Saturday, February 24, 2007

THIS JUST IN! THE SAD DICK!

 
WHAT DO YOU CALL A DICK THAT REFUSES TO PULL OUT?
 
PRESIDENT OF VICE DICK IS ALARMING EVERYONE WITH HIS STATEMENTS THAT THERE WILL BE NO PULL OUT FROM IRAQ EVEN AS ENGLAND BEGINS SOMETHING RESEMBLING THAT.
 
SAID ONE WAG, "HE'S LIKE A NASTY DRUNK WHO JUST CAN'T GET OFF AND WANTS TO KEEP HUMPING OVER AND OVER EVEN THOUGH NOTHING'S HAPPENING AND IT AIN'T NEVER GONNA' HAPPEN."
 
OR AS 1 FORMER FRIEND OF CHENEY'S WHO ASKED THAT WE CALL HIM "TOOTER" EXPLAINED, "LOOK, VIAGRA JUST GETS YOU UP.  AT HIS AGE AND WITH HIS HEALTH, IT'S TO BE EXPECTED THAT THERE'S NO CLIMAX."
 
WHEN REACHED BY PHONE FOR COMMENT, VICE DICK REPLIED, "YOU STUPID F**KERS!  I'LL F**K YOU OVER GOOD!  THAT GOES FOR THAT F**KING SCOOTER LIBBY TOO!  I KNOW HE SQUEALED TO YOU!" 
 
 
 
Starting with war resisters.  Yesterday, Mark Wilkerson was court-martialed at Fort Lewis in Texas and sentenced to seven months in a military prison and given a bad conduct discharge. Jim Bergamo (KVUE) reports that Wilkerson's mother, wife and brother were sitting behind him during the hearing and that "it was his good behavior in that first tour of duty and after he returned to his unit in August of last year that helped sway the judge to sentence him to only seven months in jail and give him a bad conduct discharge"  while his attorney Michael Duncan told Bergamo that "in a general court-martial, no confinement is very rare".  Angela K. Brown (AP) reports that Rebecca Barker, his mother, testified about the home life: "Barker said that in 1996 her estranged husband -- who had adopted Mark as a child -- broke into their house, fatally beat her friend with a baseball bat and then beat her before Mark, then 12, intervened and ran for help.  Her husband committed suicide before his murder trial."
 
In other war resister news, El Universal reports that Agustin Aguayo's mother, Susana Aguayo, appeal to the Mexican government has been heard -- "The Foreign Relations Secretariat said it would seek information on the health and legal situation of Agustin Aguayo, who faces charges of desertion and missing troop movement. . . .  given Aguayo's 'nationality of origin and the fact that his relatives are Mexican, the department has ordered the Mexican Embassy in Germany to offer consular assistance, which consists of using its good offices to gather information on the health and legal situation' of Aguayo."  Agustin Aguayo is scheduled to be court-martialed March 6th in Germany.
 
Regarding Ehren Watada, we're going to repeat two points because they are important ones.
Last Friday's snapshot, while noting Ehren Watada, the following appeared: "John Catalinotto (Socialist Worker) observes: 'Watada's military defense lawyer -- appointed by the Army -- Capt. Mark Kim, said that he agreed with Seitz's interpretation of military law'." That was incorrect. John Catalinotto's article appeared in Workers' World, not Socialist Worker, my apologies. This was noted Tuesday, but it is important to again stress that the military attorney, Mark Kim, is in agreement with Seitz re: double-jeopardy.  Let's also repeat from yesterday: " Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that Eric Seitz, Watada's civilian attorney, doesn't expect a court-martial to even be possible before summer due to scheduling issues and that the military hasn't even refiled the charges for the March 19th date that Judge Toilet (John Head) was tossing around when he declared a mistrial."
 
Wilkerson, Aguayo and Watada are a part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Kyle Snyder, Patrick Hart, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Corey Glass, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
 
 
Remember how Mark Wilkerson was sentenced to seven months in military prison?  Let's turn to the reality of the joke that is military justice.  Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Edwards Franklin is now a "private" and somehow that's "justice" in the snicker-snicker, dirty joke world of the US military.  In a press release, the US military tells you he was busted down to private as punishment determined in his court-martial today.  Punishment for?  "[I]ndecent acts upon a female Private 2nd Class in the junior Soldier's room and then lying about his involvment to CID personnel.  On 20 Ocotber 2006 Sgt. 1st Class Franklin followed a female Private 2nd Class into her room on LSA Anaconda.  He attempted to force intimate contact upon the solider."  Let's be clear because the US military tends to gloss over rape -- as does the press.  What Franklin was trying to do, "force intimate contact," is what's known as attempted rape.  Back to the press release: "During a CID interview and on the witness stand at trial" denied touching the woman or being in her room for more than five minutes.
And here's where the US military proves what a sad joke is: "A panel of officers and enlisted personnel, sentenced Sgt. 1st Class Franklin to reduction in grade to E-1."  Wow.  Aren't we all just blown away.  Wilkerson's spending seven-months in a military prison and Franklin gets no jail time for attempted rape. As noted in The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Women and the military" one in every seven US service members serving in Iraq is a woman but there's no real safety guarantees for women.  Crimes aren't punished and for any who doubt it, a superior attempts to rape a woman and his "punishment" doesn't include jail time.  It's all a joke or a game to the military but not even a game that includes the instruction "Go immediately to jail, do not collect 200 dollars." 
 
 

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