TruthOut: Mr. President: Honor Nelson Mandela's Wishes and Free Leonard Peltier

[OmahaBlueDog]

Complete article at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20641-mr-president-honor-nelson-mandelas-wishes-and-free-leonard-peltier

Since the passing of fellow Indigenous tribesman Madiba Nelson Mandela, much of mainstream media has attempted to paint him in their own colonial image, once again revising history to make the Federal Government and it’s allies look good, and thereby use him to suit their own purposes.

Memorials project Mandela as a gentle elder statesman, who championed peace and reconciliation. This is true, in fact Mandela was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize- but this rosey and passive portrayal of the international icon and his life is far from complete.

Yes, Mandela’s end goal was one of peace and self-determination for Africans, but he didn’t strictly adhere to non-violent means. Like Malcolm X, Mandela held that there were times when armed resistance and civil disobedience were necessary to fight a subjugating colonial government.

Grandfather Mandela, named “Rolihlahla” (translated “Troublemaker”) by his father, was once a young freedom fighter Mandela. He fought in a guerilla war against apartheid, white supremacy, and the plague of colonialism that forcibly relocated Natives of South Africa from their traditional homelands and segregated and oppressed his people.

Please also see:

http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/index.htm

http://lakotalaw.org

[scarletwoman]

1. I will never forgive President Clinton for not granting Peltier clemency in his last days in office.

Thousands of people signed petitions, Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and numerous other Nobel Lauriates wrote letters in support - all for nothing.

Clinton took care of his friend Marc Rich, though...

[rhett o rick]

3. So a person asks themselves why? Why not grant clemency? There had to be a reason. nm

[pscot]

4. Ask Don Siegelman

This president has been damned stingy with clemency and pardons. I wish I understood how his mind works. That has troubled me for years.

[rhett o rick]

5. I have a theory about Siegelman. Dont tell Sid. But I think Obama will pardon Gov Siegelman at

the end of his term to help make up for what else he probably will do at that time.

[SidDithers]

7. ...

Sid

[former9thward]

16. Near the end?

If Siegleman serves his full sentence he will be out in 2017. A presidential pardon would not mean much near the end of the Obama presidency.

[rhett o rick]

17. It might take a little of the sting out when he pardons Bushco. Just sayin. nm

[Recursion]

10. Because there's very little clear-cut about Peltier's case (nt)

[OmahaBlueDog]

12. Because 2 FBI agents died, and the government figures somebody has to pay for that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peltier

Objectively, the case against Peltier is weak, but it is politically difficult for anyone to pardon a man convicted (even convicted wrongly) for killing two FBI agents.

OTOH, he's eligible for parole in 2024. Next year, he's 70. He's spent almost 40 years behind bars. He's likely not a threat to anyone at this point. He's widely regarded as a political prisoner. So I say there's little to be lost granting a clemency with the same conditions attached to it that a parole would have. Put another way, grant him parole now.

[WilliamPitt]

13. Three letters: FBI.

Weirdly enough, this was touched upon in a West Wing episode that featured a question about whether or not to pardon a Peltier-like character. Bartlet was presented with the question, "Do you really want to deal with off-duty FBI officers picketing outside the White House?"

For Bartlet, and Clinton, the answer was clearly, "No."

[scarletwoman]

15. The FBI actually DID do that. Off-duty agents conducted a demonstration against freeing Peltier.

I remember it well, I was considerably involved in the movement for clemency at that time.

Those fuckers DID march in front of the White House: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/16/us/fbi-agents-rally-against-possible-clemency.html

[scarletwoman]

14. In my more charitable moments, I blame the execrable Louis Freeh and the FBI.

I think it's not particularly far-fetched to believe that the organization which was J. Edgar Hoover's baby is still not above hanging threats of various sorts of exposure over politicians' heads. And I can imagine that there may well be, somewhere in the darkest corners of the FBI, a rich trove of - if not incriminating, then at least extremely embarrassing - secret files on the "Big Dog" (who, after all, DID tend to behave quite like a dog when it came to women).

Alternative non-charitable explanation: Clinton just didn't give a fuck.

[WillyT]

2. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[MoreGOPoop]

6. K & R

Yes!

[countryjake]

8. Kick & Recommend!

Ruth Hopkins says it all.

[DLevine]

9. K&R. nt

[Berlum]

11. K and R