JOHN F. KENNEDY 50 YEARS LATER

REALITY: Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the day that President John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas Texas.  There are thousands of conspiracy theories and conspiracy debunking stories that we have heard about over the years.   The one thing everyone can agree on is that John Kennedy was shot down by rifle fire while sitting in the back of a moving car. Beyond that no one is really sure what happened that fateful day fifty years ago.

      The Unites States Government would have you believe that a former Marine named Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building overlooking Dealey Plaza. The third shot being fatal, striking President Kennedy’s head on his right side.

      The facts of the case do not support this theory.

 

      Eyewitnesses testified that they heard shots being fired from behind the picket fence located on the famous grassy knoll area to the front of where the president was shot, not the book depository behind him.  The film recorded by Abraham Zapruder definitively shows that the fatal head shot must have come from the front and right of the president. The film shows how Kennedy reacts to being struck by the final head shot by moving back and to his left indicating a shot from the front and right.

      Paraffin tests for nitrite residue from gun powder indicated that Lee Harvey Oswald did not fire a rifle on November 22nd 1963. The F.B.I. stopped believing in paraffin nitrite tests when they contradicted The Warren Commission’s conclusions.
 

      John Kennedy was President during the Cuban missile crisis. The United States had discovered the presence of offensive Soviet missiles in Cuba just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. Kennedy’s military advisors wanted only to invade Cuba and escalate the situation to full scale war between the United States and Russia. Kennedy knew that if he were to invade Cuba that would result in a nuclear war with Russia and likely the annihilation of the world.

      Kennedy found a way to make a deal with Russian Premier Khrushchev in order to avert nuclear war and thereby saving us all from total destruction. Believe it or not, not everyone thought that that was the best way to go. In fact Kennedy’s ability to avoid seemingly unavoidable war angered many important people in The United States government and atop the military industrial complex. After all they were planning on making a boat-load of money off of that war so that they and their children would never have to work ever again.

      I’m not here to name names, they know who they are and indeed you know who they are as well. I’m sure that those responsible for killing President John F. Kennedy who survive to this day are quite famous and powerful. How else can you explain that to this day fifty years later most Americans believe that there was not a single assassin and yet no one has ever been arrested or convicted of the crime? The law would say that Jack Ruby killed the man they believe would have been convicted but the evidence is not on the side of the law.

      After President Kennedy saved the world from nuclear war he called for civil rights legislation to end segregation and public discrimination. President Kennedy was preparing to withdraw from the war in Vietnam, as far as the racist warmongers in the business, military, and political power structures were concerned this was the last straw. After all who did John Kennedy think that he was anyway? Who was he to change the way that American life operated to better match the American values of equality and brotherhood that we all claim to cherish?

      Blocking Kennedy’s proposals in Congress was no longer sufficient to stop him from making social change a reality. Those within the power structure in Washington DC had had enough and they wanted revenge.

      No matter who shot from what rooftop or behind which fence on November 22nd 1963 President John F. Kennedy was dead.

      Shortly after being sworn in Lyndon Johnson, as the new president, commits the United States to escalation of the Vietnam War condemning countless Americans and Vietnamese people to death for what would ultimately turn out to be for nothing besides the profits of American businessmen. The United States involvement in The Vietnam War wouldn’t end until 1973.  John F. Kennedy would have ended it in 1965.

      Today very little has changed since 1973, as far as the influence possessed by the modern machine that President Eisenhower called the military industrial complex.  The United States is still recovering from the disastrous mistakes made by George W. Bush and his administration’s illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the same mistakes made by Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon in Vietnam.

      Fifty years after the death of President John F. Kennedy his legacy lives on in many ways but perhaps most prominent among them is the heir to his mantle of democratic hope for the future, President Barack Obama.

      President Obama has faced the same legislative obstructionism that Kennedy endured from his republican opponents in Congress. Today republicans still stand against equality and civil rights for all. Of course now the debate has shifted to marriage equality and universal healthcare. Yes republicans don’t want anyone to be on even close to an equal footing with them. That’s why you, as a voter, should never give a republican any office of power, they will only use it to act out the racism they inherited from their parents. In reaction to a black president who refuses to go to war in Syria and has committed to ending the Republican wars in Afghanistan in Iraq, in the ultimate act of ‘well if we’re not winning so we don’t wanna play no more’ rage quitting, Republicans shut down The United States Government.

      What did Republicans get out of shutting down the government? Not much really just that their beloved 'sequester' would last a little longer, and of course all that bad press trying to stop “Obamacare” even though shutting down the United States government the way that they did never had any chance of actually stopping “Obamacare” in any way.

