Read it at CBSNews.com.
That’s kind of ironic that they want this guy alive, but I want him dead. Anyone who’d do that to a child deserves quite the painful slow death.
By now you should know what’s going on with the Jena 6. Here are my thoughts on the subject.
I don’t know if the white students should have been prosecuted or not for hanging nooses from the tree. It was deplorable and stupid but I am not sure if there is a crime involved. The black students should absolutely be prosecuted for attacking this white student.
Should the charges be attempted murder? Everyone says, “They used their shoes, that’s not trying to kill him” but there is a lot of force in your kicks and if you are kicking someone repeatedly in the head, you could kill them. I have also heard people say attempted murder should not be the charge because the guy was able to attend a school event that night. If I take a shot at someone and they’re only grazed by the bullet, is that not attempted murder?
If the white student had died, no one would be questioning murder charges. All that said, I am not sure if attempted murder charges are justified. I am no lawyer nor am I that well versed on law. But it appears the folks going down there to protest are wanting no charges pressed whatsoever.
No charges or punishment for a beating that was essentially vigilante justice?! Are you smoking crack? First of all, the guy who was beaten was not even the one who hung the nooses from the tree, according to news reports. Secondly, the beating was months after the nooses were hung. Third, nooses hanging from a tree is not justification for mobbing and beating someone.
Finally, those protesting the unequal treatment are really making themselves sound ignorant by comparing the punishment of the students responsible for the noose and the charges against these students. According to the DA there, there aren’t even any laws he could find that would have applied to this situation. So should you make up something to charge the students with because they did something offensive? NO!
One other thing: the media is trying to make this sound as if it’s a new Civil Rights movement. Most of the comments I’ve heard from people protesting this down in Jena show their reasons for protesting are “to be part of history.” They simply want to be able to say they were involved in something.
I am tired of the knee-jerk reaction Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and seemingly the black community as a whole have when a black person is charged with any crime. The black person is immediately deemed an innocent victim of a racist justice system, even when there is NO QUESTION as to the guilt of the perpetrator. When it’s a white on black crime, they don’t even hesitate to assign guilt to the white suspect. Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty? Do you guys remember coming down on the white Duke rape suspects?
I’ve also heard reports, though I haven’t read any yet, that the white student had a gun and the 6 were defending themselves. Once they got the gun from him, they had no need to defend themselves. Punching a man and beating and kicking and stomping him as he lays there unconscious is not self defense.
Here are a couple of quotes from Booker T Washington, who must have been psychic and seen that we would now have race baiters and charlatans like Jesse and Al in our midst:
“There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs. Partly because they want sympathy, and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
“There is a certain class of race problem-solvers who don’t want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public.”
Well, about 99.9% of the rumors about who would be performing for Fred’s appearance in Lawrenceburg turned out to be wrong. The only well-known performer that was there was John Rich, of Big & Rich. Lawrenceburg gospel group The Kellys was there. They started off the festivities after an hour or two of local high school marching bands regaled us with everything from America The Beautiful to the theme songs from Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones.
Photo update: I’ll have the photos I took up soon but they are nowhere near as good as what Bill Hobbs and Blake Wylie took. I was just using my wife’s digital point and shoot and wasn’t as close as I would have liked to have been.
Lawrenceburg Mayor Keith Durham was the emcee for most of the early part of the evening. John Rich took the stage sometime around 6-6:15 pm and played a couple of songs, including “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy”, Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line” (the lyrics of which sometimes became: “because you’re mine, Fred walks the line”), Rocky Top and more. Some of the songs came because Fred was running a little late and I guess they needed John to stall.
Tennessee politicians were there as well to get us pumped up about Fred’s pending appearance. Van Hilleary was in attendance, though he didn’t speak on stage. Marsha Blackburn and Zach Wamp both spoke, and I think Zach was the most energetic speaker of the evening. There were a few times his voice almost rose to the level of Howard Dean’s famous speech that led to his meltdown in the 2004 presidential race…the speech that ended with that famous: “Yeeeaarrrrrrrghhh! or something like that. But Zach did good.
Former Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn was also present, though he didn’t speak. Finally Howard Baker was brought up to speak and introduce Fred, though he too had to stall for time. Eventually he got tired of coming up with things to talk about and they showed Fred’s “The Hunt For Red November” video. Finally, the moment arrived. All eyes and heads were turned to the right of the stage as the caravan arrived. Fred Thompson was in the building….or the square at least.
Fred took the stage to wild applause and cheers. He gave a decent length speech, in which he was humble and appreciative of our support and detailed why he was running for President. I’ve already typed too much for now so I won’t go into the details. After the speech he made his way through the massive crowd and I tried to get close enough to shake his hand or get him to sign my Fred Thompson 2008 hat, but people were shoving and pushing so much to get close to him that I just didn’t do it. I did get close enough to him as he passed that I could have reached out and touched his shoulder, but I forgot to take a photo from that close. Some blogger I am!
All in all, a fun evening and even if you don’t like Fred (I DO!!!), it was something to experience. He could become President, and then I can say I was there and I was 3 feet from him.
Today is F-Day and I am in Lawrenceburg awaiting the big event. Traffic here is already busier than usual and I’ve seen one limo and several RVs.
Along with Fred, there are supposed to be secret surprise guests, though at least one is not exactly secret or a surprise: Big & Rich. I have my sources that say Jon Bon Jovi will be in attendance as well, though we’ll see. Rumors of Garth Brooks and others have swirled around as well.
Most of the businesses in Lawrenceburg have “Welcome Home Fred” on their signs, or some variation thereof. There is a palpable feeling of excitement in the town, and I am getting pumped about the big moment. More tomorrow, when I hope to post some photos and will talk about the event. Fred 08!
I haven’t posted much lately, and may not post hardly at all anymore, since I’m in school in the evenings and working during the day and trying to do side work. I may end up focusing only in my beer blog: The Beer Snob.
But Saturday, Fred Thompson will be in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, which is also my wife’s hometown, so we’ll be down there to check out all the excitement. I hear Big & Rich will be there performing (big whoop….I don’t like them).
I’ll try to take some photos while there and share them and my thoughts here. FRED 08!
