Rev. Jesse Jackson on Saddam Execution

Jackson speaks for me on this one. And probably a lot of other African-Americans too. From his official statement:

"The U.S. should discourage the barbarity of hanging Saddam Hussein. His execution will not make us safer or more secure. It will not increase our moral authority in the world. It will increase tensions.

Saddam’s heinous crimes against humanity can never be diminished, for he was our ally while doing them. Pictures of Saddam and Rumsfeld shaking hands have been projected all over the world. His trial and preparation for hanging are taking place while he is in U.S. custody.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" will make us blind and disfigured. The most civilized of us must break the cycle of violence.

To whom is the U.S. accountable for our role in thousands killings and being killed in Iraq? For our role as invader and occupier, under false pretense of weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaeda connections and imminent threat? We must not live above the world, nor operate beyond the rules of international laws. Saddam as a war trophy only deepens the catastrophe in which we are embroiled.”

Lynching Saddam Hussein

Jeralyn at TalkLeft is reporting that Saddam may be hung as soon as 10pm EST or 6am Baghdad time. According to the BBC: The U.S State Dept has "cabled all embassies, and also denied reports that Iraq's former leader had already been transferred to Iraqi custody." Steve Gilliard says: "Weak governments kill their enemies" and compares the execution to that of the Russia czar and their family by a still fragile Soviet state.

Saddam Hussein was a tyrant and despot, no doubt. Yet, this probably, um, wasn't one of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, I'm guessing. Is there a risk that this will exacerbate the situation on the ground while making Hussein a martyr of the American occupation of Iraq? Doesn't this action of hangin' Hussein high put our troops at even greater peril?

Our European allies tend to see capital punishment as barbaric so I have real concern about our deteriorating image abroad both there and in the Middle East. What exactly does the Bush Administration hope to gain in doing this? Don't get me wrong --> Saddam Hussein = bad man. It's said though that many Iraqis compare their lives under Saddam more favorably than their current lives under the U.S. occupation. Is Bush killing a perceived rival? This execution -- aided, abetted and sponsored by America -- seems like a risky maneuver at best that, like the Iraqi invasion itself, we may come to rue and regret. This just looks like a very bad idea.

Habari Gani. Say it loud!

There must be some rather complicated math behind CNN's decision to text message "breaking news" to the people. Sanctions on Iran? Text it. Britney's divorce? Text it. Death of one of the most influential musical and cultural figures of the 20th century? Nah!

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, hardest working man in show business and many other titles died yesterday. He was 73 years old but still had moves like the 20-something who shook the foundation of American music 50 years ago, with more swagger, slide and coife than we knew how to handle, then or now.

Some music you can live without. Other music puts a nice beat into your head. For me, James Brown's music transported me back through time and into the spirits of my parents. When I see old photos of them dashiki'd out, marching down the street, I hear James backing them up. And when I hear James, I see my parents loud, black and proud.

Let's have a moment of silence for a man who barely gave us one himself.

While I'm here: habari gani!

Umoja -- unity -- the first day of Kwanzaa.

peace people.

Condi Says the U.S. is Ready for a Black President!

Wow. Apparently she also said some stuff about Iraq and how she thinks we can still succeed there. Whatever. What people really noticed is (from the AP via Washington Times):

The nation's highest-ranking black government official, Rice has said repeatedly she will not run for president despite high popularity ratings and measurable support in opinion polls.

"Yes, I think a black person can be elected president," Rice said in an Associated Press interview Thursday.

Apparently she was asked whether watching Obama's success, if Americans were ready to put a black presidential candidate in the White House. According to the article, about 80% of Americans say race does not matter to them at the polls. Hmm...we'll see! Especially since she echoed what I think your average African-American thinks based on our daily experiences:

At the same time, [Rice] said, "we should not be naive. Race is still an issue in America. When a person walks into a room, race is evident. It's something that I think is going to be with us for a very, very long time."

American Concentration Camps

I have to admit, this FiredogLake story doesn't surprise me.

From Latina Lista:

The T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas (on the outskirts of Austin, Texas) is a private detention facility operated by Corrections Corporation of America. It and a smaller center in Pennsylvania are the only two facilities in the country that are authorized to hold non-Mexican immigrant families and children on noncriminal charges.

What does this mean?

It means that at the Taylor facility of the 400 people "held" there, 200 are children. And all are families that can be held there for whatever length of time without due process conducted in a timely manner.

To top it off, as long as the men, women and children are held there, the facility's operator draws a daily profit - per person.

The children range in age from infants on up.

I know everyone's busy with the holidays. But please take a moment to let your Member of Congress know what's going on (consider it the extra-special gift of knowledge) and feel free to let folks like the media know too. It's too much like the internment camps set up for those of Japanese descent (but strangely not those of German descent) during WWII. The Bush administration's continuing war on poor brown people must be exposed and it must be stopped. Democrats now have no excuse for letting this type of situation continue in the next Congress.

Someday at Christmas

Happy holidays, y'all! Posting will be light during the holidays until the first week of January. I hope you enjoy the pause that refreshes.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is the Stevie Wonder classic "Someday at Christmas", (listen) later recorded by the Jackson 5 and more recently by Mary J. Blige. "Someday at Christmas" was originally written in 1967 and references the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. It's a bit hopeful, I know. But hope is what we need when the words to this song seem so appropriate 40 years later. Let me share it with you (Feel free to swap in your favorite holiday for "Christmas" if you don't celebrate it):

Someday at Christmas men won't be boys
Playing with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free

Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on earth

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime

Someday at Christmas we'll see a Man
No hungry children, no empty hand
One happy morning people will share
Our world where people care

Someday at Christmas there'll be no tears
All men are equal and no men have fears
One shining moment my heart ran away
From our world today

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime

Someday at Christmas man will not fail
Take hope because your love will prevail
Someday a new world that we can start
With hope in every heart

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmastime

How You Gonna Go Against An Army WIth A Handgun?

It's the Iraqi Insurgency -- And You Don't Understand, Son!

Had to go old school and reference LL Cool J when I read the newspapers this am.

Bush's thinking of a "surge" is dangerous and denial. We've lost the war already. All continuing denial of this self-evident truth costs us lives, our hard-earned tax dollars and our national reputation. Proof we're losing the war?