LIBERTY AND JUSTICE BETRAYED

WARNING: Pessimistic and crude language, but there is a point in here.
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George Carlin has some strong opinions

My only thing is that I feel We the People gave up our democracy before the ink was probably dry. Not to mention, the genocide on the indigenous people who lived here before the colonists stole the land and cultures of the native American indians. Not to mention the racism in the Declaration of Independence toward the native American indians. And not to mention the slave trading and ownership that has been with the government since conception. Not to mention the collective blind eye that we turn to the corruption of slavery within our borders today. Not to mention the corporate ownership of our claimed institutions of liberty.

The only, ONLY thing that can possibly be our saving grace is to empower ourselves of the fourth branch of our democracy, that of WE THE PEOPLE. And that WE THE PEOPLE let knowledge creep back into our awareness of what we have let our government do in our name and the liberties that we have lost.

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The United States Constitution

Habeas Corpus and the Constitution

International
Right groups welcomes US court ruling on Guantanamo bay

Source

Washington (PTI): Legal and civil rights groups have hailed the 5-4 decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay have the constitutional right to habeas corpus.

"The Supreme Court has finally brought an end to one of our nation's most egregious injustices," said Vincent Warren, Executive Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights.

"By granting the writ of habeas corpus, the Court recognises a rule of law established hundreds of years ago and essential to American jurisprudence since our nation's founding. With habeas you never would have had these men so many of whom have been cleared of any wrongdoing locked up and abused because no court was watching.

"In those cases, the government will now have to put up or shut up: it will have to show an impartial judge enough evidence to justify detention. This six-year-long nightmare serves as a lesson in how fragile our constitutional protections truly are in the hands of an overzealous executive," Vincent said in a statement.

Associate Justice Antony Kennedy writing for the majority opinion: "within the constitution's separation-of-powers structure, few exercises of judicial power are as legitimate or as necessary as the responsibility to hear challenges to the authority of the Executive to imprison a person.... Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law."

Guantanamo Bay prison

OUR PROMISE IS OURS TO MAKE TRUE

Who cares what I have to say? Is it people who are looking for someone who already thinks the way they do? Probably. And does is matter that I write my thoughts and feelings for the sake of the reader? Sometimes, probably.

Writing for me is a way to express myself which always makes me more enriched. And it helps me gain clarity.

Since this is a monumental day in our history, and we have had RACE as an issue simply because some or many of us still can't see the person for the essence of his or her spirit and gifts without looking at the visual, we have RACE as an issue that affects our judgments and decisions about what is acceptable in our own prejudices overt or covert.

As blatantly wrong as the KKK is, I would weigh more damaging to our society are racists who don't understand that subtleties and undercurrents of racist thoughts, comments and judgments cut into our country's integrity far more than the blatant hatred borne out in groups like the KKK. And where the we would benefit most to figure out. It is the ignored racist comments, jokes or withholding of rights that go on unchecked that hold us back more from being really free as a nation.

The power plays that we don't even acknowledge in conversations, the putting down of someone because we need to feel more powerful ~ it is this kind of behavior that needs acknowledged, admitted, owned and given our conscious awareness to evolve out of our racist personal states. Some racism is given a pass by people who claim they are not bigots. Certain bigoted behavior is more acceptable because it is hidden by those in the group who feel empowered. But it is not hidden from the receiver of the behavior. This type of racism is buried beneath the light of consciousness. It is more insidious and odious than those who claim their bigotry as a crown of being right.

We are not free until we are all free.

The following text is shared.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I want to share a video that reveals how far we've come and how much this campaign owes to Dr. King's legacy.

Students at a high school in the Bronx, who had no real interest in their government, have found new hope. They were surprised by their own excitement and engagement, but to me, they embody so many reasons why Barack and I decided to get into this campaign.

It's truly moving to see young people inspired by a political leader -- someone who gives them hope and reminds them that they can be anything they want to be if they work hard.

Watch what these kids have to say about politics and race in this country:

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Our Promise is Ours to Keep

Much has changed in this country since Dr. King's death, and thanks to his life and work we have taken critical strides towards racial equality.

