Double Secret Probation for bombers of Doctors Without Borders hospital

Gen. Joseph Campbell, in charge of whitewashing the October US bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan that killed 22 doctors and patients and wounded 37 others, provided a Hollywood ending for his investigation. Channeling Gen. Buck Turgison in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 flick 'Dr. Strangelove', Gen. Campbell deadpanned that the bomber pilots appear to have 'exceeded their authority' when they blasted the hospital and its precious inhabitants to bits, then strafed the folks running out the inferno. Also exceeding their authority were the US forces who entered the destroyed hospital, tampering with the war crime scene. Gen. Campbell then channeled Faber College's Dean Wormer, in the 1978 John Landis epic 'Animal House', handing down punishment for the US perpetrators: Double Secret Probation. Come to think of it, Gen. Buck Turgison and Dean Wormer represent the spectrum of America's endless criminal wars in the Middle East: psychosis and imbecility.

'At the end of the day' Alverez, McCarthy and Emmanuel didn't do their job.

 

I watched Top Cop Gerry McCarthy and Top Boss Rahm Emanuel's press conference announcing the murder indictment of officer James Van Dyke for pumping 16 slugs into a non-threatening Laquan McDonald 13 months ago. McCarthy repeated over and over "at the end of the day" to justify his and States Attorney Anita Alverez and Emmanuel's conduct in finally indicting this single rogue cop after obfuscating and dissembling and praying against all odds the truth would never be revealed. Sorry, Chief. At the end of the day you should resign. At the end of the day Anita Alverez should end her re-election bid. At the end of the day, Rahm should figure out, after 5 years, how to protect the public, including the those considered 'disposable' by your police force, for the last 3 years of your sorrowful rule.

Lee's wisdom ignored by McDonald, Van Dyke, colleagues, Chief, States Attorney, Mayor

It's ironic the killing of Laquan McDonald by police officer James Van Dyke came to a head the week Spike Lee's movie of Chicago violence, 'Chiraq' débuted. Lee's presence reminds me of his profound 1989 flick 'Do The Right Thing' which, 26 years later, still resonates with me every day of my life. That's because Lee showed the consequences of folks not doing the right thing, in which a hot day, hot tempers and no turning back from confrontation led to the senseless death of a man and wanton destruction of a neighborhood. After 400 days we're learning tragic details of how virtually no one involved in the McDonald shooting, including McDonald himself, did the right thing. Ingesting PCP and roaming a main thoroughfare with a knife led McDonald to violence prone, trigger-happy cop Van Dyke, who pumped 16 slugs into a non-threatening McDonald. Fellow cops on the scene did nothing except stop Van Dyke from reloading, then likely corroborated Van Dyke's false narrative McDonald was in a death charge against him. Public officials from Police Chief McCarthy, States Attorney Alverez and Mayor Emmanuel all bear scrutiny as likely obfuscating the investigation for political concerns, such as delaying the inevitable day of reckoning and facilitating a re-election campaign. Every political official, every cop; indeed every citizen would be wise to view 'Do The Right Thing' for the wisdom it imparts to navigate the problematic society we inhabit and hopefully lead to more... 'doing the right thing.'

Brits' Cameron want piece of bombing Syria to pieces

British Prime Minister David Cameron is smarting from the big lead US, French and Russian bomber pilots have piled up in dead Syrian civilians under their deadly barrage of bombs there. He's called for a vote in Parliament next week so Britain can unleash the dogs, opps, bombers, to make up for lost time. Cameron may catch the Yanks, French and Russkies, but he'll never top predecessor Tony Blair, who shares the Nuremburg Prize for mass murder in the Middle East with US war criminal George W. Bush. Collectively they have hundreds of thousands of innocents on their murderous resume.

Biggest terrorists? The ones with the biggest bombs

America appears to be suffering a massive nervous breakdown over the Paris violence. Most presidential candidates have hopped on the Xenophobe bandwagon, demonizing Muslims, calling for 'no-fly' zones, more arms for the folks who launched 911 because they're now fighting the latest target of regime change, Syria's Assad; and demanding US canon fodder be sent to plug the unplugable leak in the dyke of American empire. Cable, network and print news, all in the tank for the US war party, feed us neocon lies, disgracing the profession of journalism. America bombs a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan, killing 22 and all they report is how our government whispers "Opps!" If they dared spend an hour showing the body parts of the women and babies we blast to bits on a daily basis, they'd lose their government access to news and go bankrupt. When we shattered Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria into ungovernable wastelands of America's trillion dollar military death machine, we put America on a path to ruin. And the end result is a race to the bottom with 15 men and two women vying to lead the carnage channeling Shakespeare's King Lear: "Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill."

Come on, Governor, use those 9 mansions humanely

While we Illinois taxpayers fund Gov. Rauner's digs in Springfield, The Billionaire has nine spacious mansions sitting idle. How 'bout it Gov? Why not let hundreds of Syrian refugees find refuge in those lavishly appointed palaces in a manner to which you are accustomed? There's enough floor space available for you to take in an entire village. You can even use your state of the art security systems to ensure those mostly women and children aren't preparing Paris style attacks in your own back yards.