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TechnoratiFreedom for Leonard Peltier, Jail for Scooter Libby
In all the hand-wringing about George Bush's ghastly commutation for Scooter Libby, the name that should resonate most is that of Leonard Peltier.
While the junta's henchmen walk free, this great Native American activist sits in a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania, still a prisoner after thirty-one years.
In 1977, Leonard was wrongly convicted in the killing of two FBI agents. The case is so laden with fraud and illegalities as to tear at the fabric of our entire criminal justice system. Any president since Jimmy Carter -- including Bill Clinton -- could at least have granted him a fair trial.
Evidence weighed by Amnesty International and a very wide range of other powerful and prestigious global observers confirms that the FBI intimidated witnesses, withheld evidence, falsified affidavits and did every other dirty trick in the book to get Peltier convicted. Thirty-one years later, the FBI is still withholding over 140,000 pages of critical documents about this case, in violation of a wide range of federal laws. Peltier's sentence has been wrongfully extended. And his repeated requests for a retrial have been routinely denied.
Peltier's persecution clearly stems from his effectiveness as a powerful activist for a series of just causes. From prison he's worked to bring critical resources to the desperately poor native society from which he came. Among other things, his efforts through the Native American Energy Group have helped bring 4,000 energy efficient homes to the Pine Ridge Reservation. For all this essential patriotism, he's been nominated for a Nobel Prize.In response, the prison system has denied Peltier his religious freedoms. He's been thrown into solitary confinement for no sane or just reason. His Constitutional right to communicate fully and fairly with the outside world has been restricted. His medical needs have been ignored.
Yet he has survived thirty-one years in jail with determination and clarity. For all that, Leonard Peltier has become a critical pillar of what remains of our national conscience.
By contrast, the Bush-Cheney-Libby axis has given new definition to the word treason. First and foremost, to protect the interests of their oil industry sponsors, they have committed the worst form of betrayal: lying to the American public to sell a war that has brought death, defeat, corruption, shame and bankruptcy to us all.
It's no small accident that Libby did legal work for Mark Rich, who was pardoned by Bill Clinton in his final days. Clinton was briefed thoroughly, throughout his presidency, about the Peltier case. Rich had nothing to recommend him except his money. Clinton's choice of who to pardon remains unforgivable.
Bush now says Libby's sentence for the lies he told in service of the Iraqi slaughter was "excessive." But as governor of Texas, Bush executed some 150 prisoners. Despite numerous cases involving incompetent counsel and other grounds for clemency, he issued not a single commutation. Bush did meet with Karla Faye Tucker, a death row prisoner who converted to fundamentalist Christianity. He responded by mocking her in public and having her killed, a punishment he deemed less "excessive" than Libby's jail time.
So the aptly named Rich and his treasonous lawyer now walk free while Leonard Peltier remains behind bars, still having never received a fair trial, or access to the FBI's evidence, kept secret in the interest of "national security."
Peltier now has great-grandchildren he's never met. We can only be grateful for his astonishing personal strength. If this obscene gift to Scooter Libby serves any function at all, it should remind us that we cannot save our national soul without winning justice for Leonard Peltier.
To learn more about Leonard Peltier, see http://www.leonardpeltier.net/. Harvey Wasserman is senior editor of http://www.freepress.org/, where this article first appeared. His HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES is at http://www.solartopia.org/.
22 Comments so far
Show Allhttp://www.freedomwalk.com/
Government itself is more or less of a crime against humanity.
so lying that has caused many thousands to die is just perjury, Hmmm rick0u812, leanard peltier is a friend of mine- Scooter is not, nor will he be, confluence with the junta is guilt enough. to show his demonic soul, eaters of babies, when will you all learn, that this is the end of time, no need to worry about the bankrupt country, ruined ecology, jesus is coming back, and boy is he pissed,,,,!
Incidently,
Ah, I better just keep my mouth shut as best I know how.
Peace,
Ken
neoconned, I don't think I read anyone on this forum saying that the US was NOT founded on the back of genocide. That is why my point is we need to learn, so that we stop making the same mistakes that were made in the past. This is simple kindergarden stuff.
The past is the past.
Learn from the past.
Do better next time.
Both individually & collectively.
Otherwise, we will be stuck with complainers, mopers, do-no-gooders, fabricators, turdy trickters, all for sale'rs, and the like. It sucks being around folks like this. I'd rather be trying to do better next time. And collectively speaking there are some serious lessons that seem to have not yet been learned. They are not complicated, but the teaching of them is a challenge for sure.
