Dear Supporters:
All the best for the holidays and a healthy and happy New Year.
Please see the latest Editorial Essay #55. Introduction follows:
http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critical
The purpose of this editorial essay is to provide a detailed summary of the critical witnesses against Peltier; those who placed him at the scene of the crime. (There will be no discussion concerning Peltier’s actual guilt, which has been extensively covered elsewhere and is beyond any doubt.) The witnesses are presented in the order of appearance at trial and the complete transcripts (approximately 493 pages) are available and linked as follows: Michael Anderson, Wilford Draper, Norman Brown and Angie Long Visitor.
Also included for reference are the government and defense summations and the government’s rebuttal.
During the course of Peltier’s five-week trial (Fargo, North Dakota, March-April 1977 before U.S. District Court Judge Paul Benson) there were many witnesses who provided sworn testimony regarding the investigation into the murders of Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams (Reservation Murders, or RESMURS) that occurred on the Jumping Bull property, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota on June 26, 1975.
The government’s evidence and testimony against Peltier covered a great many more details to support the elements of the charges against him, however, in this author’s opinion, the most critical evidence against Peltier was—in a manner of speaking—his own people, other Native Americans at Jumping Bull that day who helped provide the jury with a sense of the agents’ final moments.
Certainly, the government presented other significant evidence in addition to testimony from both sides that either supported or refuted statements made by the critical witnesses.
Peltier’s defense team had but one mission; to create within the jury’s mind that the government had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Peltier was afforded the presumption of innocence and the defense had to impeach those government witnesses who presented the most damaging testimony. Most of the critical witnesses were hostile (not totally cooperative to one side or the other, or sometimes both), and as noted below, some of the exchanges between the attorneys were contentious.
The jury was the trier of fact and it is not known what weight they ascribed to the testimony of each witness and whether the government or defense arguments to otherwise bolster or destroy the witnesses credibility was successful or not. But, in either instance, a few fundamental facts remained for the jurors to individually and collectively consider as they reached a unanimous decision concerning Peltier’s guilt.
However, in the end, the jury had to wade through a mire of often-conflicting testimony to determine the truth, as they perceived it. Sometimes those perceptions are indefinable, merely faint expressions or glimmers of truth or untruth, which they may not be able to articulate or explain but still provide a conscious recognition from each witness of the events of that day.
The jury’s decision, of course, along with the conduct and presentation of the government’s case and Peltier’s sentencing, led to numerous appeals so that every facet of the trial was ultimately analyzed in painstaking detail. The results of that voluminous and intense appellate review validated the jury’s finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury’s decision was final, but in the spirit of continuing debate it is now up to concerned readers to make their own judgment based on this review of the critical witnesses against Peltier.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
NPPA-Founder
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
PELTIER NEARS CLEMENCY...
Well, not quite. And before Leonard Peltier and the LPDOC get all giddy and start salivating over the President’s first pardons (December 3, 2010), let’s take a closer look at the list and compare them to Leonard’s crimes.
Of the nine, 77% had received probated sentences (in other words, no jail time) for crimes like illegal possession of government property, possession of cocaine, liquor violations, false statements, counterfeiting, and of all things, coin mutilation. Only two had received jail time (24 months for a military conviction) and a year-and-a-day for possession of cocaine and marijuana. Their average wait (spanning from as early as 1960 to 1999) was twenty-eight (28) years.
Within the backdrop of these pardons the President has received 3,389 new petitions and started 2010 with 4,716 pending petitions but denied 1,288 with another 842 being closed without any action taken (that’s about 2,000 if the LPDOC is keeping track).
What the list of recipients didn’t include was someone serving two life sentences (plus another seven consecutive years for an armed escape) who was convicted of murder and aiding and abetting in the brutal deaths of two federal agents, someone who has had more bites of the legal apple than possibly inmates on death row, twice reaching the U.S. Supreme court, and never having either his sentence or conviction overturned; someone who was the subject of sworn testimony (April, 2010) in federal court quoting him as saying one of the agents begged for his life but that he shot the---anyway, or in a public statement (February, 2010) announcing “And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again, because it was the right thing to do.” (Please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise for additional details.)
See the difference? These pardons, as they usually are, were granted to those who have served their sentences (as minor as some were), have reformed, and desired to have their debt to society removed and certain rights restored, like the right to vote, hold public office or own a firearm. Not a likely set of circumstances for Leonard Peltier.
On a scale of 1 to 1,000, where these nine pardons rate as a “1,” Peltier’s name wouldn’t appear on the list of those deserving even a cursory review for consideration.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
Of the nine, 77% had received probated sentences (in other words, no jail time) for crimes like illegal possession of government property, possession of cocaine, liquor violations, false statements, counterfeiting, and of all things, coin mutilation. Only two had received jail time (24 months for a military conviction) and a year-and-a-day for possession of cocaine and marijuana. Their average wait (spanning from as early as 1960 to 1999) was twenty-eight (28) years.
