones (the poor) who get gunned down the most.
SB 1070 passed the House and goes to the governor now, by the way.
This will be a dark era in Arizona's history. We might as well have segregated bathrooms and Jim Crow laws...
Actually, I guess we do.
We are already the most fascist state in the country, and the lemmings here - all caught up in their own self-interest and privilege and fear - have no idea what has just been done to democracy...having forfeited the rights of others, we have forfeited our own.
All out of fear.
More people - US veterans, even - have been killed by the lack of health insurance this year than those killed by every single possible nuance of illegal immigration that can be milked from crime statistics. So, this has nothing to do with public safety or welfare, or Russ Pearce would have led the charge for health care reform and other things that really could save a lot of American lives. He's destroying the fabric of our Constitution instead - and the Republican Party is bending over backwards to help the likes of him.
They're doing it because they know that under a true democracy they would have to share power. These people are convinced that not only do they not have to share anything, but that asking them to share any kind of resource, even in a recession, is a direct assault on their liberty, livelihood, and even family. Thus the violent reaction to health care reform from this small segment of the community. They have intimidated their own party members into bowing down to fascism in the legislature.
That's pretty troubling, because that means that people like my grandpa and my dad, who are anti-racist at heart, despite being Republican white men, are being taken in by the flag-waving rhetoric and exploited to support things they would give their lives to fight against if they had even a clue of where we are heading. Hell, Dad already spent his life fighting this.
But even good people led astray can be capable of horrible things...there is nothing my dad wouldn't do to protect his family if we were under attack. We have to somehow make it harder for Pearce et al to turn our resistance to them into attacks on our neighbors, or we are all doomed.
--------------
Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
By Matthew Rothschild,
The Progressive
April 12, 2010
“I’m just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler’s speeches on the radio,” he said, “and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering” here at home.
Chomsky was speaking to more than 1,000 people at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, where he received the University of Wisconsin’s A.E. Havens Center’s award for lifetime contribution to critical scholarship.
“The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime,” he said.
He cited a statistic from a recent poll showing that half the unaffiliated voters say the average tea party member is closer to them than anyone else.
“Ridiculing the tea party shenanigans is a serious error,” Chomsky said.
Their attitudes “are understandable,” he said. “For over 30 years, real incomes have stagnated or declined. This is in large part the consequence of the decision in the 1970s to financialize the economy.”
There is class resentment, he noted. “The bankers, who are primarily responsible for the crisis, are now reveling in record bonuses while official unemployment is around 10 percent and unemployment in the manufacturing sector is at Depression-era levels,” he said.
And Obama is linked to the bankers, Chomsky explained.
“The financial industry preferred Obama to McCain,” he said. “They expected to be rewarded and they were. Then Obama began to criticize greedy bankers and proposed measures to regulate them.
And the punishment for this was very swift: They were going to shift their money to the Republicans. So Obama said bankers are “fine guys” and assured the business world: ‘I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.’
People see that and are not happy about it.”
He said “the colossal toll of the institutional crimes of state capitalism” is what is fueling “the indignation and rage of those cast aside.”
“People want some answers,” Chomsky said. “They are hearing answers from only one place: Fox, talk radio, and Sarah Palin.”
Chomsky invoked Germany during the Weimar Republic, and drew a parallel between it and the United States. “The Weimar Republic was the peak of Western civilization and was regarded as a model of democracy,” he said.
And he stressed how quickly things deteriorated there.
“In 1928 the Nazis had less than 2 percent of the vote,” he said. “Two years later, millions supported them. The public got tired of the incessant wrangling, and the service to the powerful, and the failure of those in power to deal with their grievances.”
He said the German people were susceptible to appeals about “the greatness of the nation, and defending it against threats, and carrying out the will of eternal providence.”
When farmers, the petit bourgeoisie, and Christian organizations joined forces with the Nazis, “the center very quickly collapsed,” Chomsky said.
No analogy is perfect, he said, but the echoes of fascism are “reverberating” today, he said.
“These are lessons to keep in mind.”
Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Fire Andy Thomas.
I didn't go to this rally, but here's their news - lots of lawyers in suits, by the looks of the New Times slideshow (link at bottom). I figured they already had plenty of support - but check out this solidarity action! Wonder if the rally-organizers did that? Saw this somewhere after 8am Monday, heading west on the 202 towards 7th, I think...
Anti-Thomas rally draws more than 250 people in PhoenixDiscontent with Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' and Sheriff Joe Arpaio's legal battles with county officials moved to a public forum Monday and received a boost from an unexpected source with inside knowledge of their cases.
Hundreds of attorneys gathered on the courthouse steps in downtown Phoenix to protest Thomas and Arpaio's public campaign against public corruption. And, in a scathing letter to The Arizona Republic, the Yavapai County attorney, who previously handled some of Thomas' cases against county officials, blasted the prosecutor and sheriff as "a threat to the entire criminal-justice system."
