randomWalks

Since gwen used the word gormless, i guess we've been redefining words - like "harsh" means "reactionary and racist." Xowie, stick to your marijuana and porn.

Since gwen used the word gormless, i guess we've been redefining words - like "harsh" means "reactionary and racist." Xowie, stick to your marijuana and porn.

Ooh bend over, maybe we can work together. A legitimate, potentially non-racist, non-stoner point of view might be (i) that the guy had an unfair trial but might also have been guilty, and (2) that the focus on one prisoner in this instance might not be helping the anti-death penalty movement. I don't in particular hold those views but over my morning aroma-therapy they did cross my mind while reading the linked article and those cited therein. The Vanity Fair article is hosted by an anti-Mumia site but that article is what it is and people might want to read it becuase of the stir it caused. I didn't notice anything racist in the Boston Phoenix piece, did you, really?

Ooh bend over, maybe we can work together. A legitimate, potentially non-racist, non-stoner point of view might be (i) that the guy had an unfair trial but might also have been guilty, and (2) that the focus on one prisoner in this instance might not be helping the anti-death penalty movement. I don't in particular hold those views but over my morning aroma-therapy they did cross my mind while reading the linked article and those cited therein. The Vanity Fair article is hosted by an anti-Mumia site but that article is what it is and people might want to read it becuase of the stir it caused. I didn't notice anything racist in the Boston Phoenix piece, did you, really?

The Phoenix piece, in my opinion was definitely juvenile. It's a case that involves a murder and (I believe anyway) the wrongful imprisonment of a man for more than 20 years. And the author wants it to "go away" because he's basically annoyed with the whole thing? Yeah. Great journalism. By the way, Democracy Now! did a piece about the Vanity Fair article. You can listen to it here: http://www.webactive.com/webactive/pacifica/demnow/dn990713.html

The Phoenix piece, in my opinion was definitely juvenile. It's a case that involves a murder and (I believe anyway) the wrongful imprisonment of a man for more than 20 years. And the author wants it to "go away" because he's basically annoyed with the whole thing? Yeah. Great journalism. By the way, Democracy Now! did a piece about the Vanity Fair article. You can listen to it here: http://www.webactive.com/webactive/pacifica/demnow/dn990713.html

Also, I don't believe the death penalty movement is focused solely on Mumia, although his case is obviously extremely important. The Death Row 10 has been the center of an important campaign that contributed to getting an actual moratorium enacted in Illinois.

Also, I don't believe the death penalty movement is focused solely on Mumia, although his case is obviously extremely important. The Death Row 10 has been the center of an important campaign that contributed to getting an actual moratorium enacted in Illinois.

The "Death Row 10"? Quick, somebody (other than Zagg), name them!

Of course, the anti-death penalty movement has been dominated by Mumia, and I've long believed that we could all find a far better poster-person than Mumia -- except we'd have to settle for people less articulate and glamorous, people who got far more fucked in the courtroom, people who are mentally ill, people unfortunate enough to get arrested in Texas. Like Marc Cooper, I've been dismayed at many protests to have whatever concern of the day shouted down by the Free Mumia crowd. I'm sick of 'em, too, and I don't think the Phoenix piece is "juvenile" at all -- his conclusion strikes me as right on.

Also, dj, to brand dissent from Mumia fever as "racist and reactionary" without a shred of evidence that it is cheapens the accusation, in the very same way that calling opposition to the war "anti-American" makes a mockery of the country's principles.

The "Death Row 10"? Quick, somebody (other than Zagg), name them!

Of course, the anti-death penalty movement has been dominated by Mumia, and I've long believed that we could all find a far better poster-person than Mumia -- except we'd have to settle for people less articulate and glamorous, people who got far more fucked in the courtroom, people who are mentally ill, people unfortunate enough to get arrested in Texas. Like Marc Cooper, I've been dismayed at many protests to have whatever concern of the day shouted down by the Free Mumia crowd. I'm sick of 'em, too, and I don't think the Phoenix piece is "juvenile" at all -- his conclusion strikes me as right on.

Also, dj, to brand dissent from Mumia fever as "racist and reactionary" without a shred of evidence that it is cheapens the accusation, in the very same way that calling opposition to the war "anti-American" makes a mockery of the country's principles.

