Hillary Clinton's History with Black Folks: Lock 'Em Up

Clinton-Thompson-Walker Bond or Black Lives Matter more than Hillary Clinton's Career

Updated - Hillary Clinton is the embodiment of where the Democratic Party went wrong, the abandonment of human rights and decency replaced by passive complacency and careerism.

I wasn't shocked when Clinton defended her mentoring and advice from the war criminal, Henry Kissinger. It was convenient.

This is the same Hillary Clinton who made common cause with former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-Wisconsin) and an obscure State Rep. Scott Walker (R-White People) in demonizing black folks in the 1990s—capitulating "entirely to the right-wing backlash against the civil-rights movement and (embracing) former president Ronald Reagan’s agenda on race, crime, welfare, and taxes—ultimately doing more harm to black communities than Reagan ever did," as noted in an important piece by Michelle Alexander in The Nation.

Notes Alexander: "In her support for the 1994 crime bill, for example, she used racially coded rhetoric to cast black children as animals. 'They are not just gangs of kids anymore,' she said. 'They are often the kinds of kids that are called "super-predators." No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.'

One hopes the inducements of a public salary, health care and pension are worth the deals some black members of Congress have made in their endorsement of Clinton.

But to these members of Congress, I say you know damn well you're selling out the future of a people who still matter, even if they're inconvenient to your political careers.

Bernie in Milwaukee with Irish-Latina

Consider private, for-profit prisons. "[T]here are now about 130 private prisons in the country with about 157,000 beds," notes Michael Cohen in the Washington Post on April 28, 2015, a couple of weeks after Hillary Clinton declared her candidacy for the presidency, (Chozick, NYT).

Six months later, it dawned on Clinton that she should cut her ties with the for-profit prison industry and stop taking money from private prison lobbyists, (Rivas, Fusion).

As for Bernie Sanders, he called for-profit prisons "morally repugnant and a national tragedy," and introduced bills to ban this disgrace, (Gaudiano, USA Today).

Hillary would have no moral high ground against a Marco Rubio or other Republican in the general election in this morally repugnant practice.

Bernie Sanders would and does now.

Bernie Sanders: Remember Eric Garner:

The Wisdom of Scott Walker—Jarring and Absent as Racism Convo Blooms

"There is a problem we have to deal with in America when it comes to race," added Scott Walker to the national conversation about racism in the wake of Charleston.

This is the caliber of the man who would be Republican Party's nominee for the presidency.

Incredible.

From Mary Spicuzza of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Scott Walker is in over his head

Scott Walker—Profile in Racism

When South Carolina began to fly the flag of white supremacy from the state house in Columbia in 1961, seven years after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, white segregationists celebrated. (Todd, Meet the Press)

Said Eugene Robinson, "Well, forgive the metaphor. But it was a middle finger directed at the federal government. It was flown there as a symbol of massive resistance to racial desegregation. Period."

Yet today, every Republican candidate for the presidency cannot manage to condemn the flag of white supremacy still flying on the South Carolina statehouse grounds, ludicrously suggesting the racist massacre committed by a white supremacist in Charleston precludes comment on flying the flag of white supremacy.

Scott Walker is among the worst offenders. (Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

Walker is a lifelong, racially toxic politician who owes his political ascendency to his moving into a district to run for a Wisconsin State Assembly seat (held by Walker from 1993-2002) in a white section of the most segregated greater urban area in the United States—Milwaukee. (MacGillis, The New Republic)

Safely ensconced in his white district Walker practiced his odious racial politics, authoring in 1996 the ALEC-devised Truth in Sentencing laws that targeted low-level drug "offenders" (Adelman, Valparaiso University Law Review) amid declining crime rates. (ALEC Exposed, PRWatch)

Walker talked up a storm employing talking points developed by ALEC as Democrats ran scared, and private, for-profit prison companies such as the Corrections Corporation of America (CXW) garnered heavy profits, trading at its all-time high in 1997 at $151.88. (New York Times)

Walker went on to target blacks from voting, and targeting the inner city of Milwaukee as governor.

In 2013, Wisconsin led the nation in concentrating black men behind bars as Walker's racial politics bore its rotten fruit. (Corley, NPR)

Scott Walker is a racist with a vile history, so no one should be surprised by his deplorable behavior following the Charleston terrorist massacre.

Corrections Corporation of America traded at its all-time high in 1997
following the proliferation of ALEC and Scott Walker's Truth in Sentencing law
across the nation and authored by ALEC member Walker in Wisconsin

Harry Belafonte: We Must Stop Throwing People Away

In Wisconsin, Scott Walker drew derision when he declared he couldn't pardon a Marine.

