Monthly Archives: September 2011

Sep 23 2011

TROY DAVIS: LYNCHED BY THE STATE OF GEORGIA

Troy Anthony Davis

Troy Anthony Davis was born on October 9, 1968. His life abruptly came to a halt on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 11:08 PM EST-after the State of Georgia had ordered his execution by lethal injection for a crime which he has pleaded not guilty.

He was an African American man convicted of the August 19, 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail, a White man, in Savannah, Georgia. Mr. MacPhail at the time was working as a security guard at a Burger King restaurant when he intervened to defend a man being assaulted in a nearby parking lot.

Mr. Davis was found guilty based largely on eyewitness testimony, which numerous studies have proven unreliable.

When it comes to eyewitness testimony or identification, according to a study conducted by the Innocence Project, the probability for the convicted to be misidentified is very high. The study shows that “[m]isidentification was a factor in 75% of the 273 DNA exonerations. In 38% of these mistaken identification cases, multiple eyewitnesses misidentified the same person.”

This case had gained international exposure, especially on the very last days preceding the execution of Mr. Davis.

Many national and international organizations such as Amnesty International and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and prominent national and international dignitaries in the caliber of former President Jimmy Carter; Reverend Al Shaprton; Pope Benedict XVI; Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; former U.S. Congressman and one-time presidential candidate Bob Barr, a well known death penalty proponent; and former FBI Director and judge William S. Sessions had taken up Mr. Davis’ cause and called upon the courts to grant him a new trial or, at the very least, evidentiary hearing.

All these efforts were mounted on Mr. Davis’ behalf not for the sake of sympathy, but, rather, because the prosecution had failed to prove the convicted guilty of the crime as evidenced by the murder weapon not recovered, ballistic evidence presented at trial linked bullets recovered at or near the scene to those at another shooting in which Davis was also charged (one of the Jurors who sat on the case said that had she known about that then, she would not have voted to give Davis the death penalty). We also know that following the original trial, seven witnesses had changed or recanted all or part of their testimony. Here is the shocker: one of the original prosecution witnesses, Sylvester “Redd” Coles and other affiants asserted they had been coerced by the police to falsify their testimony. 

In spite of all the doubts in the case, the State of Georgia had decided to carry on with the execution of Mr. Davis by lethal injection.

That decision, in my opinion, was unjustifiable. It was a systematic lynching of a Black man ordered by a White-dominated, racist judiciary system. There is one thing we all can agree upon -justice did not prevail in this case.

The prosecution could not prove Mr. Davis’ guilt without any reasonable doubt. Because they had to convict someone to “solve” the case, he, unfortunately and sadly, was used for that matter as a scapegoat.

I am for the death penalty only in cases where all the pieces of evidence presented in a case can prove the convicted criminal to be the author of the crime he or she has been accused of. But if there is a slight percentage of doubt that the person is guilty, like in Mr. Davis’ case, the case must be further investigated to rule out the reasons for the doubt.

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, Mr. Davis’ life was taken away for a crime all the pieces of evidence in the case failed to prove his guilt. That means the actual criminal, if not already dead or being bars, is on the loose possibly committing more crimes.

I hope those who took his life will never come to the conclusion that he was not the one to have killed Mr. MacPhail because it will be too late by then to recover his life and bring him back to life.

Troy Anthony Davis was lynched by the State of Georgia on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 11:08 PM EST because he was Black and unable to afford the expensive American justice system for a fair trial. The State of Georgia has proven once again to the whole world that race and socioeconomics do matter in the American justice system.

Retrieved from The Innocence Project website on 09/23/2011: http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Troy_Davis_Executed_in_Georgia_Despite_Substantial_Evidence_Pointing_to_Innocence.php

Sep 19 2011

TO ALL YOU FAKE HAITIAN NATIONALISTS

Haitian flag

You say Dr. Gary Conille is the choice of the international community. As of yet, as always, you are engaging in what most of us Haitians do best, and that is “voye monte.” Until you show me proof that he is the choice of the international community, you can keep your nonsense to yourself.

Let’s assume that your allegation is factual in that Dr. Conille is, indeed, the choice of the international community. So what!!!! Has anything ever happened in Haiti without the infringement of the international community in our internal affairs?

