Miss Otis Regrets

So. As I write, it's the first day of the autumnal season. The equinox, when day and night were of equal length, arrived this morning around 5:05am. That's the only time anything or anyone has been equal all week.  Where to begin?

How about the guy killed by the State of Georgia on Wednesday? His name was Troy Davis. He was executed for a crime he did or didn't commit in 1989. Over the years, a different man confessed to the killing. 9 of the original 11 witnesses recanted their testimony, citing everything from police bullying to murder threats from the confessed killer. 1989. 2011.  
22 years is a hell of a long time for speedy justice. I guess that's supposed to remind the poor folk that they'll still pay for their crimes, real or imagined, in time if nothing else. (a little court ordered fine scarecrow?)

Around the same time, the US President, Mr. Obama, called yet again for a heavier tax assessment on the rich, who haven't paid their fair share since, well, eternity, I guess.  Within seconds, Republicans and Tea Partiers were noted flailing their arms about while screaming "Class Warfare!!!". Same as it ever was. Except the richer folks used to own the poorer folk.

It was really nice of the President to call for taxing the rich at the same rate the middle class and poor are taxed. But, he stopped there. The Corporations were not mentioned, even though the US legally defines them as having all the rights of people.

 
In Texas, home of the previous president, and home to Gov. Perry, the current top vote getter of the conservative right, another man was killed by the state on the same day as the guy in Georgia. He was one of several men who had used a logging chain to drag their victim over roadways for more than three miles while body parts littered the highway. Now that's class warfare.

The state of Texas has killed a hell of a lot of people alleged to be criminals. Their governor, the one running for president, has had more killing retributions during his tenure than any other governor of any other state. Ever. He does have a slight problem in that his predecessor, Mr. Bush, was able to get his killing machine working at a faster rate than his. Oh, well. What can you expect from a guy who was "chief yeller" at Texas A&M University? If you've never heard of the school, know that it had a student famous for finishing a jigsaw puzzle in 6 months. The front of the box had stated "2 - 4 years".

By the by, the state of Texas has murdered four people in the name of justice in the last 10 days alone. It would have been 6, but the courts stopped those. For now.

It doesn't seem that anyone remembers when the United States, via the US Supreme Court, outlawed all attempts at capital punishment back in 1972.  That one, by the way, was a finding attached to a case in the state of Georgia.  In another case in Georgia, the all clear was given in 1977, but the State of Utah stole Georgia's thunder by executing a guy name Gary Gilmore first. Gilmore seemed to be a serial murderer in training, who, when caught, insisted on his own execution. His final words were: "Let's do it".

So there were a few years there, where life imprisonment was the top punishment. In other words, the United States stopped reacting in the mode of its criminal killers. For a brief few years, we were better than that.

Have you ever noticed that most of the people the states have killed in the name of capital punishment were poor? And overwhelmingly black? If you're a rich bastard and destroy the financial lives of thousands of people forcing them into bankruptcy and/or homelessness, you get life imprisonment in a fairly fancy facility with tons of perks. If you're really good, and murder thousands by your decisions, you get to pay less taxes.

The US census bureau released new statistics showing that "nearly one in six" Americans lives in poverty. 46.2 million people.  That's a record. (I wonder if Guinness is interested?) That's 15.1 % of the population, the most of any industrialized nation.  It's the highest figure since they started keeping track 52 years ago.  And many of those folks will tell you that taxing the rich is class warfare. What was that about repeating a lie often enough?

Wanna have some fun? Let's tell the President that Troy Davis was really a white banker.

Let's do it !!!