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SHOULD SCOOTER LIBBY'S LAWYER BE DISBARRED? Law school dean Lawrence Velvel says, Maybe he should, if he sat idly by while client Libby spouted lies. What lies at the core of Zionism? Michael Neumann tortures Alan Dershowitz, without a warrant! "Sex-mad adulterer from British aristocracy claims to have 'revolutionized' philosophy." Yes, Bertrand Russell, they mean you! Alexander Cockburn on Smearing 101 in the British press. Get the answers you're looking for in the subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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November 26 / 27, 2005 Alexander Cockburn November 25, 2005 David Price Brian McKenna Jeff Halper Ray McGovern Leigh Saavedra Ingmar Lee Website of the Day
November 24, 2005 James Petras Bob Shirley Mike Fox Niranjan Ramakrishnan Greg Moses Alexander Cockburn
November 23, 2005 Ramzy Baroud Mike Whitney Stan Cox Linda S. Heard November 22, 2005 Kevin Gray
/ Mike Hersh Ralph Nader Michael Donnelly Mike Ferner Pierre Tristam Marshall Auerback Website of
the Day
November 21, 2005 Mike Marqusee Josh Frank Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Russ Baker Robert Jensen Paul Craig
Roberts
November 19 / 20, 2005 Fred Gardner Rep. Cynthia McKinney Ron Jacobs David Vest J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. John R. Bomar John Ross Phillip Cryan Dave Lindorff Dick J. Reavis Jeremy Scahill Dan Wright John Stanton St. Clair / Vest / Walker Phyllis Pollack Dr. Susan Block Poets Basement
November 18, 2005 Michael Neumann Dave Lindorff Michael Donnelly Mark Chmiel
/ Andrew Wimmer Don Monkerud Tom Kerr Trish Schuh
November 17, 2005 John Walsh Rep. John Murtha Brian J. Foley CounterPunch
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St. Clair
November 16, 2005 John F. Sugg Noam Chomsky Dave Lindorff Evelyn Pringle Sam Husseini Pierre Tristam Greg Bates Farrah Hassen Bill Christison Website of
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November 15, 2005 Todd Chretien Leah Caldwell Frederick Hudson Harry Browne Jason Leopold Ingmar Lee Diana Barahona Tom Andre Website of the Weekend
November 14, 2005 Diana Johnstone Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Joshua Frank Christopher
Reed
November 11 / 13, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Gwyneth Leech Elmas Mallo Michael Neumann Saul Landau Sam Husseini Brian Cloughley Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Michael Donnelly Joe Allen Roland Sheppard Justin E.H.
Smith Ben Tripp St. Clair /
Vest Poets' Basement Website of
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November 10, 2005 Peterside,
Ogon, Watts and Zalik Pat Williams Steve Higgs Jimmy Massey Lucson Pierre-Charles Anthony Newkirk Lawrence R.
Velvel Website of the Day November 9, 2005 Gary Leupp Tariq Ali Chris Floyd Elaine Cassel Joshua Frank Alison Weir Diana Johnstone
Paul Craig
Roberts Roger Burbach Ron Jacobs Ralph Nader Jim McGrath David Bloom Stan Goff
November 7, 2005 Dick Reavis Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff Eli Stephens David Swanson M. Junaid Alam Matt Reichel Naima Bouteldja Jeff Halper Website of the Day
November 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Lawrence R.
Velvel Diana Johnstone Roosa / Nevins Niranjan Ramakrishnan John Ross Mike Whitney Mark Engler Juliano Mer-Khamis Ron Jacobs Jill S. Farrell Missy Comley
Beattie Mitchel Cohen Evelyn J. Pringle Reza Fiyouzat Charles Sullivan Zachary Richard Ben Tripp St. Clair / Vest
November 4, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Dave Lindorff Phillip Cryan Christopher Brauchli William S.
Lind Daryl G. Kimball George Beres Peter Montague
November 3, 2005 James Petras Saul Landau Rep. Cynthia McKinney Michael Dickinson Joshua Frank Remi Kanazi Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day
November 2, 2005 Cockburn /
St. Clair Robert Oscar Lopez John Walsh Brian J. Foley Ramzy Baroud M. Junaid Alam Todd Chretien Bruce K. Gagnon Website of the Day
November 1, 2005 Ron Jacobs Gary Leupp John Ross Bill Quigley Joseph Nevins Dave Lindorff Linda S. Heard Heather Gray Michael Dickinson Jeffrey St. Clair
October 31, 2005 Elaine Cassel Mark Weisbrot Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Farooq Sulehria Nicole Colson Madis Senner Paul Craig
Roberts
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St. Clair Peter Linebaugh Tim Wise John Chuckman Steven Higgs Brian Cloughley M. Shahid Alam Nikki Robinson Ralph Nader Joe DeRaymond Joshua Frank Laura Santina Fred Gardner Michael Dickinson Ron Jacobs Dr. Susan Block Vanessa S. Jones Jeffrey St.
