Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00382)

--- In theos-talk@y..., Bart Lidofsky <bartl@s...> wrote:
> Let's be more specific. He was sentenced for life because, in spite 
of
> being jailed several times in the past, he refused to give up 
crime. He
> knew damned well that if he got caught again in any crime, he would 
go
> to jail for life. 

I will not dispute what you are saying, but you failed to address the 
key issue. He only went to jail for life because he was poor. 
Robert Downey is not going to jail for life. No movie star gets 
pinched for blowing so much coke up his nose that he completely wipes 
out his nasal membranes. G. Gordon Liddy ws in nine differet prisons 
and recently pronounced himself unrepentant. He is not going to jail 
for life. Winona Ryder is not going to jail at all. She thinks it 
is outrageous that she even had to appear in court, instead or 
playing around in her Porsche.

My favorite writer, Anatole France, put is best:

"The law forbids the rich as well as the poor to beg for pennies, 
sleep under bridges, and steal bread."

Of course if one is rich there is no penalty for doing these things. 
There is hardly any way to get around this. The truth in it is self 
evident.

You probably don't believe Tawana Brawley's story or that OJ Simpson 
should have gone free either, do you? You are stuck in the past, 
Bart. It is true that this might as well be Mississippi in 1949 
since so little has changed, but one thing has changed: the oppressed 
are not willing to take any more. It makes me nervous since as a 
white man I will be one of the objects of their wrath when they 
decide they want their freedom. But that they will eventually demand 
their freedom is exhilirating at the same time. It's going to take 
more than a house slave like Colin Powell or a token nlack like 
Condoleeza Rice to satisfy Harry Belafonte. There are going to have 
to be some meaningful changes. No more tokenism.