Just the Beginning

JUST THE BEGINNING

What would you say if I said that 9-11 means nothing to me? What would you say if I said that the U.S. is a union of 50 countries and that 9-11 happened in 3 countries 3 time zones away from my country? What would you say if I said 3,000 people are dead but there’s nothing we can do to bring them back to life? What would you say if I said that nobody in my family was hurt on 9-11? “It’s a tragic story but, nevertheless, it’s the end of the story.” Wouldn’t you say that I’m selfish? Would you say that it is the end of the story? or just the beginning?

My records indicate that as of January of 2013 I have 3,339 readers. Out of this huge multitude very few readers have censured or admonished the U.S. government for holding me in prison for over a year without a jury trial, without process of eyewitnesses who saw everything and without the right to confront the secret false witnesses who said that I was very “dangerous” and that I was going to do some “horrible crime” even though these false witnesses were not there at my trial nor any of the 10 arrests for distribution of political literature on a public sidewalk (pavement.)

Whenever a reader rebukes the U.S. government for keeping me in prison for such a long time without following any of my constitutional rights, I make copies of these comments and send them to the U.S. Federal Attorney as well as Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. But these comments are very few. The U.S. government is not impressed. They do not believe that I have 3,339 readers. What about the rest of you? Why have you been so quiet? Why haven’t you said anything to admonish the torts of the U.S. federal government? I’m all in favour of using prisons to hold real criminals. But are you so indifferent about using prisons to hold political prisoners without any constitutional rights? This is not something that happened a long time ago in 1998, 1999, or 2000. This is something that is happening right now. I am still an exile because there is nothing that keeps the police from arresting me every time I go back to the U.S. for a short visit with my family. They still have the right to drug me in a mental hospital without a jury trial and without the right to present evidence to prove that I’m not homeless and that I am worth much more than $8. Since I am still not free to live free in the U.S. Since I’m still in forced exile, I am still a captive of Judge Steven Hillman and Judge Margarett Nagle. Nagle and Hillman are still my kidnappers today, right now. Not just in 1999 and 2000. By convicting me illegally, Judges Nagle and Hillman have given the green light for any cop who wants to arrest me at any time or for any reason.

Dr. Martin Luther King used to Say:

         It hurts when we are beaten by the clubs of the police.

It hurts when we are bitten by the police dogs. But that

does not hurt me the most. What hurts me the most is when

good honest people, who know the difference between right

and wrong, keep silent and won’t speak out in our favour.

Dietrich Bohhoffer, among other German Lutheren ministers is known for having said:

                    “When they came for the trade unionists,

                   I said nothing because I’ve never been in any trade union.

                   When they came for the political critics,

                   I said nothing because I’ve never had any interest in politics.

                   When they came for the communists,

                   I said nothing because I’m not a communist.

                   When they came for the Jews

                   I said nothing because I’m not a Jew.

                   When they came for the Catholics,

                   I said nothing because I’m not a Catholic.

                   So when they came for me,

                   nobody said anything to help me out

                   because there was nobody left to speak out for me.”

I’ve been to Auschwitz. It’s not far from here. I can go to the Kiev bus station tonight get on a bus to Krakow, and I could arrive in Krakow early tomorrow morning. Then take the Auschwitz tour bus and be at the “Arbeit Macht Frei” gate within 30 minutes. I’ve taken both tours: the Auschwitz Proper tour and the Auschwitz Birkenau tour. There I heard about Maximillian Colber who was gased there. Rev. Colber was a Polish catholic minister who also talked about “When they came for the trade unionists…” etc. etc. So Dietrich Bonhoffer was not the only minister who talked about silence, indifference, and apathy. There were others such as Martin  Niemöller. Martin Niemöller, however, lived to tell the story in the 1950’s, ‘60’s, and ‘70’s. Dietriech Bönhoffer and Maximllian Colber didn’t.

Before I left the U.S. in 2002, I used to pass out leaflets, in part, about people who had been beaten up, killed, or kept in prison without any constitutional rights. It was one of my readers who said, “It is better to be a prisoner of the U.S. than to be a prisoner of your own mind.”

Distributing political literature on a public sidewalk is not a crime. Sidewalks are not federal property. President James Carter said:

“It is not pleasant to be criticized.

But it is necessary and healthy for any society.”

Senator John McCain said:

“I support political watch dogs.

They keep our country clean and honest.”