      As far as the Healthcare.gov website rollout goes, the difficulties experienced so far have been par for the course of anything so new and large being activated. Incidentally to those who think that this is a big problem for Obama’s presidency, the website itself isn’t actually expected to be fully operational until the end of November. So all the early problems were expected, and no if you have a health insurance policy that screws you more than it saves you than you should have it replaced with a better less expensive plan.

      Over the past five years Republicans have blocked President Obama’s agenda so much that Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and the Democratic majority in The United States Senate have voted to end the filibuster in order to stop Republicans in the senate from using it to force a 60 vote threshold to pass any legislation at all.  The filibuster is meant to be used as an emergency method designed to give the minority party a last ditch maneuver in a case where a majority might have decided to do something horribly wrong or immoral. As an example, there was the time that Democrats in Congress used the filibuster to prevent the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Meyers. It turned out that Harriet Myers was actually George W. Bush’s personal attorney.

      While in the minority during The Bush Administration the Democrats did use the filibuster as an emergency button only to be used when absolutely necessary. Under President Obama, Congressional Republicans have abused the filibuster to force the entire legislative process to grind to a halt. Like a bunch of little kids who won’t stop playing with the button that turns off the TV.  Another good reason Republicans shouldn’t be allowed near any other important buttons as they might be just a little bit too eager to press them.




      There is something about Barack Obama that really gets under the skin of conservatives. Ironically it’s the color of his skin. Conservatives are racists. They have historically represented the most racist and sexist attitudes and they continue to do so to this very day. Republicans use their positions of power to obstruct those who would bring equality to all.  Their basic point of view is that they are better than everyone one else and they use race to define for themselves who is acceptable and who is not. Republicans will always go to great lengths to ensure that the people they fired for not being republican will get no assistance to survive and as such will not be voting in the next election. I call it Modern Republican Eugenics.


       John F. Kennedy sought to end wars and provide equal treatment under the law for black people in America. He was President at the most pivotal moment in recent history (with the possible exception of September The Eleventh) the point at which the world turned away from nuclear war and towards peace in all times.

      Peace is larger than just one person. That fact didn’t stop President John F. Kennedy’s enemies from killing him. The enemies of peace continue to fight the same secret war against progress and equality that they have always been fighting one way or another. The murder of President John F. Kennedy was not the first attack in this war however it may have been the most decisive loss in the history of American progress and equality. In that context, it could be said that the election and re-election of Barack Obama to the office of President of The United States of America has been the most decisive defeat for the forces of hate and war.

      Up until now those forces (aka The Republican Party and its representatives in the media) have been content to obstruct and wait. Without the filibuster to block everything President Obama is doing, what means will The Republican power structure turn to now?



      Nukular?

      And As Always,

THE MURDER OF TRAYVON MARTIN

REALITY-   On July 13 2013 George Zimmerman was found not guilty of the second degree murder of  a 17 year old un-armed high school football player, Trayvon Martin, who was walking home alone and talking to a friend of his via a Bluetooth.

      On the night of February 26 2012 George Zimmerman stalked Trayvon Martin until there was a confrontation between them.  Zimmerman, a man with no official authority, noticed Trayvon Martin walking home. Zimmerman decided that Trayvon Martin looked enough like a threat to him because there had been burglaries in the neighborhood before that night.  Zimmerman called Sanford police because he saw a lone black teenager walking down the street and in that he saw an opportunity.

      Zimmerman reported to the operator what he considered a suspicious person in the Twin Lakes community. Zimmerman stated, "We've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy." He described an unknown male "just walking around looking about" in the rain and said, "This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something." Zimmerman reported that the person had his hand in his waistband and was walking around looking at homes. On the recording, Zimmerman is heard saying, "these assholes, they always get away."

      About two minutes into the call, Zimmerman said, "he's running." The dispatcher asked, "He's running? Which way is he running?" The sound of a car door chime is heard, indicating Zimmerman opened his car door. Zimmerman followed Martin, eventually losing sight of him. The dispatcher asked Zimmerman if he was following him. When Zimmerman answered, "yeah," the dispatcher said, "We don't need you to do that." Zimmerman responded, "Okay." Zimmerman asked that police call him upon their arrival so he could provide his location. Zimmerman ended the call at 7:15 p.m.  By 7:30pm, Trayvon Martin was dead.
Excerpts taken from Wikipedia.org

      It took Sanford Florida police another 44 days of national outrage to charge and arrest George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin.



      George Zimmerman had stalked this suspicious looking person who looked like they were "up to no good" and "on drugs or something." Sometime after Zimmerman ended his call to the police there was a fight. A fight that George Zimmerman started with his feet by following an innocent, although possibly suspicious looking, person, and a fight that George Zimmerman ended with his gun by firing one shot straight into the heart of Trayvon Martin, killing him.