Sheila Polk, a Republican and career prosecutor, spent six months working on two of the cases sought by Thomas and Arpaio in their ongoing battle against county officials and the courts. Her office handled the first criminal case against Supervisor Don Stapley
and the investigation into the disputed Superior Court tower project....
(back to the Republic article)
-------------
Here is also a slideshow from the Phoenix News Times.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Disbar Andrew Thomas Rally: Dec 21. Phoenix.
We have a lot of trouble with our lawmen out here...
In case you are confused: Out of respect for the protest non-organizer's desire to reposition himself as being professional (rather than impassioned and vehemently outraged at the perpetrators of injustice who hold office in this state), I took down the copy I had posted of his original call to action that hit the blogs: boy was it good. Guess he has a fine line to walk. Glad I don't have a career to be compromised.Here's the official call to action, via the Phoenix New Times...I like this guy, Paul Rubin.
---------------
UPDATE: More on Upcoming Anti-Andy Thomas Rally from "Non-Organizer" Jim Belanger
By Paul Rubin in County Craziness
Mon., Dec. 14 2009 @ 3:58PM
Belanger suggests that he and his fellow barristers should act "civilly," and not take to the streets as the Italian soccer fans in the photo did a few years ago after things didn't go so well for their boys.
He wrote, "Second email: I do not consider myself an organizer of a rally. I consider myself as someone who has an idea for people who choose to do so to publicly and civilly express their sentiments.
"For me, the idea for the rally was triggered by the felony charges against Judge Gary Donahoe. At that point, in my mind, the actions of the county attorney went from political self-interest to dangerousness. The public gathering is intended to express the following things:
"(1) To show the rest of this county and the country that there are many, many people who do not agree with the way the county attorney conducts himself and his office; (2) to show that, again, there are many, many people and lawyers in this county who have a high degree of respect for the rule of law and the Maricopa County judiciary even when we disagree with them or their rulings; and (3) to give the many people who have asked me what we can do a means to civilly and publicly express their personal embarassment and outrage that this county attorney has acted in the fashion that he has.
"What the State Bar ultimately chooses to do, if anything, is almost certainly out of our hands. That is as it should be. In fact, I think almost all of us would agree that the process and rules to which the county attorney and all of us are subject should unfold as they are written and as they are intended. I was not and am not anticipating a series of speeches or flamboyant gestures.
"Rather, I was thinking that there would be a respectful and civil gathering from 12:15 until 12:45 or so and that, after a very few remarks, there would be 60 seconds or so of silence to express solidarity with and support of what I have articulated above.
"The Preamble to Arizona's Rules of Professional Responsibility tell us that lawyers have a special responsibility to ensure that justice and the rule of law are respected and that we are to act with honor and integrity.
"I believe that."
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Duel in the Desert: Arpaio -v- Thomas SAT
The link below will take you to the blog that has all the upcoming GOP events for the next few months, beginning with this one, which looks like a fabulous evening for all. wonder how far away from the Pinnacle Peak we'd have to be in order to not be trespassing (or get shot at)?
--------------------------
.jpg)
“DUEL IN THE DESERT” REMATCH
between Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and MC Attorney Andy Thomas. 6-9 pm, Nov. 21 at Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse, 10426 E Jomax Road , Scottsdale . Top Sirloin Steak or Chicken. Dinner Tickets: Single $50 - Couple $75. RSVP: Maricopa County Republican Committee Office, 10050 W Bell Rd, Suite 49 , Sun City , AZ 85351 . Or by call (623) 977-4532 or MCRCwest@cox.net
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friends of Marcia Powell: Veterans' Day.
Hey all - sorry this is so late after Veterans' Day - it's creeping into Friday morning already. I've been waiting on some photos of the parade, and have been hopelessly behind in my sleep, emails, snail mail, family business, and my other blogs.
We had a good day out there, all in all - except that the Phoenix parade is the longest in the country, and took at least two hours just to get started. Thanks to Liz from AZ Code Pink and Ian from The Rusty Spoke and Conspire - and just about everywhere else, I suppose - for their support. Liz guided me in for a landing there, and Ian did a lot of the chalking and came up to give me encouragement when I was standing alone.
Inge, with the AZ Death Penalty Forum, visited awhile as well and took our photos. It's embarrassing to admit after all my posturing about being ready for any kind of action, but my video camera is more of a prop than anything useful - except for the still shots it can put on a chip. My Canon is just a 35mm, which I operate manually, and I haven't developed this roll since getting back from Nevada. So, the whole disposable camera idea up there is real. I have one of those, too, packed in with the FMP set-up (the blue rolling backpack), so you know it's there if you ever find yourself needing it. I just can't figure out this computer-controlled equipment; I have no idea how I ever learned how to handle these blogs.
