Author: mopress

Children will be sent to Pennsylvania

The T. Don Hutto Detention Facility in Taylor, Texas will be for women only according to today’s announcement from the federal department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In a press release posted at the ICE website, the department announced several “immediate actions” that include:

Discontinued use of family detention at the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Texas. In place of housing families, we will propose that the Texas facility will be used solely as a female detention center. Presently, Hutto is used to detain families and low custody female detainees. Detained families will now be housed at Berks Family Residential Center in Pennsylvania.

Dear Editor:

I read your CounterPunch article and came away with even more reason to oppose state sanctioned murder. To me, it is not only asinine but immoral. There is no logic in thinking that individuals who murder are criminals but a society that murders murderers is not.

North Mankato, MN

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On the other hand

Dear Editor:

I agree that few states are as unseemly in their rush to kill as Texas. I’m sure the governor was terrified that something was going to come between him and his god-given right to strap that man to a gurney and stick a needle in his arm, and that he made himself as inaccessible as possible so as to be able to proceed.

Granted also that Medellin should have had the counsel of his embassy, etc. etc.

But what is all this fuss about his being a Mexican citizen in a U.S. jail? What is all this fuss about involving the World Court in his case? We don’t do the same for our own citizens, the poor African-Americans who sit on death row and outnumber whites all out of proportion to their numbers in the population. What is so damned special about a Mexican rapist-murderer? Why is his death any more tragic than those of the others who die so frequently in Texas? The man was scum. Perhaps life without the possibility of parole was the proper thing to do. But why all this outcry over him and not over others on death row, some of whom we know, statistically, are innocent?

The death of each and every Iraqi citizen we have caused in our invasion matters infinitely more than the death of this rapist-murderer. All lives are not equal, and all deaths are not equal. To pretend otherwise is to take idealism to unsustainable heights. Do you want to imagine the last hours of those girls’ lives? Does that count for anything with you? I am not arguing here for the death penalty, just for locking the man up and throwing away the key. But to involve the World Court? Why was he worth it and not our own citizens?

Just curious.

Sunnyvale, CA

Dear Just Curious:

Actually you have answered your own question. If you agree that Mr. Medellin should have been granted the legal assistance of the Mexican Consulate in this matter, then you understand why the World Court was involved in the case. Since Mr. Medellin was not granted the legal assistance that he should have received, Mexico asked the World Court to order a review of his case. Here’s the official language of the World Court order of 16 July, 2008:

The United States of America shall take all measures necessary to ensure that Messrs. José Ernesto Medellín Rojas, César Roberto Fierro Reyna, Rubén Ramírez Cárdenas, Humberto Leal García, and Roberto Moreno Ramos are not executed pending judgment on the Request for interpretation submitted by the United Mexican States, unless and until these five Mexican nationals receive review and reconsideration consistent with paragraphs 138 to 141 of the Court’s Judgment delivered on 31 March 2004 in the case concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America);

All that was asked was a “review” of the Medellin case to determine the likely effect of his not having received the representation that he was entitled to. This is what Texas officials refused to provide.

Regarding the comparison of Mr. Medellin’s unnecessary execution to the unnecessary killing of other people in the USA and Iraq, we would be sad to think that we have communicated that there is any reason to take one unnecessary killing as either more or less wrong than another.

But we take your point, that we seem to live in a United States so saturated with examples of unnecessary killing that it must sound very strange to hear someone complain about this one. Nevertheless, we have “preserved the error” for the record. If wanton killing makes a person “scum,” then I would encourage you to reflect on what the United States use of tax dollars makes of us all.–gm

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Speaking for the Ruling Majority

Dear Editor:

Was the execution necessary? Absolutely…it was not only necessary but long overdue. Failure to execute justice and the long wait to terminate this brutal murderer continues to show how lightly we value life.

Those who have no regard for life as he did must understand that those of us see life as a GOD given gift and to take one so casually must elicit a harsh response otherwise this type of act will become even more common place. This murderer gave up his right when he took a life as he did and now his life is over. There is no satifaction in seeing him die for now he will have to account for his life in the presence of God.

I’m not sure what your point was in the article but to think his execution was not necessary is a total mistake. That kind of talk fails to address those who have been injured in such a senseless crime and live constantly with the loss.

Oceanside, Ca.

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Dear Editor

I will tell one thing, this particular killer will not be killing again AND we will not be supporting him the rest of his life.

