Yes America, you are stupid

[SparrowHawk]

But in another post you said the American Dream was a myth.

In terms of the concept of "40 years and a gold watch" for worker/company loyalty it is, was and will continue. You are hired to be fired and in that regard there is no "American dream"

 

[delldude]

But these "under educated parents"......who and how did they become under educated?

With these fine teachers unions, superb government support at local,state and federal levels, how then are some 70% of our future not able to read correctly?

Bunch of bonehead liberals.......period.

Between negotiating for more benefits and teaching their students, the California Federation of Teachers has adopted a resolution of support for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

At the CFT’s 2011 Convention in late March, the delegates passed 30 resolutions, from solidifying support for anti-bullying legislation to supporting transitional kindergarten. Among the resolutions largely pertaining to education and collective bargaining rights was Resolution 19 – to “Reaffirm support for death row journalist.”

Love those fine teachers

 

[Ms Tree]

Damn straight. Everyone in jail is guilty and if they are not guilty of what they were convicted of I am sure they are guilty of something.

 

[SparrowHawk]

I don't like to wade into the whole "Mummia" thing very often as most have picked sides and they aren't bending their point of view.

I was born and raised for 45 of my 56 years in the PHL area and I will say this as I have done a fair amount of reading on the topic. The racial climate was not the best in the years leading up to the crime. Mayor & Former Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo was just out of power when the event occurred. Rizzo had created a climate of fear, especially if you lived in high crime areas.

Rizzo joined the Philadelphia Police Department in the 1940s, rising through the ranks to become Police Commissioner in 1967. He served in that role during the turbulent years of 1967 to 1971, garnering a reputation as a tough, hands-on Commissioner.

One of the most well known actions taken by Rizzo's police officers were the raids on the Philadelphia offices of the Black Panther Party on August 31, 1970. The raids took place just after the Black Panthers had declared war on police officers nationwide,[1] and one week before the Panthers planned to convene a "People's Revolutionary Convention" at Temple University. The officers performed a strip search on the arrested Black Panther members in front of the news cameras. The picture ran on the front page of the Philadelphia Daily News, and was seen around the world.[2][3][4] Rizzo did not order the raids, as he was home asleep at the time. He did defend the officers afterwards, as it was his custom to give officers the benefit of the doubt

PHL's first Black Mayor Willie Wilson Goode (born August 19, 1938) was the first black mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served from 1984 to 1992, a period which included the controversial MOVE police action and house bombing in 1985. Goode was also a community activist, commissioner for the state Public Utility Commission, and managing director for the City of Philadelphia.

Also during this time we had a crusading District Attorney. "Fast" Eddie Rendell The city has agreed to pay $1.9 million to close a civil suit brought by Mr. Ferber, a Northeast Philadelphia furniture salesman who spent 3 1/2 years in prison for a double murder he did not commit.

Both a judge and jury found that Mr. Ferber was framed by police for the 1981 murders of a reputed mobster and his dinner date. The judge characterized the police handling of the case as ``a Kafkaesque nightmare,'' and said that Mr. Ferber's 1982 criminal trial was a ``malevolent charade.''

Nonetheless, the ``charade'' kept Mr. Ferber on death row for 14 months. Even when substantive doubts were raised about the fairness of his conviction, then-District Attorney Ed Rendell waited three years to reopen the case.

The quotes provide a bit of the context of the times in which Officer Faulkner and Wesley Cook lived (Mummia). Interestingly enough Mr Cook has had little to say in his own defense. One theory is that he is covering for someone (most likely his brother) who actually did the shooting. Having done some research this is to me a plausible theory IF you believe that Wesley didn't fire the gun. There is a body of evidence that suggests he may not have fired the weapon. What is clear is that if he didn't actually pull the trigger, he knows who did as no one disputes he was there.

The one thing that truly baffles me is how the conviction of Wesley Cook aka Mummia Abdul Jamal became an international cottage industry.