Today, we can't help but think of Caroline Bninski, a Green Party protester who is rotting in a Boulder jail cell without the press attention and adulation heaped on Paris Hilton. She has served 10 days of her 30 day sentence.
When we first heard the story of her prosecution, we thought Mark Udall and his staff had acted properly and reasonably. We wrote several posts using that take.
As more facts came out, we have come to believe that Udall and his staff set the woman up and called the police seconds after she violated the agreement she and Udall's staffer had made.
We are thinking of sending her a cake. We wonder if the Boulder calaboose has an X-ray machine that they use on cakes.
Showing posts with label sister souljah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sister souljah. Show all posts
Monday, August 20, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Caroline Bninski Reports to Jail
Mark Udall and his staff got its pound of flesh on Friday when Caroline Bninski reported to jail. She is the peace activist who staged a peaceful three week demonstration under rules that she had coordinated with the Udall staff.
We at first supported the Udall position against her. Then we discovered that the police were called immediately after she broke the agreed on rules governing her demonstration
If Udall's staff agreed to the terms of the demonstration, and those rules were followed, then staffers had no business testifying in court that the whole demonstration was disruptive to the staff, even if it was.
Since Mark Udall and his staff finds the Constitutionally protected right of petitioning one's government under tightly controlled and agreed on circumstances inconvenient and disruptive, we wonder why he would be running for higher office.
For the record, if Udall's staff had waited as little as 30 minutes to call the police, we would still be on his side and this wouldn't have been written. This whole exercise reminded us of Bill Clinton's Sister Souljah moment when we discovered that there was an agreement and the cops were called only seconds after the agreement was violated. As vicious as Bill Clinton was, Sister Souljah never went to jail.
We at first supported the Udall position against her. Then we discovered that the police were called immediately after she broke the agreed on rules governing her demonstration
If Udall's staff agreed to the terms of the demonstration, and those rules were followed, then staffers had no business testifying in court that the whole demonstration was disruptive to the staff, even if it was.
Since Mark Udall and his staff finds the Constitutionally protected right of petitioning one's government under tightly controlled and agreed on circumstances inconvenient and disruptive, we wonder why he would be running for higher office.
For the record, if Udall's staff had waited as little as 30 minutes to call the police, we would still be on his side and this wouldn't have been written. This whole exercise reminded us of Bill Clinton's Sister Souljah moment when we discovered that there was an agreement and the cops were called only seconds after the agreement was violated. As vicious as Bill Clinton was, Sister Souljah never went to jail.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Peace Democrats Urged to Sign Pledge
Uncomfortably Numb has posted the names of Democrats who they believe shouldn't receive votes of those who want to defund the war. Mark Udall is among them, with 57 other House Democrats and 20 Senators.
And continuing with the Mark Udall Sister Souljah moment, the Greens are understandably unhappy with Udall as well. One wrote a letter to the editor which ended:
And continuing with the Mark Udall Sister Souljah moment, the Greens are understandably unhappy with Udall as well. One wrote a letter to the editor which ended:
It isn't inconvenient for Udall to continue to fund the Iraq war. I will find it "inconvenient" to vote for Udall for Senate.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Hmmm
After writing for several days that Mark Udall's staff was justified in calling the cops after a three week protest, more information is coming out that suggests that they operated on a hair trigger. If the latest report is true, it makes Udall, his staff, and the MSM doing the reporting look two-faced.
The demonstration was coordinated with Udall's staff, and for three weeks the demonstrators followed rules that both agreed to:
Democracy can sometimes be inconvenient. The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition the government but doesn't require those doing the petitioning to do more than behave themselves. This report makes it sound as though the demonstrators went out of their way to behave themselves while presenting their grievances.
So, these folks were out of compliance with their agreement for only a minute or perhaps less before John Bristol called the cops, not the three weeks the MSM led us to believe. (Actually, the MSM failed to report that there was an agreement) That doesn't show the amount of tolerance a reasonable person would expect of well paid Federal employees to show.
This is not a case that Mark Udall, his staff, or the prosecutor can be proud of pursuing. The judge who sentenced this woman to 30 days in jail for being out of compliance with her agreement so short a time has very little respect for the Constitution.
If the information provided by the Colorado Daily News is accurate, this whole thing has the smell of a Sister Souljah set up with one difference: Sister Souljah didn't go to jail.
The demonstration was coordinated with Udall's staff, and for three weeks the demonstrators followed rules that both agreed to:
Bninski, a coordinator at the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, met with Udall's chief of staff in February to facilitate a three-week protest in which constituents entered the congressman's office, filed a complaint about the war, and left within 10 minutes...
Democracy can sometimes be inconvenient. The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition the government but doesn't require those doing the petitioning to do more than behave themselves. This report makes it sound as though the demonstrators went out of their way to behave themselves while presenting their grievances.
On the final day of the protest, March 8, Bninski and five others declined to leave Udall's office after 10 minutes. As the group sat on the floor, Bninski read the names of the 42 (now 49) soldiers from Colorado who've died in the war, and the 700,000 Iraqi civilians who've died in the war...
Just after noon, Bninski informed Bristol that the last group would commit civil disobedience. The press and the members of the CopWatch organization flooded inside. After 10 minutes passed, Bristol called the police.
So, these folks were out of compliance with their agreement for only a minute or perhaps less before John Bristol called the cops, not the three weeks the MSM led us to believe. (Actually, the MSM failed to report that there was an agreement) That doesn't show the amount of tolerance a reasonable person would expect of well paid Federal employees to show.
Two members of Udall's staff testified the protest disrupted the daily functions of their office.
“There had been people coming by every day for weeks,” said John Bristol, a staff assistant for Udall's office. The morning of March 8 “was a very intense three hours” in which the only work he accomplished was recording Iraq-war complaints from about 50 people, he said.
This is not a case that Mark Udall, his staff, or the prosecutor can be proud of pursuing. The judge who sentenced this woman to 30 days in jail for being out of compliance with her agreement so short a time has very little respect for the Constitution.
If the information provided by the Colorado Daily News is accurate, this whole thing has the smell of a Sister Souljah set up with one difference: Sister Souljah didn't go to jail.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