Within the backdrop of these pardons the President has received 3,389 new petitions and started 2010 with 4,716 pending petitions but denied 1,288 with another 842 being closed without any action taken (that’s about 2,000 if the LPDOC is keeping track).
What the list of recipients didn’t include was someone serving two life sentences (plus another seven consecutive years for an armed escape) who was convicted of murder and aiding and abetting in the brutal deaths of two federal agents, someone who has had more bites of the legal apple than possibly inmates on death row, twice reaching the U.S. Supreme court, and never having either his sentence or conviction overturned; someone who was the subject of sworn testimony (April, 2010) in federal court quoting him as saying one of the agents begged for his life but that he shot the---anyway, or in a public statement (February, 2010) announcing “And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again, because it was the right thing to do.” (Please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise for additional details.)
See the difference? These pardons, as they usually are, were granted to those who have served their sentences (as minor as some were), have reformed, and desired to have their debt to society removed and certain rights restored, like the right to vote, hold public office or own a firearm. Not a likely set of circumstances for Leonard Peltier.
On a scale of 1 to 1,000, where these nine pardons rate as a “1,” Peltier’s name wouldn’t appear on the list of those deserving even a cursory review for consideration.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
Saturday, November 6, 2010
LPDOC...Can't get the facts straight
Kudos to Delany Bruce in the LPDOC’s November 5, 2010 “Press Release” because she had the courage (unlike the rest at the LPDOC who hide behind a website), to put her name to the release. And yes, this is the same Delaney Bruce who just three years ago Peltier belittled and threatened, but she’s back.
(Please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#delaney)
There are several, but especially two glaring errors in her reporting on the Peltier front:
“Native Americans have eagerly awaited a sign that the U.S. has listened to their concerns about the Peltier case, but were disappointed to see no mention of it in the U.S. report.”
Native Americans? This is hardly close to accurate. Peltier and the LPDOC have looked around and can certainly recognize—even if they are loath to admit it—that the overwhelming population of Native Americans have seen Peltier and the disruption caused by AIM as a thing of the past and something that contributed nothing their cause. Peltier’s popularity and support is almost non-existent and those outside of the U.S. (who typically only use Peltier to further their hatred of America…{Elsie are you still out there?}) are meaningless and have absolutely no say in what happens here.
Is there any wonder there was no mention of Peltier in the report?
Delaney (and Peltier supporters) need to do one thing in regard to the following statement…for once, please, read the trial transcript and get the facts straight:
She said: “With no evidence whatsoever, the FBI decided to ‘lock Peltier into the case’. Government officials presented false statements to a Canadian court to extradite Peltier to the U.S. where prosecutors went judge shopping and venue hopping to secure a conviction. In a racially charged courtroom, prosecutors lied to the judge, ignored court orders, and made inappropriate statements to the jury. They intentionally hid evidence of Peltier’s innocence and instead manufactured a ‘murder weapon’. As the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has noted, ‘these facts are not disputed’.”
Peltier’s innocence? Remember, he wasn’t in Seattle that day.
(Please see: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise)
As for inappropriate statements to the Jury, please see the ones that defense attorneys Lowe and Taikeff made…some were outrageous. (There will be an NPPA editorial essay posted soon that will answer a number of these kinds of questions concerning the trial.)
Actually the correct quote was:
"Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed."
This comes from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003 when Peltier filed a motion for a Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking immediate release on parole and challenged the record before the U.S. Parole Commission. This decision, also denied, was far beyond Peltier’s criminal appellate process that had long since been resolved against him.
Please note some little details that Ms. Bruce, Peltier and the LPDOC seem to deliberately ignore…the reason they do this has to be obvious to even the most ardent supporter:
"Previous federal court decisions provided the (Parole) Commission with ample facts to support its conviction that Peltier personally shot Agent Coler and Williams." And further, "While Mr. Peltier, asserts 'the Commission identified no plausible evidence that [he] shot the agents after they were incapacitated, this statement is simply not true. The evidence linking Mr. Peltier to these crimes is enumerated above. The most damning evidence, the .223 shell casing found in Agent Coler's trunk, may be more equivocal after the surfacing of the October 2nd teletype, but it has not been 'ruled out,' as Mr. Peltier contends. There is no direct evidence that Mr. Peltier shot the agents because no one testified they saw him pull the trigger. But as we stated above, and restate here, the body of circumstantial evidence underlying the Commission's decision is sufficient for the purpose of rational basis review." (Emphasis added)
(See the entire decision here: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/tenth_circuit.html)
Lastly, everyone should have realized that Peltier’s latest claims of some legal revelations in his case had but one purpose; to lull the unsuspecting into thinking he has some legal remedies. He doesn’t. All the claims were either waived at trial or have been litigated and appealed to death. So the real purpose is to continue the scam…collect more money from the unwary…and Peltier, the LPDOC (and the former LPDC) have yet to come clean about their finances. Folks are being duped, but maybe they don’t really care.
(Please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud)
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
(Please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#delaney)
There are several, but especially two glaring errors in her reporting on the Peltier front:
“Native Americans have eagerly awaited a sign that the U.S. has listened to their concerns about the Peltier case, but were disappointed to see no mention of it in the U.S. report.”