Eric Pizer was convicted on a trumped-up charge and wants become a police officer to continue serving his country. Scott Walker won't pardon Pizer because in Walker's words, "if you pick one [to be pardoned] there's thousands of other examples out there of people who may not have the media or other outlets behind them, who would be in an equal position who probably have a compelling case to be made that we don't yet know about."

There are 1,000s in Wisconsin prisons, innocent and with compelling cases to be freed, even if Walker doesn't "pick one." Walker is a moron, lightweight human garbage.

Mr. Belafonte is not.

Here's Belafonte sounding the alarm, Scott Walker should listen to his betters.

By Harry Belafonte

There is a crisis that demands our urgent attention. For the last four decades, this country has been obsessed with expanding the number of people we throw behind bars and the length of time we hold them there. Crime rates have been falling for the last 20 years, but still we have a massive and unsustainable prison population, particularly targeting the poor and powerless. We're not strengthening communities, we're using our criminal justice system to throw away certain people's lives – disproportionately the lives of Black and brown men, women, and children. This has decimated communities around the nation and it's gone on for far too long.

But we're not stuck with a criminal justice system that is hurting us. Solutions exist, and the ACLU's Smart Justice Fair Justice Campaign is already working to put them into practice. Bad laws and policies are created by the politicians who are supposed to represent us. Police departments choose how to enforce these bad laws.  Bad policies are made, and bad policies can be changed.

Here's what we can do. Over a million people are sitting in a cell for a non-violent offense. These people pose no threat to public safety, but many will be locked away for years because of extreme sentencing laws and selective prosecution. We can get rid of mandatory minimums and extreme sentencing laws.

We can end the War on Drugs, which has really been a war on communities of color. This is one of the main ways we can cut down the unbridled racial bias in our criminal justice system.

We can remake our policies so that they're smart. Studies have shown that prison does not deter crime. In a lot of cases, it creates many more problems than it solves. Locking up huge swathes of our population makes communities less safe by because huge numbers of people are torn away from their families and from the ability to hold down a job, because we're warehousing people in overcrowded jails and prisons, and because having a record can cut away at someone's ability to vote or seek employment after they get out. We must do better.

We spend $80 billion dollars a year incarcerating people, which is 400% more than we spent twenty years ago. Some of the money could be better spent on raising healthy kids, not feeding a morally corrupt network that connects our children in their classrooms to the prison industrial complex.

Get Involved
Stop Extreme Sentencing from Destroying Families

Act Now
 

We do not have the luxury of waiting decades to undo the failed policies that have caused so much damage. It's time for Smart Justice. It's time for Fair Justice.  And we need your help.

Please visit www.aclu.org/smartandfair to learn more about solutions to mass incarceration and how you can get involved.

Learn more about mass incarceration and other civil liberties issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

Ditch Drug War, Pay for Health Care

Crooks and Liars has links to sane proposals:

Esquire: Drug War Facts: America's prohibition of narcotics may be costing more lives than Mexico's — and nearly enough dollars for universal health care.

Doyle’s Gone, Good Riddance

People all over Wisconsin were happy Monday to see Gov. Jim Doyle announce his intention to not seek reelection.

One thing that progressive Democrats and rightwing Republicans agree on is that Jim Doyle is a liar, a vindictive and corrupt politician.

That’s who he is as governor. A lot of Democrats cannot stand the guy on a personal level. And Republicans are sad to see him go as Doyle would have given them a clear shot at the governor’s office.

That’s not really news and it’s not entirely clear how this reality fits into Doyle’ decision to not seek reelection.

According to Doyle, he reached his decision some seven to 10 days ago [WisPolitics], coming around to his belief that he claims to have held since being first elected governor in 2002: He will only serve two terms, the “norm” for governors.

"I think this national norm serves good purpose. It keeps the political world from becoming stagnant. It allows new leaders to develop. It gives the voters more choices,” said Doyle Monday.

Why then did Doyle raise more than $2 million for reelection?

Republicans are demanding that Doyle return the campaign money, but he’ll likely give it to a worthy cause to polish his legacy.

In the face of declining poll numbers, a few weeks before the time that Doyle says he was deciding not to run again Doyle announced the appointment of an over-the-top, former anti-drug prosecutor as a finalist to a Dane County Judgeship, Amy Smith.

Smith was rejected by a judicial advisory selection committee but inserted by Doyle as a finalist though Smith was “rebuked for dishonesty on two separate occasions by appellate court judges” during her tenure as an anti-drug prosecutor.

