SC trooper seen ramming man with car indicted

A South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper who was caught on video ramming a suspect with his patrol car was indicted Tuesday on a federal civil rights charge, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Steve C. Garren was indicted by a federal grand jury in Greenville on a charge of willfully depriving a man of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, authorities said. Garren is white; the suspect he rammed is black.

State and federal authorities began investigating the highway patrol in March after videos emerged that showed troopers using a racial epithet and ramming their cruisers into fleeing suspects. The head of the patrol, as well as the head of the agency that oversees it, both resigned in February amid charges of racism among troopers. The investigations continue.

Garren was placed on suspension without pay immediately, said Mark Keel, who was confirmed last week as director of the Department of Public Safety. Garren had also been suspended for two days after the 2007 incident.

It was not immediately clear if Garren, who is from Greenwood, had an attorney. Keel and the U.S. Attorney's Office said they did not know, and a home listing for Garren could not be found.

Black lawmakers and Gov. Mark Sanford criticized the patrol after a four-year-old video emerged showing an officer using a derogatory term for blacks while pursuing a suspect on foot. Several weeks later, the patrol released more videos showing troopers using their cars to ram fleeing suspects.

"You better run," the officer yells in the first video released, using a slur, "because I'm fixin' to kill you."

If convicted, Garren faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Walt Wilkins, recently confirmed as U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, did not say if more indictments would be forthcoming from the investigations. But he said he anticipated more presentations to the federal grand jury. He also said authorities would work to identify other possible federal cases.

*****

Just goes to show that those who are upholding the law are bound by it as well.

The trimming of the shrub

Washington, Jun 10 - Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio
In the United States House of Representatives
Monday, June 9th, 2008
A Resolution

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.

INDEX

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of H. J. Res114.

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor.

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes.

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources.

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries.

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq.

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors.

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives.

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy.

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture.

Article XX
Imprisoning Children.

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government.

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws.

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment.

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens.

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements.

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply.

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice.

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare.

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency.

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001.

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders.

____________


A listing of the 35 known high crimes and misdemeanors the shrub is guilty of in offense to the American people and their nation.

Six-Six-Six is coming!

Pssst. It's already here.

This post is post number 666.

See that wasn't so painful now was ... arrrghh!

Pardon the interruption the commentator has been replaced with a mindless drone.
Please continue as if nothing untoward has happened.
That is all.

L.

CNN has it wrong

Take a look at the map CNN has done as to how they see the run for the White House breaking down in each state and the electoral college votes they have.


Not very accurate at all though.

They have North Carolina leaning toward Mc Pain and that is not anywhere in the ballpark much less being close. North Carolina is solid Obama country. More than a few of the "Toss-Up" states and the other "Leaning toward Mc Pain" states are solid Obama country as well.

America is tired of the haters and deniers, and has sent the message in loud and clear terms to the haters and deniers, but they are incapable of hearing - understanding - heeding (take your pick), the message. The lunatic fringe will not be allowed to steal the laughter this time (to paraphrase Red Rider). The media, which is right leaning and more and more so daily, denies it and refuses to report it hoping we will forget it.

And before you howling screech monkeys begin screeching about that "liberal media" nonsense try and engage a brain - if you have one - corporations own the media outlets and corporations are notoriously right leaning - that's conservative, by the way - and that bias carries over to their 'news reporting'.

To Greece

Since this Blog is now read in all 195 countries on the Planet I thought I would try and pass along things in the languages of my readers.

To start off I go to the classic model of modern western society - Greece and say ...

Γειά σου σε όλους τους ελληνικούς αναγνώστες μου.

Blog philosophy (if there is one)

This little old Blog is starting to get noticed more and more.
Maybe, I have hit on something here?

For all those new readers here is a brief description of the 'philosophy' behind this Blog ...

Life - in its myriad forms - looked at askew and akimbo.
That's it ... presented with humor and severity from an old warhorse who has seen enough to know he hasn't seen a thing.

You may find profundities. You may find absurdities. You may find distractions. You may find directions. You may even find someone dancing the old soft shoe.

Thanks for stopping by and staying a spell. Enjoy.