The simple fact that Barack is running a competitive campaign for President is a direct result of Dr. King's legacy -- and this movement for change would be impossible without the support of people of all races, ages, and backgrounds.

I remember back in December of 2006, a group of us were discussing the possibility of Barack running for President. And as you might have read, I was hesitant about the idea.

But then Barack started talking about why he really wanted to do this -- to bring people together and to change the tone of the way we talk to each other in this country. He talked about the need for people to be inspired by their leaders, and the importance of leadership to chart a different course. He talked about Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, and their passion to challenge a new generation and provide them with role models.

Barack promised that as a candidate and as President he would do everything he could to bring new people to the table. He shared his desire to reach out to our neglected inner cities, to strive to be a role model for young people, and to connect with people who are not involved in politics -- those who feel their voices haven't been heard, those who have been left behind, and those who have been turned off by all the petty bickering in recent years.

We can change that, by standing on the shoulders of folks like Dr. King who came before us.

Watching these students who are excited about their own role in politics for the first time, and watching Barack as he strives to live up to the challenges Dr. King made possible, I am truly touched.

Thank you,

Michelle Obama

OPINIONS FOR FREE ~ UNLEASHED

So if this is your first election you may not know Geraldine Ferraro. Welcome to her world.

Oh, Geraldine. Welcome to Pandora's_Box.
And you thought you had all the answers.

Not so much.

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James Kotecki

From: thepolitico

LEGAL TO HAVE SKIN COLOR AND HAIR

We have never made laws about plant color. But we have about human skin color. Why are "we" so bothered by skin color and the texture of human hair? I love color. Imagine a world without color.

The thing is I look white. Well, not white. But you know that skin color that is referred to as white.

As far as I know, I am part French, Irish, Swiss, and German. My mom’s side has had an official research done and published in a hard copy book (cover page) that informs that the name Mickley was originally Michelet. My father’s side has had no formal search, but while in Switzerland, I was informed by the nuns where I was staying that a man across the street had my last name, Hammel. And there is a Hammelburg in Switzerland, however there is also a Hammelburg, Germany. My red hair and fair skin is shared by no one in my family. Since my father’s mother had the red hair gene, and I assumed she was Irish, I thought that is where I got the red hair. But when I was in Innsbruch, Austria, I met a young lady who had the exact color of red that I have now and the same complexion color. Red hair has many shades. Even my color has not remained the same. It was once darker. My mother’s mother told me once that there was someone black in my ancestry. No one else has ever mentioned this. I did have one black hair once. Who knows? And some wonderful Hopi told me I looked Cherokee while visiting in Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo’s home in Arizona.

And although my mother “told” me as a child that all people were “equal”, it only played out as painful for me when I was attracted to one of two black boys while 11 years old at my Yellow Creek Lake Church of God summer camp in northeastern Indiana . I never had met a black person before in my life, but didn’t think anything of it, as... well ... you know, something ~ WRONG to do. His name is Eddie Griffith and was from Gary, Indiana. His minister, Brother Cherry, was a camp counselor. He sang at one of the nightly church services, “No Not One”. A clear and sweet voice. I was “in love”. He was adorable. The only thing we ever did was hold hands, have two pictures taken together and exchange letters. But when those pictures and two letters mysteriously came up missing from my bedroom desk drawer without ever an explanation ~ I was crushed. I cried myself to sleep while smothering my sound into silence. It was only the second emotional pain of my life. And this was my first time of being hurt this way. I didn’t understand. My mother never explained. My father only made a passing comment that I didn’t want striped or polka dotted children, while waiting for the school bus one morning. (The first hurt had to do with a "just-hatched" bird ~ no feathers yet ~ I found on my mile walk home from school, that had been run over ~ when I was in third grade. I was going to nurse it back health, but my mother made me throw it away in the woods across the street from our house. That hurt.)

So when I once again had a black person in my life in my thirties, I knew what to expect. Disapproval. I was not wrong about that. When Mark and I decided not to get married, but to live together, we planned a “Commitment Ceremony” which we invited his parents, one friend each and my family. But when my family couldn’t condone our decision not to marry, it was better not to have that “aura” present. They have never approved of me in general. Just never fit the mold.