Anyway, I'll give my video camera to whomever volunteers to take on the responsibility of learning how to use it and coming out to take footage of Marcia's Friends in action. You need to get Copwatch-trained, though. They're pretty good - I've done so many of the stupid things they say not to do, just because I've been in too many situations where I was the one calling the cops or signing complaints as the agent of my institution - usually on angry black men or people who were experiencing psychotic symptoms and just needed to go to the hospital. They always had to cuff them like criminals when they put them in the car, even when they were suicidal and begging for help.
So, that's my confession: I did outreach to the streets and jails, supervised a homeless shelter, and developed and ran a supported housing program in my past life. I was in cahoots with all the people doing things "in the best interests of" others, and screwing up their lives in the process.
Okay - it's not quite that cut and dry, and I finally wigged out in the field. We did a lot of good, but I'm not sure we ever really got this whole prison industrial complex - just pieces of it. It's like being a prison abolitionist who settles for "life without parole" over the death penalty because that's all we think we'll "realistically" get for those we advocate for - a long, slow execution by incarceration, as their loved ones live and die out of reach around them. That's the favor we do people whose voices we overwhelm with our authority and credibility when we settle for less than what we really believe is justice. We do them harm.
It's not even a sure thing that if you have evidence of your innocence you're entitled to clemency or a fair trial anywhere in this country. Georgia doesn't give clemency (especially to black cop-killers), and some Supreme Court justices don't think proof of innocence is a legitimate reason not to be executed - much less imprisoned - after you've had your original trial and appeals. As long as the records don't show evidence of misconduct, malfeasance, incompetence (which isn't established with proof an attorney used coke or slept through your trial, by the way), then sooner or later the state will take you out back and kill you, then put a picture of your head on a stake in the public arena so everyone else learns from your unfortunate lesson: you don't have to be guilty in America to go to prison, and often what we mete out as punishment is way out of proportion to their crime.
As for the parade, I'll report back more on Veterans Day stuff later, but I think the Governor acknowledged our "No More Prisons" sign, and the AZ DOC folks seemed to catch it - I figured there would be a few there because they employ so many veterans. We wanted to show some solidarity after making a connection...
Do other people out there really talk that way, or am I just reading too much leftist literature?
Anyway, to pretty much everyone else we flashed "Remember Veterans in Prison", "Remember Homeless Veterans", "9% US Prisoners = Veterans", and of course, "Free Marcia Powell". Plenty enough veterans marching yesterday remembered their comrades in prison that they made the whole escapade worth it - smiles, nods, and thank-yous came our way pretty steadily.
For the Guv, Arpaio and Thomas - and maybe Goddard - I don't remember now - we included "Arizona: Your Prison System Kills" and possibly for a few we threw in "Will Work for Prison Abolition." We chalked up the sidewalk with much of that stuff too, and handed out a few Real Cost of Prison comic books to folks who came up to talk.
Boy, did Arpaio and Thomas ever get booed by my side of the street - but the entire left wing of Phoenix seemed to envelop me for awhile in anti-war banners waiting for the "Veterans for Peace" and "Women in Black" et al to come by.
I know where I stand - it's somewhere with them, maybe hovering a little off-kilter to the side. But I also watch my old man's back, and get riled over the treatment of soldiers and veterans - not by the peace activists, but by the rest of us. We really use and abuse them.
It's hard sometimes. I struggle with Veterans' Day and the whole military parade thing - I think it's one of the most blatant and insidious methods of indoctrination we have: mixing patriotism with entertainment, God and family. But that's how it works pretty much everywhere. I'm straight with my politics - always learning more and open to conversation, but I know who I am.
Still, I hear the sound of soldiers marching and echoing their sergeant, and - like mortar or machine gun fire on the range - it brings up this bizarre sense of familiarity and comfort with these symbols and images that herald immense violence and devastation - a dynamic which doesn't really even register until I find myself talking about it, like this, in a letter late at night or something - never to be seen by anyone, of course.
This one goes up, though.
It's kind of disturbing. I hated the US Army with a passion, and was a pretty sad child. They were my evil step-parent. They abused and neglected us all - though my Dad would adamantly defend them. He knows how precious his retirement benefits are, and they did "take care of us" growing up: they fed and clothed us, and sent us off to exotic places like Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the real swell experience we had at Fort Buckner in Okinawa - which lasted all of three months.
They arranged new housing - usually - I only had to stay at my uncle's twice because of moving in the middle of the school year. That's not much, considering I went to thirteen different schools before I finally got my high school diploma - dropping out on the way of my own volition ,and getting thrown out towards the end.
We also had the best health insurance coverage one could get at the time - the government's CHAMPUS covered more psychiatric hospital days when I was a kid than Blue Cross. Those kids always went home before me - I think they got 45 days. I would have been criminalized long ago, otherwise. I was pretty self-destructive and out of control. Still a little wild, I guess, and getting more radical with age, instead of settling into my maturity. I think I did that part first - grew old - then regressed.
