In an earlier blog I wrote that true criminals are often brilliant, charming and delusional in how they see themselves and the world around them. Gov. Rod Blagojevich is a true criminal and naming Roland Burris, a former state attorney general, who has a fairly distinguished career as public servant is brilliant. Oh did I mention that Burris is African-American.
Now the ball is in the Democrats and Barack Obama's court. The Democrats have indicated they will not seat any appointment by Blagojevich. However, the Governor has the legal and constitutional authority to appoint the replacement for Obama.
The Senate has no legal or constitutional authority to deny the appointment. The United States Supreme court in Powell v. McCormack ruled that congress could not deny Harlem Democrat Adam Clayton Powell his seat in congress. Just two years earlier, the court in Bond v. Floyd enjoined the Georgia Legislator from denying Julian Bond a seat in that body.
Burris, on the other hand, has a legitimate claim to a United States Senate seat for the next two years. He is in no way implicated with Blagojevich's criminality. He rightly states that the citizens of Illinois have a constitutional right to two senators and he is answering the call for public service. And besides Burris is 70 years-old. What the hell does he care if Harry Reid is pissed off?
The problem that the Democrats have is that the reality of the white boy club called the United States Senate will now come into full view. The debate will move away from Blagojevich's sleaziness and possible criminality to 99 white men looking down their nose at an African-American from taking his senate seat.
You have to appreciate the move from that insane Governor in Illinois.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Give The Man The Oscar
I have watched Dark Knight three times since its release, twice in the theater and last night on DVD. I have yet to see Heath Ledger acting in that movie. There is no actor playing the Joker. There is an evil specter brought into the world of the living to terrify our souls by some Hollywood witchcraft.
As a movie, Dark Knight is closer to Sidney Lumet's classic Prince of The City, than an action movie. Dark Knight is about the dark side of urban living. It reminds me of why, on my nightly walk in Harlem, I stick to main avenues and not dare stroll down a side street. For down those side streets that are perfectly safe in day, may be lurking my worst fears. The movie is a masterpiece.
Heath Ledger turns Dark Knight into the best horror movie in a generation. It is as close to watching pure evil that I ever hope to come in contact with. It is Osama Bin Laden, Jack The Ripper, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam all combined in one. Ledger’s Joker is the nightmares of our dreams come alive.
Ledger forces us to contemplate - what if a serial killer did not hide out in caves in the mountains of Pakistan, or lurked in the shadows of urban neighborhoods stalking his victims? What if that serial killer was brazen enough to walk into the mid day light and declare "I am in charge"? What would we do? Would we, as the Joker told Batman, "turn on each other."?
In a memorable line when Batman asks "why do you want to kill me?" The Joker responds "I don’t want to kill you. You complete me." Maybe what is so frightening about Ledger’s performance is that deep down inside of each of us lives that evil. And that evil completes us.
Give the man the Oscar and cry that such a talent left us at the tender age of 28.
As a movie, Dark Knight is closer to Sidney Lumet's classic Prince of The City, than an action movie. Dark Knight is about the dark side of urban living. It reminds me of why, on my nightly walk in Harlem, I stick to main avenues and not dare stroll down a side street. For down those side streets that are perfectly safe in day, may be lurking my worst fears. The movie is a masterpiece.
Heath Ledger turns Dark Knight into the best horror movie in a generation. It is as close to watching pure evil that I ever hope to come in contact with. It is Osama Bin Laden, Jack The Ripper, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam all combined in one. Ledger’s Joker is the nightmares of our dreams come alive.
Ledger forces us to contemplate - what if a serial killer did not hide out in caves in the mountains of Pakistan, or lurked in the shadows of urban neighborhoods stalking his victims? What if that serial killer was brazen enough to walk into the mid day light and declare "I am in charge"? What would we do? Would we, as the Joker told Batman, "turn on each other."?
In a memorable line when Batman asks "why do you want to kill me?" The Joker responds "I don’t want to kill you. You complete me." Maybe what is so frightening about Ledger’s performance is that deep down inside of each of us lives that evil. And that evil completes us.
