Dear Supporters:
Election day was a
revelation to many people, mostly divided into two broad categories, those who
are excited and those who are disappointed.[i]
Leonard Peltier must be included in the latter.
As January 20th approaches and The List gets longer and doesn’t include
his name there was probably the lingering hope that if Hilary Clinton was
elected he may have had one more opportunity for clemency consideration. There
was a time, when then President Clinton was leaving office that Peltier was on
the short-list for release. It didn’t obviously happen but that’s a story for
another day. The Clinton’s were publicly criticized for not releasing Peltier
as they allegedly had promised. In any case, and as a reminder to remaining
Peltierites, Peltier’s ingratitude was obvious and predictable, and even if
President Obama may give any consideration to commuting his sentence we can
simply repeat Peltier’s public pronouncement, “These politicians are such
sleazebags that you just don’t know.” [ii]
The List
President Obama remains committed to commuting sentences of
those who received long prison sentences for relatively minor drug offenses. The reduction of sentences has been
consistent and has not included murderers. It doesn’t include unrepentant cop
killers.[iii]
Pearl Harbor
Since April 30, 2000 there have been only a few passing references
of a personal nature; they are included in the Editorial Essays, Pilgrimage to
Pine Ridge and Mission to Lewisburg.[iv] This was
done because the purpose of the NPPA was, and remains, to honor the memory and
sacrifice of two brave young FBI agents who were brutally murdered in the line
of duty, as well as fostering public knowledge dispelling the myth and folklore
surrounding their remorseless killer.
Peltier must also serve the remainder of his consecutive life sentences
(plus seven years for the armed escape from USP Lompoc).
Recently celebrating our 50th anniversary, my
wife and I went to Hawaii for two weeks, having a wonderful second honeymoon
and visiting four islands, and of course, Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona
memorial. It was a moving experience, especially for a patriotic American and
veteran to contemplate the historical significance, bravery and sacrifice on
that fateful day.
The memorial included a video of the events leading up to
and the attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. However, there was one comment
during the short film that gave pause and seemed inappropriate.[v]
The film ended with, “They will never be forgotten.”
Certainly, those brave servicemen who made the ultimate
sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Nor will Jack Coler and Ron Williams.
“In the Spirit…”
Ed Woods
[i] For those who demonstrated their disagreement with the
election results, that is their right. For those lawless and destructive
demonstrators, they deserve to be prosecuted. For those who burned the American
flag they do that under the very freedom democracy provides and protects even
if an unquestionably lowly act for
any citizen. They need to ask themselves a basic question and consider an
alternative: Why is it that no one is trying to escape from the United States? And, they are perfectly free to
consider living in some other country. Looking back, if you recall, for those
who said they would leave America if George Bush was elected, guess, what? They
are still here.
http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html (see, David Geffen)
[v] Although the narrator did
mention Japan’s invasion and war with China and imperialist expansion into Southeast
Asia, the U.S. oil embargo of Japan, and the decision to locate the Pacific
Fleet to Hawaii, the commentary was that these developments gave Japan no option but to go to war. Within the
context of the events leading up to the U.S. entry into WWII, I felt the “no
option” statement was inappropriate. America was in a defensive posture, felt
threatened while many countries tried to slow Japanese imperialist aggression.
Japan did have an option but chose war instead.