Native Americans? This is hardly close to accurate. Peltier and the LPDOC have looked around and can certainly recognize—even if they are loath to admit it—that the overwhelming population of Native Americans have seen Peltier and the disruption caused by AIM as a thing of the past and something that contributed nothing their cause. Peltier’s popularity and support is almost non-existent and those outside of the U.S. (who typically only use Peltier to further their hatred of America…{Elsie are you still out there?}) are meaningless and have absolutely no say in what happens here.
Is there any wonder there was no mention of Peltier in the report?
Delaney (and Peltier supporters) need to do one thing in regard to the following statement…for once, please, read the trial transcript and get the facts straight:
She said: “With no evidence whatsoever, the FBI decided to ‘lock Peltier into the case’. Government officials presented false statements to a Canadian court to extradite Peltier to the U.S. where prosecutors went judge shopping and venue hopping to secure a conviction. In a racially charged courtroom, prosecutors lied to the judge, ignored court orders, and made inappropriate statements to the jury. They intentionally hid evidence of Peltier’s innocence and instead manufactured a ‘murder weapon’. As the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has noted, ‘these facts are not disputed’.”
Peltier’s innocence? Remember, he wasn’t in Seattle that day.
(Please see: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise)
As for inappropriate statements to the Jury, please see the ones that defense attorneys Lowe and Taikeff made…some were outrageous. (There will be an NPPA editorial essay posted soon that will answer a number of these kinds of questions concerning the trial.)
Actually the correct quote was:
"Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed."
This comes from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003 when Peltier filed a motion for a Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking immediate release on parole and challenged the record before the U.S. Parole Commission. This decision, also denied, was far beyond Peltier’s criminal appellate process that had long since been resolved against him.
Please note some little details that Ms. Bruce, Peltier and the LPDOC seem to deliberately ignore…the reason they do this has to be obvious to even the most ardent supporter:
"Previous federal court decisions provided the (Parole) Commission with ample facts to support its conviction that Peltier personally shot Agent Coler and Williams." And further, "While Mr. Peltier, asserts 'the Commission identified no plausible evidence that [he] shot the agents after they were incapacitated, this statement is simply not true. The evidence linking Mr. Peltier to these crimes is enumerated above. The most damning evidence, the .223 shell casing found in Agent Coler's trunk, may be more equivocal after the surfacing of the October 2nd teletype, but it has not been 'ruled out,' as Mr. Peltier contends. There is no direct evidence that Mr. Peltier shot the agents because no one testified they saw him pull the trigger. But as we stated above, and restate here, the body of circumstantial evidence underlying the Commission's decision is sufficient for the purpose of rational basis review." (Emphasis added)
(See the entire decision here: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/tenth_circuit.html)
Lastly, everyone should have realized that Peltier’s latest claims of some legal revelations in his case had but one purpose; to lull the unsuspecting into thinking he has some legal remedies. He doesn’t. All the claims were either waived at trial or have been litigated and appealed to death. So the real purpose is to continue the scam…collect more money from the unwary…and Peltier, the LPDOC (and the former LPDC) have yet to come clean about their finances. Folks are being duped, but maybe they don’t really care.
(Please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud)
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
Saturday, October 23, 2010
"I was railroaded, victimized," "I'm innocent"
In Leonard’s September 6th statement it’s almost as if he’s calling his loyal supporters idiots. He must think that because even the most ardent follower…those who won’t be sidetracked or confused by the facts…can’t read. However, if they read just 10% of the legal history of this case they’d start asking Peltier some serious questions. But that’s not likely to happen and just how Peltier wants it…follow me he says, I was railroaded, I’m innocent, I was victimized. Drinking the full-dose Cool Aid, laced with all the mythology and folklore, is exactly what he wants his supporters to do…but don’t ask too many questions…and definitely don’t seek those pesky details. Just follow Peltier blindly into the forest.
“Staggering Constitutional violations?” (Peltier’s October 16, 2010 meeting with his “team of lawyers,” his “dream team” must have been quite a gathering.) Hardly. If there was one, let alone many, he still wouldn’t be sitting in Lewisburg. To think that at this stage there would be a legitimate basis for any procedural legal action is inane. But then that goes along with the grand Peltier plot that the entire government and the judiciary, right up to the U.S. Supreme court conspired, as he put’s it, to convict the last Indian standing for the brutal deaths of two FBI agents. Gee then, it must have been Mr. X.
And everyone knows Leonard lied about that little matter. (http://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html)
“But I was in Seattle that day.”
No, Leonard didn’t really say that, but for argument sake (again…) let’s repeat the twenty-seven (27) most important words—one single sentence—from the thousands of pages relating to this case: “I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.” (ITOSH p.552; See also July 12, 2010 blog for a further explanation and http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#finished)
If those twenty-seven words were changed to: “I thought those agents were after me. I panicked and started shooting and other’s helped. But I had to kill them because dead men make poor witnesses,” their meaning and significance would not be any different.