When Duvalier left the country in 1986, that did not happen because he wanted to; it was because the international community asked him to. That was not interference of the international community in our affairs to you? I did not hear you so-called nationalists asking them to stay out of it and let you deal with him. Instead, you were praising them for having “liberated” the country.

Namphy, Cedras, Avril, etc… did not leave the country because they wanted to; they left because the international community stepped in to ask them to leave. And in each of these cases, we praised the international community for having taken the side of the people. Where were you so-called nationalists? How come you did not put on your nationalist hat to ask the international community to stay away?

When the US Marines landed in Port-au-Prince to pick up President Aristide, the country’s then democratically elected president, aside from his sympathizers, I did not hear you so-called nationalists protesting against the intrusion of the US in our affairs. Where were you then? You were, instead, rejoicing because you had enough of Aristide and wanted him to leave.

All the millions we just spent to organize the last presidential and legislative elections, which Preval and his crook Gaillot Dorsainvil tried to manipulate, do you know that the international community gave them to you? That’s not their interference in the country’s affairs to you? How come you did not tell them to stay away and keep their money because you don’t want them in your business?

When Preval and his crook and vassal Gaillot Dorsainvil tried so hard to steal the people’s vote, what had happened? The international community felt obliged to step in to force them to respect the people’s will. That’s not interference of the international community in the country’s internal affairs to you? How come all you so-called nationalists did not ask them to stay away and let you solve the problem on your own?

Let me answer the question for you. For each of these situations, you did not ask the international community to step aside because the intrusion appealed to your politics. You only put your nationalist hat when it is politically convenient and advantageous to you. You are nothing but a bunch of fake nationalists having nothing better to do but to mislead the people. You all need to just shut up and let the country breathe. You are acting like a bunch of animals fighting each other in the jungle, what do you expect the behavior of the international community to be? They will stop getting in your business when you can show that you are grown and mature enough to act like civilized people do, in the way you handle your affairs.

Sep 16 2011

MY POSITION ON THE CHOICE OF GARY CONILLE

It really irks me to witness the level of enthusiasm with which some of my fellow Haitians are arguing that the choice of Dr. Gary Conille for the Prime Minister position is that of the “blan,” decrying the interference of the international community in the internal affairs of the country. Oh please!!! Spare me your lame nationalist verbosity. You praise the blan’s actions only when they go in your favor and denigrate them when they don’t.

Tell me… not that I am condoning the meddling of the international community in the country’s domestic affairs, but when do things happen in Haiti for the international community not to have a say in it? You could not even organize an election –the simplest thing; they had to step in to force you to get it right and respect the people’s will, yet you want to be left alone so you could further embarrass the nation. Please get off the nationalist high horse you are riding on before you fall off and break your spine.

The people of Haiti did not send troops to come to get President Aristide, the country’s constitutionally elected, and send him into exile in South Africa for seven long and depressing years. When that happened, all you today’s so-called nationalists who were against Aristide were acclaiming the United States for “liberating” the country from the paws of the former president. The interference was great and liberating for you then, wasn’t it? And now you are against it? Give me a break.

Now that President Martelly chooses Dr. Conille, a United Nations functionary, you are making all types of ridiculous allegations arguing that he is the choice of the “blan” and does not respond to the residency requirement as stated in the article 157 of the 1987 Constitution. So what he is the choice of the international community!!! If or when you are acting like a bunch of fools who don’t know how to act, your neighbors, whom you share the neighborhood with, must come together to force you to act a certain way that could guarantee their safety and security. Start acting grown, no one will have the need to get in your business and treat you like a bunch of insane kids on an elementary schoolyard.

From a global relations perspective, political instability in one country directly or indirectly tends to endanger the stability of other countries. Do you really think the international community is going to sit with its hands and legs crossed watching you, with the level of instability in your country, putting in jeopardy the security and stability of the other countries in the region? If you think that is going to happen, think again.

If the international community must step in to prevent the country from falling deeper into the abyss you fools have plunged it, I say go for it. They will stop getting in our business when we learn how to handle our business as grownups, not as a bunch of insane little kids. So needless to say, I welcome with open arms the choice of Dr. Gary Conille for Prime Minister. The country is psychologically tired and cannot afford to go through another round of ratification process of another Prime Minister. I join my voice with those of many concerned citizens and grassroots organizations inside the country and in the Diaspora to demand that Dr. Conille be ratified urgently so we can start moving forward with the materialization of President Martelly’s vision for the country.