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[Dear] Editor:

Well this piece if sh*t Medellin will never kill again and wont cost the US taxpayer to house, clothe and feed anymore. Like that thrid world dungheap Mexico really cares about one of its citizens. You liberals are the death of America.

Hi John, On the day before the Aug. 1 immigration trial for the Ibrahim family, the Texas Civil Rights Review received more visitors than any other day in our short history, so you can be sure that our readers would like to know how the family is doing.

Texas Civil Rights Review: At last week’s trial before the immigration judge in Dallas, what arguments did you make in behalf of the Ibrahim family’s right to remain in the USA?

John Wheat Gibson: We argued that Israel continues to steal land and murder Palestinians simply because they are not Jewish. We pointed out the 59 Palestinian mothers who have been forced to give birth at check points because the Zionist thugs would not allow them to proceed to the hospital. We also argued that it was unfair for the immigration judge to allow the government to put into evidence all of its documents on the day of trial, when the rules require that they be submitted and served on the opposing side at least 10 business days before the trial.

TCRR: What reasons did the judge give for ordering the Ibrahim family deported?

Gibson: The immigration judge said Israel does not abuse human rights and that Fatah will protect the rights of the Palestinians in the West Bank. He said punishment by Hamas for refusing to give money to Hamas because of political disagreement with Hamas would not be persecution on account of political opinion. The immigration judge was just following orders. He is no Himmler; he is a measley Eichmann.

TCRR: Last time the family was ordered deported to “Palestine” there was difficulty securing travel permission from Israel. Is there any reason to think that Israel will change its policy toward returning Palestinians?

Gibson: Israel is more brutal and racist than ever. After going to so much trouble since 1947 to exterminate and expel the Palestinians so the Master Race can settle on their land, why would the Israelis allow them to return?

TCRR: Where does this ruling leave the family? What can they expect from immigration authorities in the coming months?

Gibson: Appeal has been filed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

TCRR: Is there anything our readers can do to help the family?

Gibson: Send letters to editors and to Chief Immigration Judge complaining about racist policy of denying asylum to Palestinians simply to avoid embarrassing the Jewish supremacist governments of Israel, the UK, and the US. Law and facts, not AIPAC, JINSA, WINEP, et al, should have some influence on trial results. In the United States today Muslims get the same treatment in the courts that Jews got in the courts of Nazi Germany. This case is a perfect example. Your readers should rally to the resistance instead of goose-stepping to Armageddon behind the Furher and his Chosen Race.

TCRR: When Hanan Ibrahim was impounded by immigration authorities during a pre-election raid last November, she was pregnant. Can you tell us, how is the new baby?

Gibson: Healthy girl, which God’s Chosen People will kill when the Gestapo sends her back to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as they have killed so many other little girls, whom they view as racially inferior.

TCRR: Thank you for answering these questions. Will you please let us know if there are any developments in this case?

Editor’s Note:

Background information and a bio of the Chief Immigration Judge can be found at the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review. The contact information is:

David L. Neal
Office of the Chief Immigration Judge
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2500
Falls Church, VA 22041
(703) 305-1247

–gm

You gotta love those CounterPunch readers. Shortly after I shut
down my computer Thursday morning in order to make a trip to Dallas,
CounterPunch published the Intelligent Design article below. As
more than a few CounterPunch readers noted, I used the word
anthropomorphic, when I should have used the term anthropic, as in
‘anthropic principle.’ Gladly, the error didn’t seem to
hamper anyone’s enjoyment:

Mr. Moses

Right on!!!

I would love to have the Shrub, Cheney, and the ENTIRE criminal
administration making little rocks from big rocks for life also. Or, do
like they do here in Louisiana, they take some inmates and have them
wear orange or white coveralls, and they have them picking up trash on
the roadsides. Hell, I’d pay real US of A dollars to see that. We could

charge a nominal fee to take snap shots of the entire gang picking up
trash. Why, in a few short months we could almost pay off the national
debt by doing so.
Yes, let the Shrub teach his brand of horse shit from a prison cell.
How soon can the rat bastard start?
Great article sir. Thank you for your time reading this humble reply.

Mr. Moses,

I liked your article in Counterpunch.

If intelligent design exists, one wonders how it could
lead to the creation of someone as stupid as George
Bush.

Subject: Intelligent Design Daydream

Message: I don’t think there is going to be enough room at Huntsville….

