Posts From Marc Cooper's Website

Author Marc Cooper profiled my blog at his own website and his comments have generated some very interesting responses by his readers. I thought I would share some of the more interesting ones here. Although I may not agree with everything all of these people have to say, I did find their comments good food for thought. Enjoy

"Fascinating link, Marc, thanks. Two things stand out most to me in Allen's blog:
1) MOVE is not a left wing group in any meaningful sense, by our understanding of the political spectrum. In fact, if anything, its ideology and methods of enforcing that ideology are more right wing in character (see below).
2) MOVE still exists *because* of Jamal's elevated status in the American and international left. Because he's been their recurring cause celebre for 20 years, a steady trickle of donations from around the world keep coming in that primarily benefit MOVE's leadership.
http://antimove.blogspot.com/2005/02/radical-fraud.html
For MOVE, homosexuality is a disturbing and immoral violation of God’s Law. Reproductive choice is a symbol of societies degradation and devaluation of life. The mixing of races is frowned upon (even though the current leader of MOVE, herself black, has twice married white men and used invitro-fertilization in order to have a Caucasian child). Drug and alcohol use is frowned upon with a puritan’s zeal. Decision making in the group is done by its leaders and is not to be questioned. MOVE’s mostly white supporters are expected to cough up money and other "donations" for the group. Those in the group who do express dissent are subject to interventions that are as cruel as they are necessary for the control of this authoritarian sect. "

"The problem with Death Penalty Reform, specifically preventing factually innocent people from being executed, is that the perfect becomes the enemy of the good; particularly with folks who are frankly loathesome and factually GUILTY ... Mumia, "Tookie" aka "Monster" Williams, Richard Ramirez (the Nightstalker) etc. People want these monsters dead.
The ordinary person hears uninformed and holier than thou Hollywood idiots like Mike Farrell, Sean Penn (that great humanitarian), Susan Sarandon, etc. going on about folks like Mumia or Williams and they think ... "gee they're weeping over monsters," and tune out when other, more focused people want to talk about procedural reform.
The Death Penalty as currently situated is a total mess; horrible monsters who should have exited the planet years ago will probably die of old age before they get executed, and the survivors of their victims are cheated of Justice. Meanwhile, there's a very good certainty that factually innocent people are on death row and may be executed. Barry Scheck's Innocence Project IMHO deserves federal support; and an ongoing grant from the Justice Department. This is a solid reform that IMHO is doable if people get off the "free Mumia" crack.
No. Don't free Mumia. Fry Mumia. Let him face the punishment for murdering a police officer in cold blood.
People think about Mumia the same way people think about Norman "stabbin" Mailer getting Jack Henry Abbott freed. THAT monster spent only a few weeks out of prison before stabbing a young bartender to death in an argument over using the employee bathroom."

"In his anti move blog, Tony Allen briefly mentioned Dave Lindorff who has writenn passionately about about the political implications of the struggle to get Mumia a new trial, all the while being extrememly critical of the rapidly dwindling "Mumia movement" run and conducted mostly by the sect left. His arguments are refreshing and rational; he traces the increasingly marginality of Mumia's support to the political tactics those at the helm have made. Stratetically the movement have made choices which has isolated Mumia and been counterposed to building broad support for his case. Here's Lindorff
Why has there been so little public pressure for a new trial? Why weren't masses of people outside the NAACP demanding that the organization support Abu-Jamal? Because there's almost no one left to do it.
The throngs of people who used to come out to demand a new trial for Abu-Jamal have faded away as his case, over the past several years, was taken over by ideological lawyers and others who managed to convince Abu-Jamal to make his case a political attack on the entire legal system, instead of dealing with the key issues in his trial that offered the best chance to get him a new hearing.
http://counterpunch.org/lindorff07162004.html"


"Taking repugnant attitudes shared by the extremes on both sides and labeling them 'rightist' is absurd, as is taking virtuous bipartisan attitudes and calling them 'leftist.' (And vice-versa, when conseravatives do it). Sorry, but no amount of finger-pointing at racists on the right is going to change the fact that MOVE and Mumia, in all their ugly racist glory, are the left's babies. "

"Well, to me murder is murder whether of a single police officer or a bunch of innocent people in a building - the quantity of people killed is irrelevant.
The point is that the legal issues are too easily discounted and ignored by the opponents when the proponents discount them to begin with by putting the targeted individual first.
Maybe I am mixing up the person with the issue - I am opposed to the death penalty - but how is that my fault when the anti-death penalty folks in this case scream "FREE MUMIA"?
The death penaly is, in my view, wrong on simple moral grounds and regardless of whether its target is Mumia, Bundy, McVeigh, or someone more sympathetic like the mentally handicapped individual that Texas (I think) wanted to execute.
Putting a face on the movement to abolish the death penalty doesn't advance the argument or the cause."