      If George Zimmerman had stayed in his car Trayvon Martin would still be alive today.  If George Zimmerman hadn't had a gun on him that night, George Zimmerman would have stayed in the car. If George Zimmerman had had any reason to actually suspect Trayvon Martin of burglary or being "on drugs or something" there would have been some evidence found on Trayvon Martin. Maybe a bag with burglars tools, you know a crowbar, a ski mask, and maybe a suction cup with a diamond rigged onto it to cut holes in glass windows or something. Without any such evidence George Zimmerman has no case besides his word that he was attacked by Trayvon sometime after The Sanford Florida police had told him to stop following people.

      If I'm walking home alone in the middle of the night and I'm 17 years old and I'm a black man in a predominantly white neighborhood and I'm un-armed, and I know that I am un-armed, and I see someone watching me from a car nearby and I know that I don't have to actually be "up to no good" for someone else to tell the police that I'm "up to no good" and I get that instinctual feeling that we all get when we're in a dangerous situation I would absolutely run away.  Especially if I'm only guilty of "walking around in the rain."

      So what happened next? Did Trayvon jump Zimmerman? If so, if Trayvon was further ahead of where Zimmerman had stopped, how does Zimmerman get ambushed by anyone unless he continued to pursue Trayvon Martin against the explicit instruction of the Sanford Police?

      Again, if I am in a situation the likes of which Travon Martin had been in that night, and I have already run away from a suspicious looking person sitting in a car and now I can tell that this suspicious man is following me, there is no telling what I might do.  While I myself have never owned or carried any kind of firearm I still take my personal safely very seriously and so if I found myself in Trayvon Martin's shoes on that night I would have fought for my life too. I would not tolerate being followed or stalked by anyone under any circumstances. I consider that to be a threat to my personal wellbeing whether the person stalking me intends to rob me, kill me, or buy me an ice cream, there is just no way to know the intent of the person following you at that point. When someone is following you and you choose to stand your ground there will be a problem between you. That much is obvious and commonplace, what is not commonplace is that the person following you pulls a gun and kills you.



      Let's talk for a second about the fatal shot that killed Trayvon Martin. I don't believe, based on the evidence, that Zimmerman could have made such a precise shot while in the midst of a struggle for his life. Zimmerman's claim is that he killed Trayvon Martin because Martin had mounted him and was punching him about the head and face. Zimmerman also claims that Martin slammed the back of Zimmerman's head into some concrete. The physical evidence left on George Zimmerman is not consistent with his story. According to expert witness testimony the wounds suffered by George Zimmerman were indicative of Zimmerman being punched not more than twice in the face.  The superficial wounds to the back of Zimmerman's head and to his face required no stitches or sutures or staples. Zimmerman didn't even get a black eye. George Zimmerman didn't suffer any concussion. According to George Zimmerman, it was somewhere in here that he managed to reach his gun from a holster on the back of his belt. Of course if you're lying on your back with someone on top of you it's impossible for you to reach a gun holstered on the back of your belt.

      So once Zimmerman couldn't possibly have reached his pistol while being beaten about the head and face he landed a single picture-perfect shot into the heart of Trayvon Martin. Which is impossible if you're in a struggle like Zimmerman claims took place. In fact I would say that it would have been much more logical to use the butt end of the pistol in close-combat situation like that. Or perhaps a warning? Stop punching me I have a gun? Or maybe a slightly less fatal shot? This is not a movie. I'm not saying "aim for the leg," but it takes days to die from a gun shot wound to the abdomen and it's a much larger target in a crisis.

      Why didn't George Zimmerman, if his story is true which it is not, why didn't Zimmerman attempt to wound his attacker? If George Zimmerman truly had no malice or intent to kill then why didn't he simply shoot his attacker rather than shooting and killing him? George Zimmerman fired a single shot aimed directly at the heart of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman had to know that that action would cause death. That is murder.

      Why didn't George Zimmerman fire his gun in the air, away from himself and anyone else, as a warning? The noise alone would surely been enough to either bring help or scare off any un-armed attacker.  What if in trying to fire that warning shot the other guy gets the gun away from you? Again this is not a movie. A young man is dead because of George Zimmerman .

      George Zimmerman, though he has been acquitted of criminal charges, will no doubt face civil charges in the murder of Trayvon Martin.

      On that fateful night in February The Sanford police, having accepted George Zimmerman's cooked up story, never fully investigated the crime scene to determine what really happened that night and so, in reality, we will never know.

      George Zimmerman knows.



      George Zimmerman knows that he murdered Trayvon Martin.

