Giving Cheney the Boot - Will It Work?

Cheney should start feeling a pinch right about now. In November, the House of Representatives voted to send a resolution of impeachment of him to the Judiciary Committee.

Yup, you heard right.

Among the allegations, flung at him are: abuse of power, deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens. Yeah, I'd say those are serious crimes.

Can we throw in Enron for good measure?

But I ask: why try to impeach Dick Cheney now? Does it matter anymore?

I say yes. As long as this impeachment hearings don't disrupt regular business, then let's do it!We spent weeks 'impeaching' Clinton and all he did was an offense impeachable by his wife. (Well, okay, he did commit perjury). In any case, let's face the facts, this president and vice-president have made a mess of this country.

I swear, someone needs to make a movie or write a book about these guys - the tale of occurrences during the Bush administration. Then people will really see how much autonomy we afforded this man. It's simultaneously comical and disturbing.

Michael Moore, where are you?!!!!

For years to come, historians and scholars will attempt to dissect and analyze the crap Bush and his imps created, but to no avail. No amount of research and explanation can ever legitimize the debacle he calls his presidency.

Click on http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/12845272.html for the full article in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Genarlow Wilson v. State of Hypocrisy

I'm going to go out on a real narrow limb and assume that Casey Aldridge, Britney Spears' could-be-brother-in-law, will not be charged with statutory rape nor will he see the inside of a jail cell. And why should he? In this shallow, celebrity-obsessed society in which we live, Aldridge - the fresh-faced, blue-eyed and blond-haired father of Jamie Lynn Spears' budding seed - is the archetype of American pop culture. Not at all does he match the "typical" description that would befall a deviant sexual criminal.

Now, Genarlow Wilson, he does. I mean, let's think about this critically.

Wilson, 21, was convicted of having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2005. He was 17. Georgia's stringent (and ridiculously archaic) laws make that act a felony.

He was sentenced to a decade for the "crime."

He's since been released after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled 4-3, calling his sentence "cruel and unusual punishment." And state legislators have changed the law to make consensual sex between minors a misdemeanor, rather than a felony. Big whoop!

Take the case of Casey and Jamie - who also happens to be the younger sis of pop-tart Britney Spears - and let's compare.

Wilson was 17 at the time of his arrest, Aldridge is 18. Wilson's unidentified sex partner was 15; Spears is 16. While Aldridge, a legal adult, and Spears, who is still a minor, are basking in the news of their bundle of joy, unconcerned with potential criminal incriminations, Wilson was left to rot in jail for two years for something he did while he too was a minor! Does that sound fair?

The fact of the matter is the Georgia criminal justice system had no qualms locking up a brown-skinned young man. His family isn't rich. He doesn't have a famous older sibling. And he doesn't star in his own Nickelodeon sitcom. All he had, however, was sex with a white girl and that was reason enough to throw away the key.

I may swallow my words later, but I fervently believe that Jamie Lynn Spears will carry to full term without seeing her baby-daddy carted off to the pen.

Lucky for them, they don't live in Georgia.

Predatory Police?

The 43 newest graduates of a police academy in Idaho may have more in mind than protecting their citizens. Each graduating class of the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy creates a slogan that will appear in their ceremonial programs.

Their choice? "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it."

The PTSD to which they were referring is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a disease suffered by thousands of former combatants, who experience flashbacks and nightmares from horrific war experienes. Civilians, who have been victims of crime or have experienced a traumatic event, also suffer from it.

These "boys in blue" are supposed to protect and serve. A lesson they may have missed during their law-enforcement training. Thousands of people and their families are affected by this crippling disease. PTSD is not something you just "go out" and make happen. It's not that simple. It's a disease that mentally and emotionally imprisons its victims. Why would they want to be incitors of such a disease?

This is bothersome.

There are, in fact, cops out there who act above the law instead of upholding it. Their gross abuse of power does in fact cause discomfort to those that are incapable of protecting themselves from their supposed protectors. And we can't ignore the disturbing trend of police brutality - does the name Rodney King ring a bell? It's not being taken seriously enough. No widespread investigations, no sensivity trainings, nothing.

According to the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy website, their mission "is to provide the citizens of Idaho with ethical, physically and psychologically competent, well educated, professionally trained, career oriented, motivated peace officers who are sensitive to the needs of the public.

So why were 43 potential bullies unleashed onto Idaho's streets?

If these so-called "cops" want to "go out and cause" PTSD, I wonder by what means? The latest graduating class of this police academy should have gotten more than just a tongue lashing (if they even got that). From now on, the Idaho Police Academy, and other police academies, for that matter, should monitor and approve the slogans, or other ideas of their graduates, before they further embarrass law-enforcement.

What is to Come

A considerable amount of time has passed since my last (and well, first) posting. But I have returned to the City of Brotherly Love and will be chock-full with juicy details. Stay tuned!

DTales

This Is Going To Be Interesting

My first posting. Welcome!

For the next however many days, weeks, months or years (says the commitment-phobe), I will be the host of this promising blog....Juicy DTales.

For starters, I want to assure you that I will not use this forum as my soapbox - no emotional rants; I will refrain from using explicit language and will uphold the standard form of AP and MLA writing style; and most importantly, I will only deal with 'truths' (wholistically and not partially).

I want to touch upon these topics: Entertainment, Haitian and Afrocentric Culture and Personal Life (not in any particular order).

To reiterate, Juicy DTales will not be the line onto which to hang my dirty laundry. I am first and foremost a journalist, therefore my word is held at a higher regard than ______. (You fill in the blank).

I hope that this is the beginning of a beautiful - and rewarding - experience.

DTales