ILWU Information List.
Hmm, does that mean that the information here “lists” to the port, or “lists” to the starboard? Moot question, since it (too often) degenerates into a personal opinion dialogue.
I will not take a position (here) on the merits of Mumia’s case. Those Trade Unionists who do so (here) only seem to be claiming exclusive jurisdiction on dead-horse-beating jobs.
I wish they would take the following multiple-choice quiz:
Question 1. The police and/or the courts.
a. have always been wise, fair and correct.
b. have never been wise, fair OR correct.
c. have sometimes been right and sometimes been wrong.
Question 2. In the future, the police and/or the courts.
a. will ALWAYS be wise, fair AND correct.
b. will NEVER be wise, fair OR correct.
c. will sometimes be right and sometimes been wrong because, (despite the lofty opinions some individuals have of themselves) policemen and judges are only human.
Question 3. The fact (or allegation) that police and courts, (acting thousands of miles away in unrelated cases) may have committed gross atrocities against any number of innocent people, perhaps including myself.
a. proves conclusively that Mumia was railroaded.
b. proves conclusively that Mumia is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.
c. proves NOTHING AT ALL REGARDING Mumia’s case, but is a great excuse for me to tell everyone about being arrested and beat up the time Alex and Moonbeam sold me the bad drugs during Spring break.
Question 4. The fact (or allegation) that innocent policemen at any time, in any part of the known world, have been senselessly killed in the line of duty.
a. proves that we should take this all out on Mumia - after all he is a member of a minority group!
b. proves that all convicted murderers should be released so that they can wreak havoc on the innocent population at large.
c. proves nothing at all regarding the case at hand, but does afford me the opportunity to post this useless information and to see if my new email program is working properly!
Question 5. Although the (well expounded) issues addressed in questions 1-4 above could have no conceivable bearing on the Mumia case, I continue to write to the ILWU Information List about inapplicable coincidences, unrelated facts (however tragic) and my own personal experiences.
a. because I don’t know any better.
b. because I mistakenly thought someone had asked about these things.
c. because I saw them on a channel 5 in-depth report.
d. because Alex and Moonbeam sold me some bad drugs again.
e. because people who can’t tell what is pertinent have rights too!
Question 6. The ILWU has assumed the position it has on this issue because...
a. the Union at large, and everyone in it, agrees with everything the courts or police have ever done.
b. it make us all look like communists... and I don’t like that!
c. we all think Mumia has a really kewl name.
d. we all think that the guy can really write well... and we’d all like to have him out of jail and working for THE DISPATCHER so we could read the truth some times, instead of the self-serving, bull shit that McWilliams puts in there.
e. our elected representatives, through our own democratic process, have determined that the circumstances surrounding Mumia’s particular arrest and trial pose enough of a question that his case should be seriously reconsidered.
Question 7. Rather than participate or encourage others to participate in the public forum designed for the purpose of addressing the Mumia issue, I have spoken against, and will continue to speak against, the man’s cause (and perhaps even against having such a forum) HERE, where it does no earthly good.
a. because I am against free speech and the right to public meetings and I certainly do not want anyone who knows the particulars of the issue answering anyone’s questions about them.
b. because I mistakenly thought that the matter was being put on a ballot and I wanted to influence the voting.
c. because, in my own small way, I would like to detract from this Union’s future ability to bring pressure to bear upon social issues.
d. because I don’t really appreciate the consequences of my actions until they are spelled out for me.
e. because I like to talk.
frats, ole