“As a young man, all I wanted to do was make a positive difference in People’s lives.” He made a difference for sure, but Leonard came very late (about two years earlier) to the “movement” and any pretense of support for his “people.” Prior to that he was just getting by, and “When I was younger,” Leonard says, “I thought it was a lot of fun running around like that, shaking off all those wives. Now I’m older, I realize I hurt a lot of those women, and I feel very bad about it, I really do. I think about them all the time now, especially the ones that had my kids.” (ITSOCH p.533) Then he turned to murder and hijacked an otherwise proud native tradition.
If Leonard believes all this rhetoric…and he does…and because he’s no fool and is milking the only thing that has kept any light shinning on him (although the bright light has faded to a dim bulb) he needs to stand up and become the warrior he’s claimed to be…to use a colloquialism, he needs to find a backbone.
Stand up and show your remaining supporters where the money has gone (post yours and the LPDOC/LPDC’s tax returns), and if you’re not terrified about showing the whole story, link to the No Parole Peltier Association (NPPA) website.
If you won’t do that, then you remain the same coward you and the others were at Jumping Bull.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
“Staggering Constitutional violations?” (Peltier’s October 16, 2010 meeting with his “team of lawyers,” his “dream team” must have been quite a gathering.) Hardly. If there was one, let alone many, he still wouldn’t be sitting in Lewisburg. To think that at this stage there would be a legitimate basis for any procedural legal action is inane. But then that goes along with the grand Peltier plot that the entire government and the judiciary, right up to the U.S. Supreme court conspired, as he put’s it, to convict the last Indian standing for the brutal deaths of two FBI agents. Gee then, it must have been Mr. X.
And everyone knows Leonard lied about that little matter. (http://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html)
“But I was in Seattle that day.”
No, Leonard didn’t really say that, but for argument sake (again…) let’s repeat the twenty-seven (27) most important words—one single sentence—from the thousands of pages relating to this case: “I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.” (ITOSH p.552; See also July 12, 2010 blog for a further explanation and http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#finished)
If those twenty-seven words were changed to: “I thought those agents were after me. I panicked and started shooting and other’s helped. But I had to kill them because dead men make poor witnesses,” their meaning and significance would not be any different.
“As a young man, all I wanted to do was make a positive difference in People’s lives.” He made a difference for sure, but Leonard came very late (about two years earlier) to the “movement” and any pretense of support for his “people.” Prior to that he was just getting by, and “When I was younger,” Leonard says, “I thought it was a lot of fun running around like that, shaking off all those wives. Now I’m older, I realize I hurt a lot of those women, and I feel very bad about it, I really do. I think about them all the time now, especially the ones that had my kids.” (ITSOCH p.533) Then he turned to murder and hijacked an otherwise proud native tradition.
If Leonard believes all this rhetoric…and he does…and because he’s no fool and is milking the only thing that has kept any light shinning on him (although the bright light has faded to a dim bulb) he needs to stand up and become the warrior he’s claimed to be…to use a colloquialism, he needs to find a backbone.
Stand up and show your remaining supporters where the money has gone (post yours and the LPDOC/LPDC’s tax returns), and if you’re not terrified about showing the whole story, link to the No Parole Peltier Association (NPPA) website.
If you won’t do that, then you remain the same coward you and the others were at Jumping Bull.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A "Dog-Dare" for Leonard Peltier: Where's the link?
A “dog dare” for Leonard Peltier
For the moment, to add just a slight measure of humor to an otherwise deadly serious situation, and to borrow an old Navy expression, this will be another shot across the bow for Leonard and the ever-changing stalwarts of the LPDOC. (Can we remember the LPDC and it’s multiple reincarnations and self-destruction? Sure, see Editorial Essays #18, #19, #20, #31, #34, #38, and #41. #41 relates to Peltier’s criticism of Delaney Bruce to “Cease and Desist,” yet, she is back again…)
Trying not to sound like a broken record (but that’s redundant in the Peltier argument because all they do is repeat the same false information…but that’s another story), this challenge has been launched to Peltier and his inner circle in the past, and ignored, but this time it’s very serious and directed not just at the LPDOC but any of the remaining Peltier supporters out in the field.
You’ve all heard and seen it before:
Since its inception on April 30, 2000 (that’s ten years and six months ago if anyone’s counting), there has been a link on the No Parole Peltier Association home page to Peltier’s website.
The message, repeated here for clarity, reads:
*For the concerned reader and researcher, the LPDOC can be found at www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. The FBI’s review of the case can be found at http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/history_peltier.htm. (It’s noted that Darelle (Dino) Butler has not been listed as a director/advisor of the LPDC or LPDOC).
The (*) asterisk was from the very first sentence on the home page directing readers to the link to the then LPDC, and now the LPDOC.
The link has been updated a number of times as it changed over the years, which shouldn’t be too surprising. The NPPA link, however, has remained, along with its message, consistent.