I recognize that big big changes are needed in the US, (and yes this could even involve establishing new "regions" based on the old with "government" becoming essentially local in nature). But, at the same time, I have no desire to get into declarations of illegality or immorality. What good do they do? Honestly.
Lets focus on solutions not retribution.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
** time for a change because time is of the essence **
Hillary would probably need to do some research to find out who Leonard Peltier actually is. As for the United States, say what you want, but it was founded on the back of genocide through the institutions of slavery. First with Native Americans and when they began to die off and otherwise avoid capture into slavery, British colonists began to import slaves from Africa. Even 4 into the Civil War, which I was taught in US schools to be about slavery, the slaves had not yet been freed officially. Only when Honest Abe was down in the polls did he write and publicsh the Emancipation Proclamation in order to gather the abolitionist vote and re-election. When the Union Army was soon removed from the South at the end of the war, Jim Crow Laws were instituted and it took another 100 plus years for any semblence of equality to BEGIN in America. The entire US government can be declared illegal and immoral at anytime and most of it's elected members could be tried for treason and fraud at the very least. That is if we apply the same laws they apply to us, to them.
Want to see where ANY of the Democratic presidential candidates really stand on social and racial justice? Just ask all of them if, when they become president, they would immediately pardon Leonard Peltier! I'm sure Hilary would really have to work at that answer seeing how her husband screwed Leonard when he left office.
We need a NEW party OF, BY and FOR the people.
spartacus jones - so true.
Recenty I have been studying what happended in the US between 1828 - 1840. I think many momentous decisions were made during this time. Andrew Jackson, the country's first president from the "Democratic" party, was elected during this time and he "sold himself" as a "man of the People". When he was inagurated in 1829 "People of every color, age, size and shape mobbed the first floor of the White House" (Chronicles of America). But then, what does he do in 1830: He signs the "Removal Act" exiling Indian tribes west of the Mississippi.
WHAT A HYPOCRITE. How can anyone call themselves "of the People" if they can't even recognize who People are? If Jackson was a true man of the People, he should have vetoed this legislation. Many in Congress called it inhumane, while proponents said it was "the only way to save Indians". Oh, it makes me bristle and sick to my stomach when I read this history, but alas, we can't change the past can we, but dammit we've got to start recognizing it for what it is and learning from past mistakes.
If we can learn, we can change for the better, can't we? I hope so.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
***** time is of the essence *****
I agree with Moses Kassandra on Clinton's horrible decision to not pardon Leonard Peltier. He can be so bright and articulte, but there's a cold calculating side beneath the very likeable veneer. Thank you, Harvey Wasserman for not forgetting about Leonard.
Re Hawaii, Stephen Kinser's book "Overthrow" starts with 1898 Hawaii and moves through almost a dozen other cases where the U.S. engineered a change in a soverein government, usually at the behest and for the benefit of corporate interests, and always at a high cost to the people who live there. A very worthwhile read.
I'm always a little amazed at people who respond to the crimes of the Bush Regime as if these greedy psychopaths were an abberant and unprecedented fluke that suddenly popped up to spoil an otherwise unblemished American Dream, as if hitherto we were doing just fine and we only need to "get back" to our normal liberty-and-justice-for-all selves.
That's about the most conveniently ignorant view of American history I can imagine.
The truth is that King George is just another Andrew Jackson or Teddy Roosevelt or -- well, you pick one. There hasn't been an American President yet who has dealt fairly and honestly with any of the Indian tribes.
Any computer geek will tell you: garbage in, garbage out.
By what strange socio-political alchemy can we imagine that we can start out with slavery and genocide and -- Presto! -- end up with "liberty & justice for all?"
SJ
www.spartacusjones.com
ref Rick92X
You say there is "more than enough evidence" to show that Leonard Peltier had his hand (which is in dispute) in something that led to death and therefore is presumably guilty, following your logic. As a result, you say his case bears no equivalency to Lewis Libby's.
A couple of things;
If, by your logic, someone is guilty of murder - if they were involved in something that led to another's death - then we best look at what Libby was involved in. The crime he committed (which is not in dispute) was for the purpose of covering up his and his superior's roles in (1), outing a CIA agent (a treasonous offense) for the purpose of (2), leading the country into a war based upon lies (another treasonous offense). In that war, hundreds of thousands of people have died, while still counting. Big difference.