Dad was a career officer who lived and breathed the Army like he played Rachmaninoff, when it all came down to it. With all his heart and soul. I guess he also did it kind of the way I live and orchestrate these blogs and actions - not to mention all the relationships I suddenly have in my life to negotiate again: I'm way too intense for some people. Really: we have a mission, we've been well-briefed, lives are stake, and its past time for hesitation or doubt if you're on the team. Grow up already - when we move out you're aboard or we move on. We also can't afford to have good intentions that don't produce good results.
Dad wasn't quite so curt - nor am I, really - but he was definitely focused on something other than us and our relationships. Starving and dying children followed him for years after he came back from his second trip to Vietnam, like my own ghosts have followed me, wondering what we could have or should have done differently.
As far as his own kids went, God knows Dad tried just about every self-help and professional intervention he could think of for us. He's a good man. He just never understood how toxic the military was to his family - I still don't think he does. This isn't a post I could ever share with him.
Anyway, the gist is that I'm sorry if I've been short with anyone or inappropriate, but if you're not with us, at least be quiet or commend our efforts and wish us well. I don't need to hear anything more than that just now, unless it's a useful idea for what to do next. We have a good composition and enough musicians that we can pull off a symphony here. That's pretty damned amazing considering that we're poor, unemployed, and still lacking a college degree. I am, anyway.
Plus, I'm technically out of my mind. So give us a break.
We've learned a lot about organizing and resistance from those who blazed trails before us, but we're also making some of this up as we go. It's still the North Star and we move in similar ways, but we need a new route. This one's become a dead end - it's like a fake road or something.
If you have a map to freedom off the beaten path, help us out. I think there'd already be an exodus, though, so in the meantime we're just going to try to reconstruct our communities with what we know and have, and get as many people home alive as we can - helping them stay safe - then demolish the thing: the prison industrial complex, of course. Bottom up.
Off that track onto something lighter: we got an interview with an internet TV station at the parade. I was totally caught off guard; it wasn't great, and bad press can hurt some causes more than none. But it hasn't shown up on their site or under Google, and may not. The "station" is actually a PR front by some health care provider network, which is a little creepy as it is. I had no idea who they were at the time, but I liked this guy and he gave me 30 seconds or more to say whatever I wanted about Free Marcia Powell.
Anyway, they appear to do their thing live and don't seem to have archives to dig into - it's really not worth it, given how I stammer when I have to speak aloud. If anyone wants to hunt its http://www.hcanusa.com/ . Let me know if you find anything.
The point is that we all need to be prepared with a 15-second sound byte that has some depth and meaning, if such a thing is possible. It really needs to be loaded - it has to hush a room and turn all heads to the accused for a response. It has to be concise and condensed, with little room for ad-libbing - all that does is give them more of what you say to decide what to delete. That's how things get taken out of context: usually because we say too much, not too little.
I'm pretty good at packing stuff tightly when I write and dropping it strategically, but I'm hardly concise, I obsess over small details, and sometimes I just don't get it together at all - which my correspondents and professors know best. I can't memorize the four turns I take each week a few miles to my friend's home - I sure can't remember a paragraph like that under pressure. I can maybe handle a sentence or two, though, before I ramble.
See how I did that? There's more yet to come...
That kind of covers my parade notes - I may have a few more, but they have to do with veterans in prison and all that the day made me think of more than they have to do with the parade itself. Think on that last bit though, about the sound byte, and help me out. Start with what we've already posted. Maybe you all can also come up with some new signs.
I'm talking to anyone out there who's reading this, by the way - however you ended up here and wherever in the world you are, I don't care. Now you're here for some reason. There's no membership forms, meetings (yet) or dues - it's just up to each group and individual to do their thing, and let us show the world.
Dig deeper into this and you'll find what you need to know to get yourself or a group started. It's just dense to get through at first. There's a lot that's gone into twisting Arizona into this shape; a lot has been happening here, and we're hardly touching the white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy that compose the roots - I just rail about them once in awhile.
It's not going to be an easy process, talking about all that here - in Arizona, that is. Getting that far is already part of the community discussion many have been involved with around Joe Arpaio's fiefdom, anyway. It's not like any of us has all the answers, and it's going to take most of us agreeing on the solutions to implement them, so we have a lot of work to do.
We know we can't just yell at people or wave signs and expect them to get it - not even if we have an awesome sound byte - though Americans are real suckers for those. Sound bytes are mainly to force the people who get it already to either fess up or outright deny it and face the truth of the lived experiences in their prisons and jails, and their streets and shelters. Our prisoner allies and their family members, parolees and even some "insiders", when riled and backed into a corner, will bury them in truth. That's our most powerful weapon -we just need to learn how to load, aim and fire without getting knocked on our collective ass.