I wasn't saying that Mumia isn't the major focus. I was only saying that there are other things happening. It's actually a shame that more people don't know the Death Row 10.

I wasn't saying that Mumia isn't the major focus. I was only saying that there are other things happening. It's actually a shame that more people don't know the Death Row 10.

holy shit.

holy shit.

I assume that when dj calls the article racist he's referring to the following quote:
"Abu-Jamal has captured the consciousness of some elements of the left... for depressingly predictable reasons. He’s dreadlocked, articulate, charismatic, radical, and black — the perfect victim, in other words, for muddle-headed idealists..."
The quote takes a National Reviewy tone of condescension re: race politics and downplays the obvious— that it makes sense for anti-death penalty activists’ ‘perfect victim’ to be black, since one of the criticisms of capital punishment is its racist application. Kennedy suggests Mumia was picked simply because ‘idealists’ fetishize black victimhood, which by extension implies the phenomenon isn’t significant. This may or may not be true; since I once lived among Dan Kennedy worshipers (see below), I give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt as to whether his formulation is necessarily racist.

(The case that soured me on the contemporary application of the death penalty was Bill Clinton’s politically motivated execution of Ricky Ray Rector, the retarded guy who famously didn’t even realize his trip to the death chamber was a one-way ticket. Nat Hentoff wrote an article about the case prior to the ‘92 election saying he’d never vote for Clinton because of this. Who knew how far Clinton would take his kill-to-please mentality?)

I lived with Kennedy’s fellow lefty Phoenix writer Ben Geman for four of my six years in Boston. (My girlfriend lived with Jason Gay, who wrote the article Kennedy mentions re: Mumia support.) Ben looked up to Dan Kennedy as a mentor and model of the politically-engaged journalist. Ben and I used to go to rallies/Chomsky speeches and come away frustrated with the people chanting "Free Mumia"—like, what the fuck does Mumia have to do with the pharmaceutical industry, or privatization of Social Security? Every time I rolled my eyes at the Free Mumia crowd, I felt less sympathy for catholic death penalty activists. This is a significant complaint, even if Zagg thinks it’s juvenile. Death penalty activists never get a second chance to make a first impression, and it’s telling that for a while the walls of Cambridge were tagged with ‘Fry Mumia’ graffiti.

(Sorry if this post is too much like judlew's.)

I assume that when dj calls the article racist he's referring to the following quote:
"Abu-Jamal has captured the consciousness of some elements of the left... for depressingly predictable reasons. He’s dreadlocked, articulate, charismatic, radical, and black — the perfect victim, in other words, for muddle-headed idealists..."
The quote takes a National Reviewy tone of condescension re: race politics and downplays the obvious— that it makes sense for anti-death penalty activists’ ‘perfect victim’ to be black, since one of the criticisms of capital punishment is its racist application. Kennedy suggests Mumia was picked simply because ‘idealists’ fetishize black victimhood, which by extension implies the phenomenon isn’t significant. This may or may not be true; since I once lived among Dan Kennedy worshipers (see below), I give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt as to whether his formulation is necessarily racist.

(The case that soured me on the contemporary application of the death penalty was Bill Clinton’s politically motivated execution of Ricky Ray Rector, the retarded guy who famously didn’t even realize his trip to the death chamber was a one-way ticket. Nat Hentoff wrote an article about the case prior to the ‘92 election saying he’d never vote for Clinton because of this. Who knew how far Clinton would take his kill-to-please mentality?)

I lived with Kennedy’s fellow lefty Phoenix writer Ben Geman for four of my six years in Boston. (My girlfriend lived with Jason Gay, who wrote the article Kennedy mentions re: Mumia support.) Ben looked up to Dan Kennedy as a mentor and model of the politically-engaged journalist. Ben and I used to go to rallies/Chomsky speeches and come away frustrated with the people chanting "Free Mumia"—like, what the fuck does Mumia have to do with the pharmaceutical industry, or privatization of Social Security? Every time I rolled my eyes at the Free Mumia crowd, I felt less sympathy for catholic death penalty activists. This is a significant complaint, even if Zagg thinks it’s juvenile. Death penalty activists never get a second chance to make a first impression, and it’s telling that for a while the walls of Cambridge were tagged with ‘Fry Mumia’ graffiti.

(Sorry if this post is too much like judlew's.)