Wade Fulmer, of Military Families Speak Out, talks to the media after yet another vigil in Columbia marking too many dead.
Whatcha reading?
As we have in the past, the Network will power down over the summer months. We won’t resume our monthly meeting schedule until September. Meanwhile, we have extra time to read and ruminate. Got me wondering what you have on your reading list. If you have a good book or magazine to recommend, let’s hear about it.
The magazines I subscribe to include Harper’s, The Nation, Ms. (although it is a shadow of its former glorious self) and Yoga Journal. For daily news, I get The State, read the BBC online and listen to NPR. And I sometimes listen to Rush, just to keep my hackles up.
So how ’bout you? Got anything to recommend?
Becci Robbins
Killing Spree Continues Down South
By this time tomorrow night, the state of South Carolina will have executed Calvin Shuler for the 1997 murder of James Brooks during an armed robbery. It will be the latest in a long string of revenge killings conducted in the name of justice. Sadly, most of these state-sponsored murders have been committed in the South. Rankings by state of the number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977 show that 10 out of the top 12 are in the South. Texas, the state that brought us the most blood-thirsty cowboy in US history, leads the pack.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the list looks like this:
TEXAS: 395
VIRGINIA: 98
OKLAHOMA: 84
MISSOURI: 66
FLORIDA: 64
NORTH CAROLINA: 43
GEORGIA: 39
SOUTH CAROLINA: 36
ALABAMA: 36
LOUISIANA: 27
ARKANSAS: 27
ARIZONA: 23
The numbers are even more frightening when measured against what’s happening in the rest of the world. Amnesty International reports:
* 129 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
* Last year, 91 percent of executions took place in China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the United States.
Looks like our Cowboy in Chief may have more in common with his enemies than he might think.
Union is a four-letter word in SC
Even in the face of tragedy so profound that the rest of the world has taken note, the deaths of nine firefighters in a Charleston blaze on Monday could not shake South Carolina media outlets from their phobia of the “union” word. God forbid they could stray from their Right-to Work scripts even when the story surely warranted a mention of the mobilization of International Association of Fire Fighters to support their brothers in South Carolina.
A search online for coverage of this major story reveals the clear bias against unions in this (red)neck of the woods. Newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Kansas, — even Manitoba and Australia, for cryin’ out loud — noted how the loss of these men has resonated in the brotherhood. Across the country, firefighters have been dispatched to Charleston to attend funerals and lend their support to their fallen comrades.
Anywhere else, such solidarity would be seen as a good thing, decent people standing by their own. Here? Not so much.
Network gets its blog on!
We’ve decided it’s time to take the plunge into the 21st Century and add our voice to the blogoshpere. Thanks to our Webmaster Steve Hait for gently easing us into this medium. We hope this will be a useful forum for us to stay in touch, share our stories and ideas, and to give hope to other progressives in South Carolina. We also hope to reach beyond our own membership to broaden our base and engage folks who have yet to get active in their communities and government.
Because we progressives live in a hostile climate here in the Palmetto State, this site will be moderately moderated. We invite your posts, but comments will be monitored to keep the ubiquitous and rabid right from infecting this site with their venom. This doesn’t mean that the loopiest of the left can expect a free pass, either. We’re interested in a thoughtful exchange rather than bombs lobbed in either direction. There is enough of that in this world.
Let the blogging begin!
Becci Robbins