So there it is, from the very beginning asking anyone interested in the Peltier matter to go and see what Peltier and his network had to say and for them to come to their own informed decision about which side was presenting the accurate and factual history.
On this side of the fence there’s nothing to hide; matter of fact, from the inception of the NPPA all the relevant and critical court decisions were posted so people could read what happened for themselves, to review the real legal history of this case and not the out-of-context excerpts spun by Leonard and others.
So now we need to ask Leonard one very simple and straight forward question.
Let’s also ask Vivian Mendoza, Pamela Bravo, Jean Ann Day, Betty Ann Solano, Delaney Bruce, Peter and Barbara Clarke, John Gallagher, Arthur Miller, Lakoda and Kassandra Robideau (Regional organizers of the “International-Pacific Region which includes Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands [including Hawaii]) (Really, that’s quite impressive!), and all the TBA’s (the yet to be named, To Be Announced, phantom organizers):
What do you have to hide?
If, as you claim, Peltier is innocent, was railroaded because somebody had to pay for killing those two agents and there was a political agenda to dismantle the American Indian Movement, etc., etc., etc., then why hide half the story?
To make the point crystal clear let’s borrow a scene from the iconic modern American film classic, A Christmas Story, set in circa 1940 Cleveland, Ohio where there’s a schoolyard standoff between Schwartz, who’s daring Flick to stick his tongue to a metal pole on a cold winter’s day, while the other kids watch.
Lenny: Are you kidding, put a link on my website to the NPPA? That’s dumb!
Eddie: That’s cause you know you’ll lose whatever supporters you have left.
Lenny: You’re full of it!
Eddie: Oh yeah?
Lenny: Yeah!
Eddie: Well I double-DOG-dare ya!
(Narrator: “NOW it was serious. A double-dog dare. What else was there but a “triple dare you”? And then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.”)
Eddie: I TRIPLE–dog-dare ya!
(Narrator: “Eddie created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!”)
Well, Leonard, there it is, just as plain and simple as can be. If, and that’s a mighty big “IF” you want to salvage your dwindling support, then show some backbone and don’t be afraid to link to the NPPA. Really, what do you have to lose? If your message is the right one then you’re way ahead and will gain more supporters, otherwise you’re still the same coward you were at Jumping Bull.
So, I triple-dog-dare-you.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Eddie
For the moment, to add just a slight measure of humor to an otherwise deadly serious situation, and to borrow an old Navy expression, this will be another shot across the bow for Leonard and the ever-changing stalwarts of the LPDOC. (Can we remember the LPDC and it’s multiple reincarnations and self-destruction? Sure, see Editorial Essays #18, #19, #20, #31, #34, #38, and #41. #41 relates to Peltier’s criticism of Delaney Bruce to “Cease and Desist,” yet, she is back again…)
Trying not to sound like a broken record (but that’s redundant in the Peltier argument because all they do is repeat the same false information…but that’s another story), this challenge has been launched to Peltier and his inner circle in the past, and ignored, but this time it’s very serious and directed not just at the LPDOC but any of the remaining Peltier supporters out in the field.
You’ve all heard and seen it before:
Since its inception on April 30, 2000 (that’s ten years and six months ago if anyone’s counting), there has been a link on the No Parole Peltier Association home page to Peltier’s website.
The message, repeated here for clarity, reads:
*For the concerned reader and researcher, the LPDOC can be found at www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. The FBI’s review of the case can be found at http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/history_peltier.htm. (It’s noted that Darelle (Dino) Butler has not been listed as a director/advisor of the LPDC or LPDOC).
The (*) asterisk was from the very first sentence on the home page directing readers to the link to the then LPDC, and now the LPDOC.
The link has been updated a number of times as it changed over the years, which shouldn’t be too surprising. The NPPA link, however, has remained, along with its message, consistent.
So there it is, from the very beginning asking anyone interested in the Peltier matter to go and see what Peltier and his network had to say and for them to come to their own informed decision about which side was presenting the accurate and factual history.
On this side of the fence there’s nothing to hide; matter of fact, from the inception of the NPPA all the relevant and critical court decisions were posted so people could read what happened for themselves, to review the real legal history of this case and not the out-of-context excerpts spun by Leonard and others.
So now we need to ask Leonard one very simple and straight forward question.
Let’s also ask Vivian Mendoza, Pamela Bravo, Jean Ann Day, Betty Ann Solano, Delaney Bruce, Peter and Barbara Clarke, John Gallagher, Arthur Miller, Lakoda and Kassandra Robideau (Regional organizers of the “International-Pacific Region which includes Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands [including Hawaii]) (Really, that’s quite impressive!), and all the TBA’s (the yet to be named, To Be Announced, phantom organizers):
What do you have to hide?
If, as you claim, Peltier is innocent, was railroaded because somebody had to pay for killing those two agents and there was a political agenda to dismantle the American Indian Movement, etc., etc., etc., then why hide half the story?
To make the point crystal clear let’s borrow a scene from the iconic modern American film classic, A Christmas Story, set in circa 1940 Cleveland, Ohio where there’s a schoolyard standoff between Schwartz, who’s daring Flick to stick his tongue to a metal pole on a cold winter’s day, while the other kids watch.