Wow, listen to all my bellicose references - I think it was the holiday, but the Army's vernacular is pretty ingrained. I say things I got from my Dad all the time: "hold down the fort", "hold 'em in the road" - everything is framed in the context of a battle or maneuver of some kind or another. Life itself is a war. It gets kind of exhausting, actually.
So, we need everyone to be able to either articulate themselves on these issues better than me or defer to someone else who can. You can't use a canned answer for that part - that's going to require that you do your own research and heavy thinking about the spiteful, vindictive, prison planet we're bequeathing to future generations - with all the violence and war that comes with it - and what you're prepared to do about it once you see what's really going on, if anything.
We also still need actions and evidence of them, though: take sidewalk chalk with you everywhere you go - or a sharpie. I carry both at all times, clear packing tape, blank paper to whip fliers up on, and my still-shot and video cameras. Whenever there's a good juxtaposition of images I can frame, or an opportunity to catch a candidate in public, "Free Marcia Powell!" is quick and easy, and can be even be caught by a disposable with a 35 mm roll of film.
That's speaking from a place of relative privilege, I realize - to have time to spend and resources to get those things together, and use of a car to get around in, too. I feel strapped often, and I'm behind in bills. But I know people who do a whole lot more with much less - many of whom are also Marcia's Friends, or would be if they didn't have to work so hard to get through this life themselves.
But I think that personal experience is one of the most critical things that drives them to be there to give others a hand who are in similar straits - "lifting as we climb". That was the motto of the National Association of Colored Women when it was founded in 1896, in the context of rampant lynching, the Jim Crow South, the exploitative North, and extremely precarious geo-political and socio-economic terrains. A lot of people still fought for freedom long after the last battle of the Civil War - still do. Really, when it comes to it, if you're a slave or a prisoner (the 13th amendment turns prisoners into slaves of the state, actually), it may well be that the only ones who have anything remotely akin to your interests "at heart" are your peers and comrades trying to save themselves, too - not your keepers...
Gees - I am never going to finish this unless I just stop. That's the problem I have with sound bytes - here I'm telling others to be quiet, and I can't shut myself up once I get started. That gives me people problems too, but they're more forgiving than video is...
That was just going to be an intro to the post that follows, but I want the next post to hang prominently out there for Googlers and blog crawlers to touch on a few times, so it's coming separately, and greeting everyone on its own in the morning. You'll actually see it before you see this one. Just know that this is something pretty awesome coming up in December. We're going to rock this town from now until then getting people ready.
I don't think I'll make it down to the Pinal County Dem event for Terry Goddard's fundraiser (or whatever it is) Saturday, in Maricopa by the way. I'm sure they'll be heartbroken. All I was going to do was find a visible public spot nearby and set up a few things for a silent vigil; something somber that will make people look twice as they head into the lot, and notice the name of Marcia Powell.
I didn't get as far as making a headstone or anything like that, but I have all the signs and supplies at my place, so email if you need them. Anyone else is welcome to go instead. I have some other things to take care of these next few days, and may not be back to this site until Sunday - except for posting what's coming up next.
Keep thinking about good actions for the Thanksgiving holiday - I'm thinking indigenous (including Latino) and migrant solidarity. I'm a descendant of the Mayflower, myself, for those who may have missed it. I think that gives me a lot of potential ammo. I just have to be careful not to take out my mother and grandmother at the annual Mayflower Society Thanksgiving meal, to be held imminently - I believe - in Sheriff Joe's hometown.
Doesn't it sound delicious?
I won't do the whole friendly fire scene, though, so I need help coming up with something at least as good. We just need to think of my family as being under cover in a way - they do their own thing to make a difference from within the beast, and I think it matters for the better. Someone has to deal directly with the Pilgrims and their assorted cultural descendants - the Anglo-Europeans, or whatever we are now - because they're here to stay. We still have to civilize our people, so to speak - re-educate them, really - which takes tact and diplomacy, and time to cultivate trust in order to build a foundation which can support an intelligent, informed debate. Or we have to brainwash them, but I think conviction is deeper, and that's what people need to develop based on evidence - not more fear or illusions. Working with the right like that (the middle, out here) is one of the things my elders do, and they do it far better than me.
Back again in a few days.
Peace.
Peg
We had a good day out there, all in all - except that the Phoenix parade is the longest in the country, and took at least two hours just to get started. Thanks to Liz from AZ Code Pink and Ian from The Rusty Spoke and Conspire - and just about everywhere else, I suppose - for their support. Liz guided me in for a landing there, and Ian did a lot of the chalking and came up to give me encouragement when I was standing alone.
