Justice American style...

“Where do I go to get my reputation back?”
Ray Donovan, former Secretary of Labor after his acquittal on fraud and larceny charges in 1987

Once upon a time in America, a man or a woman could make a mistake, pay their debt to society and if needs be, go west and start with a clean slate.

Yesterday the state of North Carolina dropped the remaining charges against the three young men from the Duke University lacrosse team.

These young men were tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. The District Attorney rode their reputations, false accusations and defective evidence to victory in the election last fall.

Wikipedia is the only place that a lie repeated 10 times, becomes the truth.  What hath Google wrought?

Once upon a time in America, a man or a woman could make a mistake, pay their debt to society and if needs be, go west and start again with a clean slate.

Once upon a time in America…

Forgive and forget?

“NEW YORK-CBS fired Don Imus from his radio show Thursday…”
The Associated Press
April 12, 2007

Don Imus’ remarks about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team were crude, racist and uncalled for. There is no excuse for it. However, Don Imus recognized his mistake and apologized. And apologized and apologized and apologized…

Jesse Jackson’s remarks about Jews were crude, racist and uncalled for. There is no excuse for it.

Al Sharpton’s remarks about white members of NYPD in conjunction with the Twana Brawli incident were crude, racist and uncalled for. There was no excuse for it.

On Easter Sunday in a spirit of love and forgiveness, the Reverend Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson called for the firing of Don Imus.

“Jesus wept.”
Gospel of St. John 11:35

I have a dream?

"...reject the blind violence."
Lyndon Baines Johnson,
April 4, 1968

I remember vividly two things that happened thirty-nine years ago today. The world remembers the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., I remember I turned 11 years old.

I recall vividly my childhood righteous indignation when shortly after the assassination many openly stated that like Christ, given the opportunity, Dr. King would have frankly forgiven James Earl Ray. I was angry. In my mind, they were placing Dr. King above the Savior.

Many years later when Arizona, New Hampshire and Utah bucked the national trend and created "Human Rights Day" or "Civil Rights Day" as opposed to, "Martin Luther King Jr. Day", I remembered what his associates had said about this man in 1968. I applauded those states’ efforts by reasoning that given his selfless dedication to Civil Rights, Dr. King might be embarrassed at being singled out as the sole honoree and seemingly taking credit for the work of so many. Taking credit for the courage and sacrifice of the Rosa Parks, Phillip Randolphs, Michael Schwerners, and Roy Wilkins of the world. I found it even more impressive when current leaders in the Civil Rights movement recently were seen to be making efforts to convert just another day off into a national day of service.

And now, I wonder…

Why the belittling and bullying to force a change. We’ve changed from honoring the Civil and Human Rights that all peoples of the world deserve and hunger for, to honoring one out of the many who fought and died for those rights.

In Mississippi in 1964, three young men were brutally murdered. Their only crime was registering African-Americans to vote. Nearly forty-five years later, do you remember or even know their names?

Why do some feel the need to legislate service?

In 1994, President Clinton signed legislation designating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a national day of service. Isn’t service a virtue that by definition cannot be forced?

Dr. King, was any of this part of your dream?