Lenny: Are you kidding, put a link on my website to the NPPA? That’s dumb!
Eddie: That’s cause you know you’ll lose whatever supporters you have left.
Lenny: You’re full of it!
Eddie: Oh yeah?
Lenny: Yeah!
Eddie: Well I double-DOG-dare ya!
(Narrator: “NOW it was serious. A double-dog dare. What else was there but a “triple dare you”? And then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.”)
Eddie: I TRIPLE–dog-dare ya!
(Narrator: “Eddie created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!”)
Well, Leonard, there it is, just as plain and simple as can be. If, and that’s a mighty big “IF” you want to salvage your dwindling support, then show some backbone and don’t be afraid to link to the NPPA. Really, what do you have to lose? If your message is the right one then you’re way ahead and will gain more supporters, otherwise you’re still the same coward you were at Jumping Bull.
So, I triple-dog-dare-you.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Eddie
Sunday, September 12, 2010
PELTIER SCORES...
65% on Vanity Self-Test…
Dear Supporters:
Peltier’s home page recently changed to an adulterated upside down American flag.
United States Code (4 U.S.C. § 8) states that a U.S. flag flown upside down is a sign of distress, and arguably Peltier is clearly in distress.
The U.S. Supreme Court (Texas v. Johnson) agrees that Peltier has the right to abuse the flag based on his First Amendment right to free speech. And no less ironic (as with other Peltier endeavors), he demeans the flag of the country he despises and ridicules yet at the same time wraps himself within the very protection it provides. As always, he wants it both ways.
(Please see Peltier’s flag at www.whoisleonardpeltier.info: We’re not afraid to link to Peltier’s website…more on that important point in a later blog.)
The new logo is framed with the words “The Bill of Rights…Just another broken treaty?”
That Peltier poses this as a question leads some to believe he’s not convinced…given, of course, his dozens of ventures into the courts, numerous appeals, etc. He’s had his right to due process, did not prevail, and his adulterated flag demonstrates that his First Amendment right to free speech is also very much intact.
There’s also that younger and defiant Peltier shown like in one of his self-portraits with an eagle flying out of his head. Or perhaps its just nesting…it’s hard to tell. Still, with all this symbolism, clutter and mixed metaphors of anti-America and Native America he can’t get the picture or message quite right.
(However, that wasn’t the face I saw at Lewisburg in July 2009; not by a long shot—no pun intended. He wouldn’t have the courage to use a picture of himself today. Face it Leonard, we’re all getting older…deal with it! 9/12/44)
Emblazoned on the red stripes (thankfully he did get the number of red and white stripes correct), are twenty-three—for lack of a better word, phrases or anecdotes representing Peltier’s self-description to his supporters. These are the questions about himself that Peltier is offering to anyone left out there who’ll listen. He is saying to the world; this is what I’m all about; this is who I am; this is Leonard Peltier.
Offering these is like a self-test of his own worth, an assessment of his own narcissism.
And to no one’s amazement, he failed.
The questions he answered correctly were: Native American, Indian (redundant and not politically correct…depending on the context), Anishinabe, Dakota, son, father, uncle, grandfather, brother, elder, prisoner, man and “wind chases the sun.” (Adopted from the probably never-to-be-released basement production of the same name by novice filmmaker, Preston Randolph, who has already demonstrated that he doesn’t want to be encumbered with the facts but is content to help perpetuate the myth. Prediction: Wind Chases will not even mention Mr. X and the infamous red pickup truck; which will in no way alter Peltier’s second biggest lie. Please see: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html)
And, we’ll give Peltier two more; poet and artist. But those are subjective…in the eye of the beholder as it were…and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Although, one person’s art is another’s garage sale item.
Wrong answers:
Warrior: If viewed from the broader historical perspective as native warriors led by legitimate chiefs overwhelming Custer at the battle of the Greasy Grass, then Agents Coler and Williams were first surrounded and overwhelmed by a larger force, in this instance, Peltier, Robideau and Butler and a number of AIM teenagers (a teenager with a rifle can kill you just as quickly and easily as an adult). But the problem with this theory is that Peltier describes himself as a “political prisoner,” and, Coler and Williams were both first severely wounded and then shot in the face at point-blank range. That act alone makes Peltier not a warrior, but an assassin.
Victim & Scapegoat: Only in his own mind. A central element of the Peltier folklore has been that someone had to pay for killing the two agents and it may as well have been Peltier. That is so far beyond the facts of this case that it doesn’t register on the reality scale. For a complete review of Peltier’s actual and factual guilt, please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise
Icon: In all likelihood Peltier uses the definition of an icon that refers to—an object of uncritical devotion, and certainly there are those who look at Peltier that way. That number, however, is small, fragmented and marginalized while the overwhelming opinion of those who even care to think about Peltier see him as no more than an embarrassing cliché.