Inge, with the AZ Death Penalty Forum, visited awhile as well and took our photos. It's embarrassing to admit after all my posturing about being ready for any kind of action, but my video camera is more of a prop than anything useful - except for the still shots it can put on a chip. My Canon is just a 35mm, which I operate manually, and I haven't developed this roll since getting back from Nevada. So, the whole disposable camera idea up there is real. I have one of those, too, packed in with the FMP set-up (the blue rolling backpack), so you know it's there if you ever find yourself needing it. I just can't figure out this computer-controlled equipment; I have no idea how I ever learned how to handle these blogs.
Anyway, I'll give my video camera to whomever volunteers to take on the responsibility of learning how to use it and coming out to take footage of Marcia's Friends in action. You need to get Copwatch-trained, though. They're pretty good - I've done so many of the stupid things they say not to do, just because I've been in too many situations where I was the one calling the cops or signing complaints as the agent of my institution - usually on angry black men or people who were experiencing psychotic symptoms and just needed to go to the hospital. They always had to cuff them like criminals when they put them in the car, even when they were suicidal and begging for help.
So, that's my confession: I did outreach to the streets and jails, supervised a homeless shelter, and developed and ran a supported housing program in my past life. I was in cahoots with all the people doing things "in the best interests of" others, and screwing up their lives in the process.
Okay - it's not quite that cut and dry, and I finally wigged out in the field. We did a lot of good, but I'm not sure we ever really got this whole prison industrial complex - just pieces of it. It's like being a prison abolitionist who settles for "life without parole" over the death penalty because that's all we think we'll "realistically" get for those we advocate for - a long, slow execution by incarceration, as their loved ones live and die out of reach around them. That's the favor we do people whose voices we overwhelm with our authority and credibility when we settle for less than what we really believe is justice. We do them harm.
It's not even a sure thing that if you have evidence of your innocence you're entitled to clemency or a fair trial anywhere in this country. Georgia doesn't give clemency (especially to black cop-killers), and some Supreme Court justices don't think proof of innocence is a legitimate reason not to be executed - much less imprisoned - after you've had your original trial and appeals. As long as the records don't show evidence of misconduct, malfeasance, incompetence (which isn't established with proof an attorney used coke or slept through your trial, by the way), then sooner or later the state will take you out back and kill you, then put a picture of your head on a stake in the public arena so everyone else learns from your unfortunate lesson: you don't have to be guilty in America to go to prison, and often what we mete out as punishment is way out of proportion to their crime.
As for the parade, I'll report back more on Veterans Day stuff later, but I think the Governor acknowledged our "No More Prisons" sign, and the AZ DOC folks seemed to catch it - I figured there would be a few there because they employ so many veterans. We wanted to show some solidarity after making a connection...
Do other people out there really talk that way, or am I just reading too much leftist literature?
Anyway, to pretty much everyone else we flashed "Remember Veterans in Prison", "Remember Homeless Veterans", "9% US Prisoners = Veterans", and of course, "Free Marcia Powell". Plenty enough veterans marching yesterday remembered their comrades in prison that they made the whole escapade worth it - smiles, nods, and thank-yous came our way pretty steadily.
For the Guv, Arpaio and Thomas - and maybe Goddard - I don't remember now - we included "Arizona: Your Prison System Kills" and possibly for a few we threw in "Will Work for Prison Abolition." We chalked up the sidewalk with much of that stuff too, and handed out a few Real Cost of Prison comic books to folks who came up to talk.
Boy, did Arpaio and Thomas ever get booed by my side of the street - but the entire left wing of Phoenix seemed to envelop me for awhile in anti-war banners waiting for the "Veterans for Peace" and "Women in Black" et al to come by.
I know where I stand - it's somewhere with them, maybe hovering a little off-kilter to the side. But I also watch my old man's back, and get riled over the treatment of soldiers and veterans - not by the peace activists, but by the rest of us. We really use and abuse them.
It's hard sometimes. I struggle with Veterans' Day and the whole military parade thing - I think it's one of the most blatant and insidious methods of indoctrination we have: mixing patriotism with entertainment, God and family. But that's how it works pretty much everywhere. I'm straight with my politics - always learning more and open to conversation, but I know who I am.
Still, I hear the sound of soldiers marching and echoing their sergeant, and - like mortar or machine gun fire on the range - it brings up this bizarre sense of familiarity and comfort with these symbols and images that herald immense violence and devastation - a dynamic which doesn't really even register until I find myself talking about it, like this, in a letter late at night or something - never to be seen by anyone, of course.
This one goes up, though.
It's kind of disturbing. I hated the US Army with a passion, and was a pretty sad child. They were my evil step-parent. They abused and neglected us all - though my Dad would adamantly defend them. He knows how precious his retirement benefits are, and they did "take care of us" growing up: they fed and clothed us, and sent us off to exotic places like Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the real swell experience we had at Fort Buckner in Okinawa - which lasted all of three months.