MARRIAGE EQUALITY, THE BULLY, AND GUNS

REALITY-   This week, The United States Supreme Court has been hearing cases having to do with the fate of marriage equality in America. One is a challenge to California's Proposition 8, an amendment to the California state constitution that was passed by voters in 2008 which restricts marriages to "one man - one woman couples". The other argument before the supreme court is over the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act or "DOMA" which denies couples in same-sex marriages the basic rights that other husbands and wives enjoy. Simple things like being able to see your spouse when they're unwell and receiving social security benefits. 

      The Supreme Court won't have a verdict on either case until late June, the tea leaves seem to point to a split decision where DOMA is rightfully struck down and Prop 8 would be referred back to The California court that had already ruled Prop 8 to be unconstitutional. That would allow California to correct it's mistake without having SCOTUS set legal precedent on the subject. 

      That is great progress. Twenty or thirty or fifty years late but progress none the less.

      Why is it that some people have such trouble being seen as people by some other people?



      The answer is simple and exceedingly complicated. People fear what they do not understand, this is well known and used to it's fullest potential. Rush Limbaugh would be out of business were it not for the fear of the unknown and different that he stokes like a flame that he and those like him would watch burn into eternity.  The tiny flame of fear exists inside all of us. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are paid handsomely to fan that flame of fear, make it grow until it burns the inside of your eyes, then they tell you of whom to be afraid. They tell you whom to hate. They tell you who it's alright for you to hurt.



      Children learn whom to hate from their parents and their peers. The racist or homophobic attitude starts in childhood, when kids decide whom they can treat differently. At that young age the attitude of hate manifests itself in the form of bullies. Bullies are everywhere and while there is some national attention being brought to the practice of bulling locally no one really does anything to stop bullies. A bully is just the lowest form of a racist or homophobe. A bully picks on what he perceives to be weaker or vulnerable targets. 

      Vulnerable not only because of lack of size or musculature or popularity status but vulnerable because the bully need not fear any retribution or consequences as a result of his bulling because his target was different. Be it because the target is black, latino, white, Asian, of mixed heritage, alternative political beliefs, or because the target is or may be perceived to be a homosexual or gay person. Kids are cruel goes the old saying I say cruel children grow up to be cruel adults.





      It is no great revelation to say that gun violence is out of control in this country.  What may be here to fore unknown, or at least unspoken, is that gun owners who fail to understand and respect the terrible power of their personal firearms enough to the point where they would be in favor of background checks are likely the same racist bullies who still hate gay people and quietly encourage their children to bully others. Perpetuating the cycle of violence.

      Let me be clear I am not in favor of the government taking everyone's guns away. I would never trust The U.S. Government to that degree. But even the most zealous, sane, non-violent, law abiding, gun owning citizen or American soldier would have to, at this point, be in favor of at least background checks before firearms can be purchased, if for no other reason than reducing the odds that they themselves would have need of their guns to protect themselves and their families from some one who got their gun despite the fact that they had been known to shoot people with it in the past.

      The attitude of hate held by the gun-happy killer, the bully, and the racist - homophobe is the same. The attitude that says 'I can do whatever I want to you because I perceive you to be weak, or different, or because it has been demonstrated to me that you are a socially approved target. Acts of violence, degradation, or discrimination against you hold no consequences for me. I can act with impunity. I don't even have to feel bad about it.'

      With the gun-happy killer these thoughts end in gunfire as the did in at Sandy Hook elementary school. My thoughts continue to be with those lost and their families. Unimaginable anguish to go from wrapping your child's Christmas presents imagining the little smiling face to burying your child instead.

      The bully mostly ends thoughts like that with punches, pranks, or words of hate either screamed into a teary eye or whispered past it from three lunch tables away. Sometimes though the bully is so untouchable and unrelenting that his prey sees no way out besides taking their own lives. Making the bully a murderer too whether the law will call the bully that or not.

      The racist - homophobe is liable to become either the gun-happy killer or the quiet bully that whispers behind their neighbor's backs. With the encouragement of a Rush Limbaugh or a Bill O'Reilly, who calls upon his viewers to act as something he calls "culture warriors", the racist - homophobe is that much more likely, in my opinion, to become the gun-happy killer.



      Republicans even now argue for keeping the discrimination legislation that they worked hard to force onto gay people who want to get married.  The Republican Party even now argues, with the voice of the N.R.A., that any old James Holmes, Gerald Lee Loughner, or Adam Lanza still aught to be able to buy guns in America.

      Where does it all end?

      It ends when the American people want it to and when we the people have the political momentum to make it happen. It ends now.

And As Always,






      Ps. Being anti-marriage equality is just the new racism, the new sexism.  People in power have always looked for ways to distract the people away from the obvious spectacle of their corrupt behavior. Forcing us to focus on our differences has always been effective. Though it's been said before, it's only when we as human beings ignore our slight variations and focus instead on what makes us all the same that we will come together as one people and we will all have peace.

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