I have been thinking of race lately. White people can do that. Think about race only when it is convenient or when it suits us. If you are not white or don't look white, you don’t have that choice. It is thrown in your face daily. One of the people I met in New Hampshire while volunteering for the Obama campaign, said that the lady at the door she was canvassing wouldn’t touch her flyer about Barack, but was instructed to lay it down at the door. This young girl, looked fine to me. I didn’t ask her what her race was, but it struck me as puzzling because I didn’t see why someone would think she wasn’t white. I’m aware of racism, but even this was a mystery to me.

The host of where I was staying asked me if Richard Wolffe was black immediately when I showed him who he was. I didn’t get the reason for the question. What would it matter first of all unless it was an issue? And anyway, Richard doesn’t look black to me. So.

After Eddie, my 11 year old beau friend ~ my dad always would think I was some expert on whether someone was black or not. He would ask me if Leslie Uggams was black, etc.

These questions to me are telling. When my cousin pointed out that the people of Lousiana were black and his reason for explaining ~ in his mind~ their behavior during hurricane Katrina was because they were black, I found that a bigoted statement on a couple of levels. When I heard a family member, say that hurricane Katrina happened because all of the people in the area were evil, I thought this had bigoted undertones to the statement.

And when a couple people thought they were being open-minded and showing their acceptance of Mark, they said, that they didn’t think of Mark as black. My comment was to a family member, that Mark thinks of himself as black.

After 15 years, I am no longer living with Mark. But I miss his extended family. They opened my world. They welcomed me. I felt accepted by them. They have had to deal with white people their whole lives.

At our “Commitment Ceremony” we wrote our own “vows”. I included a small excerpt from SPORT OF NATURE By Nadine Gordimer. Below I have included this excerpt between the *….* but I have also included what follows this portion. I enjoy the differences. And I acknowledged the difference by using this passage. Why pretend? I see no reasons. Part of the enjoyment of life is to see the beauty and differences can be beautiful. I love skin. There is nothing like touching skin. Body to body. It’s quite a gift given to us to enjoy. I know it makes some people cringe to think of white skin and not-white skin touching, but I’m not one of those people.

* Lying beside him, looking at pale hands, thighs, belly: seeing herself as unfinished, left off, somewhere. She examines his body minutely and without shame, and he wakes to see her at it, and smiles without telling her why: she is the first not to pretend the different colours and textures of their being is not an awesome fascination. How can it be otherwise? * The laws that have determined the course of life for them are made of skin and hair, the relative thickness and thinness of lips and the relative height of the bridge of nose. That is all; that is everything. The Lilliesleaf houseparty is in prison for life because of it. Those with whom she ate pap and cabbage are in Algeria and the Soviet Union learning how to man guns and make bombs because of it. He is outlawed and plotting because of it. Christianity against other gods, the indigenous against the foreign invader, the masses against the ruling class ~ where he and she come from all these become interpretative meanings of the differences seen, touched and felt, of skin and hair. The laws made of skin and hair fill the statute books in Pretoria; their gaudy savagery paints the bodies of Afrikaner diplomats under three-piece American suits and Italian silk ties. The stinking fetish made of contrasting bits of skin and hair, the scalping of millions of lives, dangles on the cross of Christ. Skin and hair. It has mattered more than anything else in the world. Page 177

More text in the comment section...

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Emily faced racism in her family. But her family has come around.

OF ALL THE SENSES ~ THE ONE THAT WE LET BETRAY US IS THAT OF SIGHT

I know there is racism. I've experienced it although I am white. It's just that when I was "told" that all people were equal when my mother was raising me ~ I actually internalized that value before I learned that those were just "words" and my mother didn't really mean it. I'm glad my mother taught me this value, even though now I see the hypocrisy and that bothers me. A lot.