Give the man the Oscar and cry that such a talent left us at the tender age of 28.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Clint Eastwood
As New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis writes “ Few Americans make movies about this country anymore, other than Mr. Eastwood.” Clint Eastwood latest masterpiece, Gran Torino is a comedic, tragic and ultimately redemptive tale of America’s inner cities and the "greatest generation" coping with a urban wasteland now populated by 21st century immigrants.
Gran Torino reminds us that in our decaying inner cites are people of different generations and cultures all trying to define what it means to be an American. And that among the socio-tragic urban America there remains a lot of people of dignity and honor. Eastwood continues to amaze.
Gran Torino reminds us that in our decaying inner cites are people of different generations and cultures all trying to define what it means to be an American. And that among the socio-tragic urban America there remains a lot of people of dignity and honor. Eastwood continues to amaze.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
There Is Whoring In The Whore House?
I had doubts from the very beginning of the veracity of some of the ranting by Illinois Governor Gov. Rod Blagojevich on the Federal wiretaps. Next I knew that the juvenile mentality of the corporate media would attempt to tie the scandal to Barack Obama.
I have practiced criminal defense law for the last ten years. Most of my clients are not necessarily bad, they just do stupid things, sometimes totally out of their character. In that sense everyone in America is capable of committing a crime.
But then there are the 25 percent true criminals. The one thing all true criminals have in common is that they are fucking insane. They suffer from narcisssitc personalities so deep that they are capable of committing almost any act. They are often brilliant, charming and delusional in how they see themselves and the world around them.
Blagojevich is a true criminal. When you are under federal investigation. When you have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers to keep the federal government at bay. Why would you talk into an open mike and shake down politicians? Because you are fucking insane!
It is highly dubious that Jessie Jackson Jr. knowing that the governor is demented and under federal investigation would enter into a pay for play deal given his family’s experience with the Feds. After all his father probably has an FBI file longer than War and Peace.
It is troubling that the Feds released Jackson’s name in federal wiretaps and indictment on the basis of Blagojevich rants. This is a classic government tactic to run some bag man to ground to give up someone higher up on the food chain. Even if Jackson’s camp offered to raise governor Elvis money in return for the senate appointment, that is not illegal.
One of the amazing things is the feigned shock of the media at the fact that Blagojevich would be offering a pay to play deal on a United States Senate Seat. From the town aldermen to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, politicians have been engaged in the pay to play game since the beginning of the republic. How do you get the Ambassadorship to London or Paris? You raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the guy that wins the Presidency. Now the media is shocked to find out that there is whoring going on in the whore house.
But then the juvenile corporate media has spent the last week trying to muddy Barack Obama with the scandal. If Obama attempted to influence the governor's pick, that is within political norms. But now the media is implying that Obama must be dirty because he came out of Chicago politics.
We are on the verge of a global depression. Yet, the media is fascinated with a thug governor from a corrupt state. Bernard L. Madoff alone stole fifty billion ($50,000,000,000.00)dollars. How the hell do you steal 50 billion dollars and no one notices. There has to be other banks involved with Madoff. The SEC has said it had credible evidence ten years ago and did not act or did it just turn a blind eye? When Madoff is added with the other looting that took place on Wall Street on a generational scale, Blagojevich looks like a petty street criminal.
Why has Blagojevich and Obama been the lead story the last weeks rather than Madoff and Wall Street. The problem is that the same corporate looters that have created this mess pay the salaries of the talking heads that dominate the national media. Now that it is the ultimate pay to play.
I have practiced criminal defense law for the last ten years. Most of my clients are not necessarily bad, they just do stupid things, sometimes totally out of their character. In that sense everyone in America is capable of committing a crime.
But then there are the 25 percent true criminals. The one thing all true criminals have in common is that they are fucking insane. They suffer from narcisssitc personalities so deep that they are capable of committing almost any act. They are often brilliant, charming and delusional in how they see themselves and the world around them.
Blagojevich is a true criminal. When you are under federal investigation. When you have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers to keep the federal government at bay. Why would you talk into an open mike and shake down politicians? Because you are fucking insane!
It is highly dubious that Jessie Jackson Jr. knowing that the governor is demented and under federal investigation would enter into a pay for play deal given his family’s experience with the Feds. After all his father probably has an FBI file longer than War and Peace.