Hero: A hero? To whom ? AIM? Any serious analysis of how little the American Indian Movement contributed to the benefit of those they were allegedly helping would prove that there were no heroes in that group. Although the use and definition of the word hero has expanded in recent years, Peltier would fit none of them. If he’s a hero to the fringe myth worshipers, then so be it.
Teacher: If failure was the lesson, then Peltier was a teacher. Really, what did he accomplish other than setting the example that unbridled violence diminishes your cause and in this case led to a life behind bars?
Leader: More like the incompetent leading the uninformed, or worse yet, like leading Joe Stuntz to his death. To repeat perhaps the single most important quote of the entire Peltier saga—in or out of court; “I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk (Coler’s FBI jacket) and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.” (ITSOCH p. 552: Please also see the blog entry below dated July 12, 2010). How obscene a scene was this; smiling with two mutilated dead bodies at their feet? Peltier cowered and ran as fast as he could for the hills, while Stuntz and others (at Peltier’s direction), shot at responding officers and agents. Leadership was hardly present that day because all Peltier did was place everyone in jeopardy. An inappropriate and criminal over-reaction to the presence of the agents at Jumping Bull put everyone’s lives at risk because Peltier believed the agents were after him. Great leadership…if you think the law is coming after you, shoot them.
Spirit: In every culture and religion there are good and bad spirits: draw your own conclusion about where Peltier stands…One day he will meet the Great Spirit and his eternal fate will then be sealed.
The Peltier myth is collapsing under the weight of its lies and the folklore is eroding to the point where Peltier will be no more than a footnote in Native American history.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
(Next parole reconsideration hearing, 2024)
Dear Supporters:
Peltier’s home page recently changed to an adulterated upside down American flag.
United States Code (4 U.S.C. § 8) states that a U.S. flag flown upside down is a sign of distress, and arguably Peltier is clearly in distress.
The U.S. Supreme Court (Texas v. Johnson) agrees that Peltier has the right to abuse the flag based on his First Amendment right to free speech. And no less ironic (as with other Peltier endeavors), he demeans the flag of the country he despises and ridicules yet at the same time wraps himself within the very protection it provides. As always, he wants it both ways.
(Please see Peltier’s flag at www.whoisleonardpeltier.info: We’re not afraid to link to Peltier’s website…more on that important point in a later blog.)
The new logo is framed with the words “The Bill of Rights…Just another broken treaty?”
That Peltier poses this as a question leads some to believe he’s not convinced…given, of course, his dozens of ventures into the courts, numerous appeals, etc. He’s had his right to due process, did not prevail, and his adulterated flag demonstrates that his First Amendment right to free speech is also very much intact.
There’s also that younger and defiant Peltier shown like in one of his self-portraits with an eagle flying out of his head. Or perhaps its just nesting…it’s hard to tell. Still, with all this symbolism, clutter and mixed metaphors of anti-America and Native America he can’t get the picture or message quite right.
(However, that wasn’t the face I saw at Lewisburg in July 2009; not by a long shot—no pun intended. He wouldn’t have the courage to use a picture of himself today. Face it Leonard, we’re all getting older…deal with it! 9/12/44)
Emblazoned on the red stripes (thankfully he did get the number of red and white stripes correct), are twenty-three—for lack of a better word, phrases or anecdotes representing Peltier’s self-description to his supporters. These are the questions about himself that Peltier is offering to anyone left out there who’ll listen. He is saying to the world; this is what I’m all about; this is who I am; this is Leonard Peltier.
Offering these is like a self-test of his own worth, an assessment of his own narcissism.
And to no one’s amazement, he failed.
The questions he answered correctly were: Native American, Indian (redundant and not politically correct…depending on the context), Anishinabe, Dakota, son, father, uncle, grandfather, brother, elder, prisoner, man and “wind chases the sun.” (Adopted from the probably never-to-be-released basement production of the same name by novice filmmaker, Preston Randolph, who has already demonstrated that he doesn’t want to be encumbered with the facts but is content to help perpetuate the myth. Prediction: Wind Chases will not even mention Mr. X and the infamous red pickup truck; which will in no way alter Peltier’s second biggest lie. Please see: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html)
And, we’ll give Peltier two more; poet and artist. But those are subjective…in the eye of the beholder as it were…and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Although, one person’s art is another’s garage sale item.
Wrong answers:
Warrior: If viewed from the broader historical perspective as native warriors led by legitimate chiefs overwhelming Custer at the battle of the Greasy Grass, then Agents Coler and Williams were first surrounded and overwhelmed by a larger force, in this instance, Peltier, Robideau and Butler and a number of AIM teenagers (a teenager with a rifle can kill you just as quickly and easily as an adult). But the problem with this theory is that Peltier describes himself as a “political prisoner,” and, Coler and Williams were both first severely wounded and then shot in the face at point-blank range. That act alone makes Peltier not a warrior, but an assassin.