This has got to be one of the best definitions of "false equivalence" I've ever read.
Leonard Peltier (convicted of homicide in 1977) = Lewis Libby (convicted in 2007 of perjury). To point out the obvious, murder is not equivalent to lying to a grand jury. Even if one were to throw out all of the disputed evidence in the Peltier case, there is still more than enough evidence that he clearly played an active role in the murders. With Libby, he is guilty of lying to grand jury. While reprehensible, no one died. Big difference.
The injustice of it all is senseless......but sadly, as moonraven reminds us, not surprising.
Yet, Mr. Peltier's courage in the face of such unfairness is inspirational. It seems as if his spirit cannot be jailed, and it gives me hope that even in these times of seeming despair, determination for remedy can still prevail.
Peace,
Ken
I think we could all listen and learn from the comments as submitted by Moonraven---especially ref Hawaii.
The shrub is a classist,a racist,a sadist and a dominionist. The "ist" he doesn't belong to are secular humanists.They are to be ridiculed,reviled and repressed. Very interesting-no?
Mr. Peltier has shown dignity and perserverance that the coward from Crawford can only dream about.
Moonraven: you are right.
Here is a tidbit of information most people don't know;
The People of the Kingdom of Hawaii NEVER signed a treaty with the U.S. governmemt. Under international law, Hawaii is a soverign nation under a hostile military takeover, to this day. This is factual.
Oh, and did you all know, the Queen's palace on Oahu had electricity BEFORE the White House did and, at the time of the overthrow (late 1800's) the Hawaiian people were over 90% literate!!!? Members of the Hawaiian Royal Family had travelled the world, met with leaders of other governments, and Hawaii was recognized around the world as an independent soverign nation with a constitutioinal monarchy.
So much for improving the lives of Native Peoples, which is what they taught us all in elementary school. So the next time y'all visit Hawaii, understand why some Hawaiians are pissed off. For the first time in history, Hawaiian people are homeless and go hungry. America's karma is not so great, after all.
In eight years, I learned to hate Bill Clinton because he was the kind of politician who could do something like grant amnesty to Marc Rich, whose crimes go far beyond outrageous tax evasion, and leave Leonard Peltier in prison. I think, had he pardoned BOTH men, I would have forgotten Marc Rich. But it is the CONTRAST. Who he chose to free and who he did not. That a guilty rich man was let walk free, and an Innocent Native American was left to rot. Some basic part of Clinton's humanity was clearly not intact, and it is sad, because he was so very bright. So very capable.
Bush, of course, has done the same thing, but it is what we would expect of Bush. We have always known that Bush was a racist and, moreso, a classist. It would be surprising if he DIDN'T pardon Libby, and might kill the nation with shock if he DID pardon Peltier. I don't think justice is something you expect from Bush. It is something you expect to EXTRACT through impeachment. He has no conscience. None. He is a sociopath who must be RESTRAINED from evil. One wonders whether his behavior comes from his privileged upbringing, or, were he born in poverty, if he would have shared a cell on death row with some of those 150 people executed on his watch as governor. Because, at this stage, he has the same mind as a serial killer. A man beyond redemption. Bush kills by the thousands and without remorse. He kills his own countrymen in his war for oil. He kills hundreds of thousands of Iraqis without a twitch of conscience. He commutes Libby's "harsh" sentence, while he has people TORTURED across the globe, imprisoned without trial or even CHARGES. Mr. Bush does not need impeachment, he needs CONFINEMENT. Clearly, he is a danger to society on a global scale and, clearly, he has not the conscience to restrain his lust for violence and torture. He is without conscience.
Free Leonard Peltier. Impeach Bush/Cheney.
Do you know how treaties the US government made with Native Americans and actually kept?
NONE.
The US was founded on genocide committed against my people. The treatment of Peltier is just another obvious example.
Clinton was begged to pardon Leonard and instead he pardoned criminal capitalist Marc Rich.
Peltier's 8 extra years (so far) prison time is blood on Bill Clinton's hands.
Mr. Wasserman used "the" word that best describes the entire Bush administration -- obscene!
Free Leonard Peltier!
Ummn, I think then governor Bush did issue one commutation -- for Henry Lee Lucas, a strange fellow who killed somewhere between two and two hundred people.