It is troubling that the Feds released Jackson’s name in federal wiretaps and indictment on the basis of Blagojevich rants. This is a classic government tactic to run some bag man to ground to give up someone higher up on the food chain. Even if Jackson’s camp offered to raise governor Elvis money in return for the senate appointment, that is not illegal.
One of the amazing things is the feigned shock of the media at the fact that Blagojevich would be offering a pay to play deal on a United States Senate Seat. From the town aldermen to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, politicians have been engaged in the pay to play game since the beginning of the republic. How do you get the Ambassadorship to London or Paris? You raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the guy that wins the Presidency. Now the media is shocked to find out that there is whoring going on in the whore house.
But then the juvenile corporate media has spent the last week trying to muddy Barack Obama with the scandal. If Obama attempted to influence the governor's pick, that is within political norms. But now the media is implying that Obama must be dirty because he came out of Chicago politics.
We are on the verge of a global depression. Yet, the media is fascinated with a thug governor from a corrupt state. Bernard L. Madoff alone stole fifty billion ($50,000,000,000.00)dollars. How the hell do you steal 50 billion dollars and no one notices. There has to be other banks involved with Madoff. The SEC has said it had credible evidence ten years ago and did not act or did it just turn a blind eye? When Madoff is added with the other looting that took place on Wall Street on a generational scale, Blagojevich looks like a petty street criminal.
Why has Blagojevich and Obama been the lead story the last weeks rather than Madoff and Wall Street. The problem is that the same corporate looters that have created this mess pay the salaries of the talking heads that dominate the national media. Now that it is the ultimate pay to play.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Bill Ayers Kicked Chris Matthews Ass
Bill Ayers made a brilliant statement on the importance of a strong leftist intellectual voice in America's politics. Matthew's weepy white catholic, Pennsylvania slice of America was challenged for its willingness to tolerate law breaking. Somebody has to be willing to challenge the hypocrisy the "center right" myth, that is 21st century American politics.
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Devil Gets His Due
The state of Nevada has either locked up a sociopath or the last free Negro in America. Make no mistake that if OJ regular citizen had put a caper together to go get his own stuff back from some business associates, who were as slimy as he , the state would have plea bargained to a lesser felony or even a misdemeanor. But those 10 white and 2 Hispanic jurors brought the tragic life of OJ Simpson to its inevitable Shakespearean end.
I am ashamed to admit that there was something attractive about the OJ of the last 14 years. A black man who played the spook and then without warning spit in his masters eye and went rogue. OJ lived as a mythical outlaw Negro from another era. He fucked white women and even murdered one and her lover. Simpson's denied the Goldman’s their 30 million dollar judgment by hiding out in his mansion in Florida, protected by laws that were put in place to shield mobsters and robber barons.
When he needed money, OJ would just show up at a sports memorabilia signing unannounced and uninvited. He would sit in a hotel room across the street, make a quick hundred thousand dollars by signing footballs and number 32 jerseys, and then go pillage some more. As sick as it was, you had to smile watching OJ riding around in a golf cart with some sick-o-fan with that smile that said "yeah I killed the bitch what you going to do about it!"
The prosecution for armed robbery was payback for walking out of a murder trial 14 years ago. And that was a misuse of the criminal justice system. But on a cosmic level, the Gods must have their payment for a life of debauchery and amorality.
I am ashamed to admit that there was something attractive about the OJ of the last 14 years. A black man who played the spook and then without warning spit in his masters eye and went rogue. OJ lived as a mythical outlaw Negro from another era. He fucked white women and even murdered one and her lover. Simpson's denied the Goldman’s their 30 million dollar judgment by hiding out in his mansion in Florida, protected by laws that were put in place to shield mobsters and robber barons.
When he needed money, OJ would just show up at a sports memorabilia signing unannounced and uninvited. He would sit in a hotel room across the street, make a quick hundred thousand dollars by signing footballs and number 32 jerseys, and then go pillage some more. As sick as it was, you had to smile watching OJ riding around in a golf cart with some sick-o-fan with that smile that said "yeah I killed the bitch what you going to do about it!"
The prosecution for armed robbery was payback for walking out of a murder trial 14 years ago. And that was a misuse of the criminal justice system. But on a cosmic level, the Gods must have their payment for a life of debauchery and amorality.
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