They arranged new housing - usually - I only had to stay at my uncle's twice because of moving in the middle of the school year. That's not much, considering I went to thirteen different schools before I finally got my high school diploma - dropping out on the way of my own volition ,and getting thrown out towards the end.
We also had the best health insurance coverage one could get at the time - the government's CHAMPUS covered more psychiatric hospital days when I was a kid than Blue Cross. Those kids always went home before me - I think they got 45 days. I would have been criminalized long ago, otherwise. I was pretty self-destructive and out of control. Still a little wild, I guess, and getting more radical with age, instead of settling into my maturity. I think I did that part first - grew old - then regressed.
Dad was a career officer who lived and breathed the Army like he played Rachmaninoff, when it all came down to it. With all his heart and soul. I guess he also did it kind of the way I live and orchestrate these blogs and actions - not to mention all the relationships I suddenly have in my life to negotiate again: I'm way too intense for some people. Really: we have a mission, we've been well-briefed, lives are stake, and its past time for hesitation or doubt if you're on the team. Grow up already - when we move out you're aboard or we move on. We also can't afford to have good intentions that don't produce good results.
Dad wasn't quite so curt - nor am I, really - but he was definitely focused on something other than us and our relationships. Starving and dying children followed him for years after he came back from his second trip to Vietnam, like my own ghosts have followed me, wondering what we could have or should have done differently.
As far as his own kids went, God knows Dad tried just about every self-help and professional intervention he could think of for us. He's a good man. He just never understood how toxic the military was to his family - I still don't think he does. This isn't a post I could ever share with him.
Anyway, the gist is that I'm sorry if I've been short with anyone or inappropriate, but if you're not with us, at least be quiet or commend our efforts and wish us well. I don't need to hear anything more than that just now, unless it's a useful idea for what to do next. We have a good composition and enough musicians that we can pull off a symphony here. That's pretty damned amazing considering that we're poor, unemployed, and still lacking a college degree. I am, anyway.
Plus, I'm technically out of my mind. So give us a break.
We've learned a lot about organizing and resistance from those who blazed trails before us, but we're also making some of this up as we go. It's still the North Star and we move in similar ways, but we need a new route. This one's become a dead end - it's like a fake road or something.
If you have a map to freedom off the beaten path, help us out. I think there'd already be an exodus, though, so in the meantime we're just going to try to reconstruct our communities with what we know and have, and get as many people home alive as we can - helping them stay safe - then demolish the thing: the prison industrial complex, of course. Bottom up.
Off that track onto something lighter: we got an interview with an internet TV station at the parade. I was totally caught off guard; it wasn't great, and bad press can hurt some causes more than none. But it hasn't shown up on their site or under Google, and may not. The "station" is actually a PR front by some health care provider network, which is a little creepy as it is. I had no idea who they were at the time, but I liked this guy and he gave me 30 seconds or more to say whatever I wanted about Free Marcia Powell.
Anyway, they appear to do their thing live and don't seem to have archives to dig into - it's really not worth it, given how I stammer when I have to speak aloud. If anyone wants to hunt its http://www.hcanusa.com/ . Let me know if you find anything.
The point is that we all need to be prepared with a 15-second sound byte that has some depth and meaning, if such a thing is possible. It really needs to be loaded - it has to hush a room and turn all heads to the accused for a response. It has to be concise and condensed, with little room for ad-libbing - all that does is give them more of what you say to decide what to delete. That's how things get taken out of context: usually because we say too much, not too little.
I'm pretty good at packing stuff tightly when I write and dropping it strategically, but I'm hardly concise, I obsess over small details, and sometimes I just don't get it together at all - which my correspondents and professors know best. I can't memorize the four turns I take each week a few miles to my friend's home - I sure can't remember a paragraph like that under pressure. I can maybe handle a sentence or two, though, before I ramble.
See how I did that? There's more yet to come...
That kind of covers my parade notes - I may have a few more, but they have to do with veterans in prison and all that the day made me think of more than they have to do with the parade itself. Think on that last bit though, about the sound byte, and help me out. Start with what we've already posted. Maybe you all can also come up with some new signs.
I'm talking to anyone out there who's reading this, by the way - however you ended up here and wherever in the world you are, I don't care. Now you're here for some reason. There's no membership forms, meetings (yet) or dues - it's just up to each group and individual to do their thing, and let us show the world.
Dig deeper into this and you'll find what you need to know to get yourself or a group started. It's just dense to get through at first. There's a lot that's gone into twisting Arizona into this shape; a lot has been happening here, and we're hardly touching the white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy that compose the roots - I just rail about them once in awhile.
It's not going to be an easy process, talking about all that here - in Arizona, that is. Getting that far is already part of the community discussion many have been involved with around Joe Arpaio's fiefdom, anyway. It's not like any of us has all the answers, and it's going to take most of us agreeing on the solutions to implement them, so we have a lot of work to do.