Is Bush a war criminal? If so, then how many of his cabinet
members are also guilty by association or as accomplices?
What about aiding and abetting a wanton criminal? The
entire government and both houses of Congress? Where does it end? Bush is a cold blooded killer and I pray that if
there is a "god", one with punitive powers, Bush will suffer
for his mass murder spree in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think
that "collateral damage" is just a terrible Pentagonese term
for mass murder. But then I’m just an ordinary U.S. citizen
with very little real power. The democratic tradition in
America has become so impotent that the elites don’t even
bother to throw us a bone anymore. Long ago a French
aristocrat allegedly said "let them it cake!". Today’s
monied aristocracy in America would say "let them eat
dog food", referring perhaps to the poor elderly who must
make a choice between food or expensive drugs.
Daniel Boorstein was right, America WAS a grand experiment
in democratic rule and it has failed miserably.
Long live the King, George II. Pity we can’t find leaders like
Thomas Jefferson any longer. It would be so funny to hear
Georgie boy debate the likes of Abraham Lincoln. But these
are different times.

Sincerely, just another hapless American.

Thanks for this piece. Here in Utah, we have a state
legislator who wants intelligent design taught in schools, but being
Mormon (almost certainly) he misses the intent of "intelligent" in the
name of this movement. Mormons believe God is an exalted human who was
once much as they are and is as they will be, so the idea of an
intelligence that pervades the universe and puts very small cellular
components together doesn’t resonate with them, as it does with most
Christians. (Remember Woody Allen’s conversation with Diane Keaton (?)
about God in Sleeper when he wakes in the future: She (approximately):
"Do you believe there is an intelligence that pervades and guides the
universe?" He: "Yes, except in certain parts of New Jersey.") So this
guy–the legislator–has renamed it "divine design." He’s a little
short on constitutional nuance, but this may be a requirement for
admission to the inner halls of our State House.

I think you’ve misnamed the principle: It’s the "anthropic
principle" not the "anthropomorphic principle". Anthropomorphic is used
for the supposedly erroneous attribution of human emotions to lesser
animals. This was considered a grave error, almost a sin, when I was in
college many years ago. I don’t know where it stands now.

re: "it has taken me months to calm down to this level of compassion."

My friend, I envy you that you have managed to calm down.

Regards,

P.S. Hopefully no impromptu SS visits…

Dear Mr. Moses:

Your otherwise fine article in CouterPunch contained an unfortunate
malapropism. You substituted anthropomorphic principle for what should
have been anthropic principle. Please see one explanation of the idea
with the correct name at:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com
/homepages/rossuk/c-anthro.htm

The past century, unfortunately, has clearly shown that what
distinguishes a war criminal from a war hero is often nothing more than
the difference between who lost and who won. War is a business that is
rotten to the core and the rules of engagement merely paper over what a
rotten business it is. Our Presidents, of late, have supported
incredible evil and cruelty through war or the CIA. Any evil seems
acceptable if it can be justified by some version of "national
interest." The fact that our current President seems oblivious to his
immorality and is apparently willing to blatantly lie while wrapping
himself in flag and religion makes me just as spitting mad as you
describe yourself.

Thank you for your contribution to CounterPunch.

The best refutation of intelligent design is George Bush, himself,
since he obviously exhibits none of the most elementary characteristics
that would be expected when intelligently designing a human being,
although the physical resemblance is quite close.

The intelligent design supporters don’t realize how much they are
hurting their cause by using Bush as an icon when he is actually a
simulacra.

The Moonies once picked up a guy off the street who they held up as
the epitome of their ideology because of his absolute, total serenity.
They installed him in New Orleans as a subject of pilgrimages by the
faithful.

When it was finally removed, his brain tumor was the size of an orange and his serenity was revealed as catatonia.

Thanks for a good article,

Greg

Thanks for the article, which I thoroughly enjoyed. One nit, though
(which I mention to save you embarrassment, not to show how smart I
am): it’s the anthropic principle, not "anthropomorphic". If you doubt
me, check it on Wikipedia or anywhere else authoritative. (There are
thousands of references to the wrong version on the Web, but, hey, that
should come as no surprise).

Mr. Moses:

Your article was right on the money and very satisfying for me. I will look forward to reading your future articles

If you have Thomas Frank’s book “What’s the Matter with Kansas”, see
footnote 4 to the Introduction. If you don’t, email me your fax and
you’ll receive it.

Dear Mr Moses,

Hate to be pedantic but I think your article "Bush teaches intelligent
design in prison" you probably meant to write ‘anthropic principle’
rather than ‘anthropomorphic’.

As per usual the Wikipedia has nice entries on both:

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

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

Keep up the good work!

A Reader

Excellent. Excellent article in Counterpunch.