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Saul Landau Stuart Hodkinson Ingmar Lee Lila Rajiva Ilan Pappe Niranjan Ramakrishnan Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Cockburn / St. Clair
October 26, 2005 Kathy Kelly Gary Leupp Mike Marqusee Eric Ruder Patrick Cockburn Joshua Frank J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Website of
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/ Patrick Cockburn Kevin Zeese Ross Eisenbrey Randy Shields Justine Davidson After Lucas
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Weekend Edition Beat the NeedleSaving Tookie WilliamsBy ERIC RUDER THE STATE of California is racing to execute Stan Tookie Williams, its most famous death row prisoner. And in response, people from all walks of life--Hollywood stars, anti-death penalty activists, former gang members, educators and more--are now racing to save his life. On October 24, a California court fast-tracked Stan's execution after the U.S. Supreme Court refused his final appeal. He was given a December 13 execution date--ahead of two other death row prisoners whose last appeals had already been turned down. Stan gained national prominence after his life story was portrayed in Redemption, a TV movie starring actor Jamie Foxx. But for years before Redemption, Stan's anti-gang work had an enormous influence on youth across the U.S. More than 30 years ago, Stan co-founded the Crips gang in Los Angeles. After he was framed for four murders and sentenced to death in 1981, he transformed himself behind bars, writing children's books to discourage kids from joining gangs. He has been nominated for five Nobel Prizes, and one of his books won two national honors. Earlier this year, he received a Presidential Call to Service Award from none other than George Bush. The "Tookie Protocol for Peace: A Local Street Peace Initiative" has moved tens of thousands of youth and formed the basis for gang truces in several cities. Some 70,000 people have sent e-mails to the SaveTookie.org Web site to thank Stan for providing them with the inspiration and motivation to leave gang life behind. "So many preachers, politicians and law enforcement officers talk about stopping gang violence, but they don't have any experience of it,'' Najee Ali, a former gang member-turned-community activist, told a reporter. "But when you have the founder of the most well-known gang in history, it speaks a lot.'' In recognition of the valuable work Stan continues to do from behind bars, both the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle have printed editorials calling on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant clemency. To put even more pressure on Schwarzenegger, Stan's supporters have called for a November 30 national day of action to hold press conferences, speakouts and rallies. But the November 30 actions are just one part of a multi-faceted campaign to save Stan. On November 19, rapper Snoop Dogg will travel to San Quentin to meet with Stan, and then speak to people gathered outside for a "Save the Peacemaker" rally. On December 4 in San Francisco, actor Danny Glover will host a screening of Redemption to draw attention to the case. And Jamie Foxx, whose birthday is December 13, has said that the only present he wants is clemency to stop the man he portrayed from being killed the same day. "We can't let [this execution] happen," Foxx told a reporter at the premiere of his new film Jarhead. "We've got to do everything we can to get the word out. Do you know they've collected nearly 30,000 signatures so far?" Stan's efforts to encourage kids to steer clear of gangs are reason enough to grant him clemency, but there's much more to this case. The racism of the death penalty and criminal justice system has marked Stan's case from the very beginning. At his trial, Stan was found guilty by an all-white jury after the prosecutor removed all prospective Black jurors from the jury pool--a practice he was warned against by judges on two prior occasions. In his closing argument, the prosecutor compared Stan to a Bengal tiger in the zoo, and described the Black neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles as his jungle "habitat." Yet appellate court judges have dismissed Stan's protests of this racism, claiming it amounted to "harmless error"--in other words, that it was improper and shouldn't have happened, but didn't alter the outcome of the trial. Stan appeared in the sentencing phase of his trial in shackles--a practice that the U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled unconstitutional because it unfairly biases the jury against the defendant. Stan has always maintained his innocence in the murders he was sent to death row for, and last week, his attorney filed a discovery motion that calls into question the only physical evidence linking Stan to the crime. The motion requests the right to reexamine shotgun shells that, according to the sheriff's testimony in Stan's original trial, were fired from a shotgun belonging to Stan. In the motion, a ballistics expert maintains that the sheriff's testimony is based on "junk science at best." The motion also asks for evidence that could prove whether other officers in Stan's trial deliberately lied, and if a prosecution witness, fearing deportation, gave false testimony. Of course, Stan's case is just one of hundreds of California death row cases rife with racism, prosecutorial misconduct and shoddy evidence. Last year, in recognition of the serious problems plaguing the state's criminal justice system, legislators established the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice to figure out the extent to which innocent people have been convicted and even executed. But it wasn't until June of this year that State Assemblyman Paul Koretz and a few other assembly members introduced legislation for a moratorium on executions while the commission carried out its work. This legislation won't be considered until January, giving Schwarzenegger yet another reason to grant clemency to Stan. Schwarzenegger is a Republican, who was recently dealt a political blow by the defeat of several ballot measures he backed in a statewide special election. Pressure from activists can force Schwarzenegger to do the right thing--but only if we're active on all fronts. "We need to fight to allow Stan to live so that he can continue his work and prove his innocence," Barbara Becnel, a journalist and Stan's longtime collaborator, told the Campaign to End the Death Penalty's annual convention in Chicago via speakerphone. "We need to expose the corruption in his case, and let the state, the nation and the world know that the death penalty in this country is not fairly administered. "Blacks being kicked off the jury, the prosecutor using jungle language in his closing, saying that jurors could go to the zoo to see animals like Stan--that is not okay. Racism has been reduced to a 'harmless error'--that's what they say happened in Stan's case and the cases of many, many people on death row. We need to stand up and say that we won't allow racism to be dismissed as a harmless error. "Show up and stand up today--for Stan and for all of us." What you can do to help save Tookie
For more information about
the Save Tookie campaign or to download petitions and fact sheets,
visit the Save Tookie
and Campaign to End the Death Penalty Web sites. Be sure to send information
about the activities you plan to Save Tookie Web site. |
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.               |