Victim & Scapegoat: Only in his own mind. A central element of the Peltier folklore has been that someone had to pay for killing the two agents and it may as well have been Peltier. That is so far beyond the facts of this case that it doesn’t register on the reality scale. For a complete review of Peltier’s actual and factual guilt, please see http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise
Icon: In all likelihood Peltier uses the definition of an icon that refers to—an object of uncritical devotion, and certainly there are those who look at Peltier that way. That number, however, is small, fragmented and marginalized while the overwhelming opinion of those who even care to think about Peltier see him as no more than an embarrassing cliché.
Hero: A hero? To whom ? AIM? Any serious analysis of how little the American Indian Movement contributed to the benefit of those they were allegedly helping would prove that there were no heroes in that group. Although the use and definition of the word hero has expanded in recent years, Peltier would fit none of them. If he’s a hero to the fringe myth worshipers, then so be it.
Teacher: If failure was the lesson, then Peltier was a teacher. Really, what did he accomplish other than setting the example that unbridled violence diminishes your cause and in this case led to a life behind bars?
Leader: More like the incompetent leading the uninformed, or worse yet, like leading Joe Stuntz to his death. To repeat perhaps the single most important quote of the entire Peltier saga—in or out of court; “I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk (Coler’s FBI jacket) and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.” (ITSOCH p. 552: Please also see the blog entry below dated July 12, 2010). How obscene a scene was this; smiling with two mutilated dead bodies at their feet? Peltier cowered and ran as fast as he could for the hills, while Stuntz and others (at Peltier’s direction), shot at responding officers and agents. Leadership was hardly present that day because all Peltier did was place everyone in jeopardy. An inappropriate and criminal over-reaction to the presence of the agents at Jumping Bull put everyone’s lives at risk because Peltier believed the agents were after him. Great leadership…if you think the law is coming after you, shoot them.
Spirit: In every culture and religion there are good and bad spirits: draw your own conclusion about where Peltier stands…One day he will meet the Great Spirit and his eternal fate will then be sealed.
The Peltier myth is collapsing under the weight of its lies and the folklore is eroding to the point where Peltier will be no more than a footnote in Native American history.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
(Next parole reconsideration hearing, 2024)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Buddy can you spare a dime?
Dear Supporters:
The LPDOC is asking to give Peltier a helping hand for his upcoming 66th birthday by sending “funds” (no cash, checks or contraband please, just money orders) to his commissary account, c/o Federal Bureau of Prisons, Leonard Peltier #89637-132, P.O. Box 474701, Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001.
This raises two issues Peltier supporters should be wary of, and a challenge.
1) When will Peltier and the LPDOC come clean (as was promised years ago; remember there was supposed to be “transparency” concerning Peltier’s finances?),1 and tell his supporters how much money he has already scammed from unwitting supporters and how and where it was spent? The NPPA has been down this road with Peltier many times. Please see Editorial Essay #24, Peltier Donations: Scam, Fraud?2 Peltier supporters should not be shy about asking the same questions.
(By the way, any donations made are NOT tax deductible. Contrary to any opinions out there, Peltier is NOT a charity case.)3
2) It’s apparent that the money trough, along with Peltier’s support network, is dwindling and in very short supply if he has to revert to begging for commissary money. But that comes as no surprise.
Challenge: No, make it a double-dog dare (more on that in a later blog):
The NPPA will make a $500 donation to the LPDOC if:
They post on whoisleonardpeltier.info, Peltier’s last five years (2005-2009) of federal and state tax returns, and;
Federal and state tax returns for the LPDC (2005-2008) and the LPDOC (2009).
The check is waiting.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
1) Editorial Essay #19: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#free
2) Editorial Essay: Peltier Donations: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud
3) Editorial Essay #18: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#shambles
The LPDOC is asking to give Peltier a helping hand for his upcoming 66th birthday by sending “funds” (no cash, checks or contraband please, just money orders) to his commissary account, c/o Federal Bureau of Prisons, Leonard Peltier #89637-132, P.O. Box 474701, Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001.
This raises two issues Peltier supporters should be wary of, and a challenge.
1) When will Peltier and the LPDOC come clean (as was promised years ago; remember there was supposed to be “transparency” concerning Peltier’s finances?),1 and tell his supporters how much money he has already scammed from unwitting supporters and how and where it was spent? The NPPA has been down this road with Peltier many times. Please see Editorial Essay #24, Peltier Donations: Scam, Fraud?2 Peltier supporters should not be shy about asking the same questions.
(By the way, any donations made are NOT tax deductible. Contrary to any opinions out there, Peltier is NOT a charity case.)3
2) It’s apparent that the money trough, along with Peltier’s support network, is dwindling and in very short supply if he has to revert to begging for commissary money. But that comes as no surprise.
Challenge: No, make it a double-dog dare (more on that in a later blog):
The NPPA will make a $500 donation to the LPDOC if:
They post on whoisleonardpeltier.info, Peltier’s last five years (2005-2009) of federal and state tax returns, and;
Federal and state tax returns for the LPDC (2005-2008) and the LPDOC (2009).
The check is waiting.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
1) Editorial Essay #19: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#free
2) Editorial Essay: Peltier Donations: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud
3) Editorial Essay #18: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#shambles
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