“His judicial selection process … was besmirched by his decision to add the name of a longtime aide and campaign donor to the list of finalists for a Dane County judgeship -- and then to appoint the woman [Amy Smith],” reads the Capital Times editorial reacting to Doyle's announcement, Memo to would-be governors: Embrace real reform.

On July 8, Doyle announced the appointment of Smith.

Doyle is corrupt to the bone and his legacy will be remembered as politics as usual, dishonest and self-serving.

At least he’s leaving now. Memo to would-be governors: Don’t be Jim Doyle.

Anti-drug Crusader Takes a Hit

Amy Smith, the last-minute finalist for Dane County Judge rejected by a selection committee and then added by Gov. Jim Doyle is the focus of a piece today by John Nichols in the Cap Times.

Truly, the nicest thing I have heard from practicing members of the Wisconsin Bar is that prosecutor Amy Smith is lying and overzealous.

Writes Nichols:

Members of the selection committee ... would neither confirm nor deny that Smith's name was left off the list because she had on two separate occasions been rebuke by appellate court judges for dishonesty, including one instance where an entire three-judge panel on a drug case chastised the prosecutor for lying about a potential trial witness.

Smith refused repeated requests for her side of the story, even as her name was associated with the most controversial judicial appointment the county has seen in some years.

Nichols see Smith as an example of what is wrong with the proposed so-called merit selection process that would replace the the election of judges, in favor of other judicial election reform.

Smith's crusade against drugs, including that weed sent from the devil Marijuana, was fanatical during her tenure as a prosecutor in Dane County. That she was rebuked as a liar is no great surprise.

See also WKOW's (Madison) report on the selection committee rejecting Smith.

We can't be hating, so let's let Bob take it from here:

Doyle Names Drug NAZI as Judge Finalist

Amy Smith for Dane County Judge? You have got to be kidding me?

The nicest thing I have heard about Amy Smith is that she is a lying, overzealous drug NAZI, most of it done within the ethics of the bar if not simple decency.

What, Gov. Doyle figured this demographic is underrepresented on the bench?

The state DOJ did not rescue Smith from her past deeds at the DA's office (for which she has not apologized to the people of Wisconsin), no matter how much money she gives Governor Doyle's campaign.

From WKOW:

MADISON (WKOW) -- A spokesperson for Governor Doyle told 27 News, Doyle added the name of Amy Smith as a finalist for Dane County Judge after an advisory committee failed to include her in a recommended list of finalists. ...

Madison attorney Michelle Behnke, a member of the advisory committee, declined any comment about Doyle's insertion of Smith into the final process.

‘We take our work seriously,’ Behnke told 27 News. ‘We were comfortable with the list of seven (original) recommended finalists.’

A review of campaign finance records shows Smith's $1,750 in campaign
contributions to Doyle since 2005 were the highest of any of 28 applicants for the judge positions.

‘The public is going to look at that and say it has less to do with judicial qualifications and more to do with campaign contributions,’ said Mike McCabe, executive director of the government watchdog group, Wisconsin Democracy campaign. ...

‘A judge should be more than a lawyer who knows the governor.’Sensenbrenner said Doyle selected Smith because she was highly qualified. Sensenbrenner said Doyle took Smith's two public rebukes into account, but felt on balance, her legal career merited selection.

In 1992, an appeals court judge said Smith made a serious misrepresentation to a trial court about a potential witness in a drug case. In 1995, an appeals court stated Smith falsely denied making statements about a witness in another drug case.

Smith has declined comment to 27 News. In addition to her job as deputy secretary, Smith served under Doyle when Doyle was Wisconsin's attorney general.

If Doyle is that corrupt as to appoint Smith to the bench, I'm voting for Neumann or Walker.

I Love Black People! Even in Fitchburg

Don't know what your living situation is, but a black man moves in a couple doors up and watch the property taxes in the hood move right on down.

Black people [depicted above-right from Google Images] are like magic this way; no way white guys can do that.

Reprinted below is a short column from last month, and mal invites members of my neighborhood association's newsletter—the Jamestown Neighborhood Association of Fitchburg, Wisconsin (bordering Madison)—to explain why they ran a house and street number in the Spring issue and accused the people there of being "uninvited ... drug dealers" and printing a less-than-convincing evidential basis for their conclusion. Do please post a comment below.

I called the cops last month and they said they don't know anything about drug dealers at any specific house near where the Jamestown Neighborhood Association [is that whites-only] asserts "(t)here is suspicion of drug dealing".

But after I made several passive observations [that's sociology talk for a non-invasive looking at stuff] near the address the past several weeks, I did notice a few black people walking about. Yes. I see black people.