We know we can't just yell at people or wave signs and expect them to get it - not even if we have an awesome sound byte - though Americans are real suckers for those. Sound bytes are mainly to force the people who get it already to either fess up or outright deny it and face the truth of the lived experiences in their prisons and jails, and their streets and shelters. Our prisoner allies and their family members, parolees and even some "insiders", when riled and backed into a corner, will bury them in truth. That's our most powerful weapon -we just need to learn how to load, aim and fire without getting knocked on our collective ass.
Wow, listen to all my bellicose references - I think it was the holiday, but the Army's vernacular is pretty ingrained. I say things I got from my Dad all the time: "hold down the fort", "hold 'em in the road" - everything is framed in the context of a battle or maneuver of some kind or another. Life itself is a war. It gets kind of exhausting, actually.
So, we need everyone to be able to either articulate themselves on these issues better than me or defer to someone else who can. You can't use a canned answer for that part - that's going to require that you do your own research and heavy thinking about the spiteful, vindictive, prison planet we're bequeathing to future generations - with all the violence and war that comes with it - and what you're prepared to do about it once you see what's really going on, if anything.
We also still need actions and evidence of them, though: take sidewalk chalk with you everywhere you go - or a sharpie. I carry both at all times, clear packing tape, blank paper to whip fliers up on, and my still-shot and video cameras. Whenever there's a good juxtaposition of images I can frame, or an opportunity to catch a candidate in public, "Free Marcia Powell!" is quick and easy, and can be even be caught by a disposable with a 35 mm roll of film.
That's speaking from a place of relative privilege, I realize - to have time to spend and resources to get those things together, and use of a car to get around in, too. I feel strapped often, and I'm behind in bills. But I know people who do a whole lot more with much less - many of whom are also Marcia's Friends, or would be if they didn't have to work so hard to get through this life themselves.
But I think that personal experience is one of the most critical things that drives them to be there to give others a hand who are in similar straits - "lifting as we climb". That was the motto of the National Association of Colored Women when it was founded in 1896, in the context of rampant lynching, the Jim Crow South, the exploitative North, and extremely precarious geo-political and socio-economic terrains. A lot of people still fought for freedom long after the last battle of the Civil War - still do. Really, when it comes to it, if you're a slave or a prisoner (the 13th amendment turns prisoners into slaves of the state, actually), it may well be that the only ones who have anything remotely akin to your interests "at heart" are your peers and comrades trying to save themselves, too - not your keepers...
Gees - I am never going to finish this unless I just stop. That's the problem I have with sound bytes - here I'm telling others to be quiet, and I can't shut myself up once I get started. That gives me people problems too, but they're more forgiving than video is...
That was just going to be an intro to the post that follows, but I want the next post to hang prominently out there for Googlers and blog crawlers to touch on a few times, so it's coming separately, and greeting everyone on its own in the morning. You'll actually see it before you see this one. Just know that this is something pretty awesome coming up in December. We're going to rock this town from now until then getting people ready.
I don't think I'll make it down to the Pinal County Dem event for Terry Goddard's fundraiser (or whatever it is) Saturday, in Maricopa by the way. I'm sure they'll be heartbroken. All I was going to do was find a visible public spot nearby and set up a few things for a silent vigil; something somber that will make people look twice as they head into the lot, and notice the name of Marcia Powell.
I didn't get as far as making a headstone or anything like that, but I have all the signs and supplies at my place, so email if you need them. Anyone else is welcome to go instead. I have some other things to take care of these next few days, and may not be back to this site until Sunday - except for posting what's coming up next.
Keep thinking about good actions for the Thanksgiving holiday - I'm thinking indigenous (including Latino) and migrant solidarity. I'm a descendant of the Mayflower, myself, for those who may have missed it. I think that gives me a lot of potential ammo. I just have to be careful not to take out my mother and grandmother at the annual Mayflower Society Thanksgiving meal, to be held imminently - I believe - in Sheriff Joe's hometown.
Doesn't it sound delicious?
I won't do the whole friendly fire scene, though, so I need help coming up with something at least as good. We just need to think of my family as being under cover in a way - they do their own thing to make a difference from within the beast, and I think it matters for the better. Someone has to deal directly with the Pilgrims and their assorted cultural descendants - the Anglo-Europeans, or whatever we are now - because they're here to stay. We still have to civilize our people, so to speak - re-educate them, really - which takes tact and diplomacy, and time to cultivate trust in order to build a foundation which can support an intelligent, informed debate. Or we have to brainwash them, but I think conviction is deeper, and that's what people need to develop based on evidence - not more fear or illusions. Working with the right like that (the middle, out here) is one of the things my elders do, and they do it far better than me.
Back again in a few days.
Peace.
Peg
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