Sep 13 2011

2012 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: MY ANALYSIS

The next presidential election in the United States is just fourteen months away, yet the battle is shaping up already. It is going to be an interesting fight between the Republican contender and President Obama, who is seeking reelection.

President Obama is in a very tough situation right now –an economy in shambles (14 million jobless Americans, representing a 9.1% unemployment rate).

The effects of such dismal economic conjuncture are beginning to be very plausible. Whenever an issue is not going well with the American people, the single most effective way to see that is by looking at the president’s approval rating. We saw that in G. W. Bush’s approval rating during and after the invasion of Iraq. As we speak, the president’s approval rating is 44%, the lowest it has ever been since he took office. No doubt, the slow economic recovery has something to do with that.

Will the economy create jobs at a faster pace than it has been to bring the unemployment rate down to at least 8% by November of 2012? That’s the buck of the challenge the president is facing right now. And the odds of him getting reelected with the economy as it is now are very slim. So time is of the essence for the president. Every second counts. Since he has his $447 billion jobs bill in Congress as we speak, let’s see if:

a) it will pass the congressional gridlock;

b) it is going to make that much of a difference in the economy.

Now, on the Republican side of the fence, whoever is going to win the primary, if that person does not distance himself or herself from the Tea Party, he or she will lose the election easy to Obama; the American people are not out to vote in office anyone carrying the colors of the Tea Party “extremists.”

The Tea Party represents the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. From experience, the American people don’t usually vote political “extremists” in power –whether it be liberals or Tea Partiers. The reason for that is because the independents are often the ones to call the winner in presidential elections.

If you have been closely following American politics, you can see that no liberals have ever won the presidency in recent history. Let’s take President Obama, for instance. In Illinois, he was a stark liberal. But for him to win nationally, he had got to move to the middle.

The liberal agenda can only appeal to the base of the Democratic Party. The same can be said about the Tea Party agenda. It can only appeal to the base of the Republican Party. So for the purpose of primary election politics, liberal talking points and those of the Tea Party can only get politicians to win primary elections. That’s it. But should they win general elections, they must move to the center.

I think Mitt Romney is playing smart and safe when he refuses to be called the “Tea Party candidate.” He knows such label, once sticks, will be a heavy weight on his shoulders to prevent him from winning the general election. Right now, since Michele Bachmann is losing the Tea Party endorsement, Rick Perry is now emerging as the “Tea Party candidate.” This could be beneficial to him in the primary, but not in the general election.

In all earnest, between Perry and Romney, as a Democrat, I would rather see President Obama run against Perry. Romney will be more of a challenge to Obama than Perry will. With Perry’s fierce attack on social security (during the Republican debate at the Reagan Library on Wednesday, September 07, 2011, he called social security a “Ponzi scheme”), I don’t see how he is going to convince the American people that he is the candidate they should vote for to replace Obama, not when, according to the Pew Research Center opinion poll released on June 07, 2011, “an overwhelming majority (87%) [of the American people] says that Social Security has been good for the country.”

Furthermore, there is a strife going on inside the Republican Party, which in my opinion is worsening the situation. There are the Tea Party Republicans (Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul, etc…) and the establishment Republicans (Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, etc…).  The Karl Rove wing of the Republican Party has been working tirelessly to dim down the influence of the Tea Party which they believe is taking the Party of Lincoln to the far right of the spectrum. And if they let that happen, it will be very difficult for the Party to win the presidency. That’s exactly what the establishment Republicans are afraid of, and that’s what they are trying to prevent.

So it is a good think for Obama to see the Tea Party embracing Rick Perry, currently in the lead, according to the most recent polls out there. If Perry wins the Republican primary, he will have to make a 180-degree about-face to the center -if he wants to win the election. And when that happens, you know it will infuriate the Tea Partiers, which may cause them to stay home on Election Day. So needless to say, the Republican Party is in big trouble with Rick Perry as their candidate in line to face Obama in the general presidential election.