I do hope that if the people holding ongoing suspicions of drug dealing were to see my brother-in-law [he's a black man] and sister visiting from Milwaukee that they cut them some slack even though he is black as midnight, has a quasi-Afro and often gets downright cocky, taking on a disturbing air of arrogance after winning repeated games of Scrabble, for instance.

Shiiiiiiit, I'm going to go get myself some KFC and a big can of Mickey's.

---

Neighborhood Association as Cop-Wanna-Be

Mar 20, 2009

Fitchburg, Wisconsin - The Jamestown Neighborhood Association of Fitchburg (bordering Madison) believes that it has seen the enemy in its midst: Drug dealers.

And in its Spring 2009 newsletter, the neighborhood association identifies a specific house number on a street named King James Way, writing that "There is suspicion of drug dealing at xxxx King James Way. ... If we don't let drug dealers know they're unwelcome, they'll come—uninvited," urging neighbors to call the police should they view suspicious activity and "this kind of behavior."

No doubt then, the newsletter is rigorous in supporting its accusation and compiles a compelling fact base before making this specific accusation in its widely distributed newsletter.

Wrong.

The sole piece of evidence in support of its singling out the address in question reads: "Cars have been pulling up and stopping for a very short time period leading to this suspicion."

That's it, a "suspicion". It's reckless to engage in this kind of public accusation without a compelling fact base.

Legalize It

Update: The War on Drugs is a War on You

Amid reports that more policymakers are questioning whether the mass incarceration of our children for non-violent drug crimes constitutes the smartest American public policy, one must note that Barack Obama passed up an opportunity last week to inject some sanity into the discussion, ignoring the clear economic and human effects of legalizing or at least decriminalizing marijuana.

But on the bright side, there remains hope and speculation that Obama knows better and will act on decriminalizing marijuana at some point.

Notes John H. Richardson in Esquire:

In July, Obama told Rolling Stone that he believed in 'shifting the paradigm' to a public-health approach: 'I would start with nonviolent, first-time drug offenders. The notion that we are imposing felonies on them or sending them to prison, where they are getting advanced degrees in criminality, instead of thinking about ways like drug courts that can get them back on track in their lives -- it's expensive, it's counterproductive, and it doesn't make sense.'

For a continuing sane discussion of these matters, see Madison NORMAL.

Neighborhood Association as Cop-Wanna-Be

Fitchburg, Wisconsin - The Jamestown Neighborhood Association of Fitchburg (bordering Madison) believes that it has seen the enemy in its midst: Drug dealers.

And in its Spring 2009 newsletter, the neighborhood association identifies a specific house number on a street named King James Way, writing that "There is suspicion of drug dealing at xxxx King James Way. ... If we don't let drug dealers know they're unwelcome, they'll come—uninvited," urging neighbors to call the police should they view suspicious activity and "this kind of behavior."

No doubt then, the newsletter is rigorous in supporting its accusation and compiles a compelling fact base before making this specific accusation in its widely distributed newsletter.

Wrong. The sole piece of evidence in support of its singling out the address in question reads: "Cars have been pulling up and stopping for a very short time period leading to this suspicion."

That's it, a "suspicion". It's reckless to engage in this kind of public accusation without a compelling fact base.

What if innocent people live at the identified address? It's best to leave these matters to the police, and not a less-than-careful neighborhood association that apparently lacks a driving commitment to gathering facts before making accusations.

If innocent people live at this address, they likely have been libeled.

Legalize It

Tom Ammiano Introduces Bill to Legalize Pot in Calfornia
by Charles Lemos

Former President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and current State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced a bill in the California Legislature to legalize marijuana. Mr. Ammiano argues 'billions of dollars in the illicit marijuana trade goes up in smoke every year, billions that the state could get by taxing the drug.' He adds that 'treating pot just like alcohol and cigarettes could help balance California's budget.'

Van Hollen and the War on Drugs

After Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen veered into a rational policy position on Kathleen Falk and Co's new war against alcohol (to rightwing criticism), J.B. Van Hollen is out to prove that he is just as much a fool on the War on Drugs as any other politician.

From WisOpinion:

... Recently, in my law enforcement roundtables and conversations with local law
enforcement and school administrators I was disturbed to learn about the
evolving drug problem among our teenagers and in our schools. Marijuana still
serves as an entry drug for many teenagers. Cocaine, ecstasy and the rising use
of heroine have, appropriately, drawn attention of law enforcement at all
levels.

Yada, yada, Van Hollen wants your children using drugs in jail, if not now then later. The War on Drugs continues.