But because I have had the opportunity to a have black man in my life, I was able to have my understanding grow. My family provided the first life canvas to learn about racism while I was still innocent in my white upbringing-world. But it was also noticeable when we were at "open houses" on the market, at car dealerships, restaurants, walking down the street together... Now that we have a serious Presidential candidate who "looks" black, although he has a white mother and a black father, I am watching the racism issue having "undercover" comments, that are presented as something other than racism. And then there are the overt comments. I am a Barack Obama supporter, although it is not because he is black, but because of what kind of character I believe he has. I especially like that he wants "We the People" to be a very participatory part of our country and government. Not dismissed as we have been, during the Bush reign. And I notice the other candidates present what "they" will do, how "they" will solve "our" problems ~ without making the clarion call to "us" to do "our parts".

Today, I caught *Sidney Poitier in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", writing by William Rose. The scene at the *link includes Mr. Poitier's words that are the same as words that I have written about my mother. Particularly the part that includes that the character playing Sidney's father doesn't know him.... The reaction of the two sets of parents is interesting to me. I don't think it is so much different today for many families. My experience with my significant other's family was not exclusive, but inclusive. It was just my family that handled the situation with bigotry. *Katherine Hepburn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" shines in *this scene. "It's not that I don't want to know you, although I don't..."

In a very special video Katharine Hepburn reads her letter to Spencer Tracy.

RACISM IS NOT A GOOD THING FROM ANY SIDE OF IT

God Created All People Equal ~ It's Just That We Can't Get There From Here Unless We Lose the Fear
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=swmlc5avUy8

As I walked today with my white skin with a Barack Obama pin on my coat, I felt something. It was just my sense of what was going on. But I trust my intuition. I sensed racism.

I have written about this before: Personally I have experienced racism in my own family. The two times in my life that I experienced it, was when my family found themselves confronted with the issue because I had a black male in my personal life. This happened when I was eleven and when I was thirty-six. You might think that my parents would have let the first one slide because I was only eleven and chances are I wasn't going to marry him one day. But no, that is not what happened. And you might think that when I was thirty-six, that my parents would have realized that it was none of their business, because I was well-beyond the years of being raised by them. But that was not the case.

I no longer am in the 15 year relationship with my former "significant other", but I still adore his family. His family was a blessing to my life and they continue to be a blessing to the son that we adopted together, who is white.

There was one time that he and I attended a concert and I was about the only white person there. That was a revealing and new experience of feelings for me. That is exactly what my former significant other has to live every day for his entire life. We, white people, have no idea what it is like to live with racism every day.

And as much as I love Barack Obama as a Presidential Candidate, I am sobered by the realness of racism that we have in the "United" States of America in 2007. This country will never be the "grown-up" that it has the potential and responsibility to be, until it confronts its racism toward the American Indians, the blacks, the Mexicans, "immigrants" and on and on. We don't really "need" to have another group of human beings to look down upon, in order to "lift our own opinions of ourselves up". We can find our worth without knocking someone else down. But we can't do that unless we are willing to face our internalized racist, bigoted covert or overt ways.

We are better than this. We can do better. But not without asking the questions that will require the courage to face the ugly truth that we are bigots.

Barack Obama bleeds the same color of blood that every other person bleeds. We are all the same in the most human and valuable ways. But many will pass him up because they see his skin.

Racism comes from fear. People controlled by fear about their own worth are most likely to be racist.

One of the last songs that my dad sang to me before he passed away May 10, 2007 was the childhood song:

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

Okay, so I never did get the color thing. I mean who is yellow or red? And I always thought that black people were more brown than black. And I'm not really white. And that "flesh-colored" crayon ~ really was a racist, bigoted statement in a box of crayons. But the idea of that song is that if we are Christian, then we should love and accept everyone equally. But that has not been my experience in my so-claimed Christian family.

I am disappointed to put it mildly that many people won't vote for Barack because of one thing. And it isn't that he lacks experience. Bush didn't have "experience", as well as other qualities and yet he has been the president for two terms. So ~ it would be a really good thing for people to get to know what integrity Barack has and accept him accordingly.

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http://youtube.com/watch?v=HFBUgPNcCcE
This Little Light of Mine
Sung by Bruce Springsteen