Here is my latest dispatch from war zone where the ongoing struggle for human dignity continues. One of the least respected rights of a civilian, especially if he is a minority, by police is protection from arbitrary harassment, especially if motivated by race or appearance. Take for instance reading a book while sitting on a park bench on a sunny afternoon. A cop on a fishing expedition comes up to you and asks you what you are doing. Doesn’t this cop have eyes, or have advanced past the fourth grade, or the playground bully stage? Isn’t being a cop an occupation that requires an IQ somewhere in the “normal” range? You say “What does it look like I’m doing?” The cop responds by saying “Oh, oh, an attitude.” Having an “attitude” is all the excuse a cop needs to abuse you.

One of most routinely ignored rights a citizen has from police abuse is not being stopped and/or required to produce your identification for any arbitrary reason, including race or appearance. That is until the Hebiil case in which the fascist five on the Supreme Court once again trampled on a person’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. Police are now allowed to stop anyone or demand ID on mere “reasonable suspicion.” What does “reasonable suspicion” mean? I know what “reasonable suspicion” means to bigoted whites, and by extension their police. Skin color or “ethnicity,” walking alone, speaking a different language, reading a book—these are all sufficient “reasons” for “suspicion.” When a Port of Seattle cop singled me out of scores of others waiting at a bus stop and demanded that I show him “where my name was” on my laptop, it was clear that there is not a low standard for “reasonable suspicion” or even “probable cause”—there is no standard at all that applies to police.

Last week, the power adapter on my over-priced Sony laptop suddenly decided it didn’t want to work anymore, and instead of shelling-out $150 for a new one I went to the nearest used PC parts and repair shop, this one located in Tukwilla, WA. The proprietor had only one that would work for the Sony brand, a very old and very bulky adaptor which he would sell to me for $50. If it worked I was fine with that, but I wasn’t expecting to pay that much and didn’t have the money on me, so I left to go the bank a couple blocks away. I withdrew some money from an ATM, and walked back toward the shop. I stopped at a cross walk to go the side of the street the shop was on. That’s when the “trouble” started.

While I was waiting for the walk sign, a Tukwilla police car was crawling toward me; the officer inside was staring at me, obviously hoping I would make some furtive movement that would give him an excuse to “rough” me-up. It was so obvious a ploy but also quite maddening; when he drove past me he turned his head and kept his eyes trained on me; in response I shook my head. This caused him to laugh and grab his radio mike; he spoke to someone briefly, then made a u-turn. Before I could cross the street he parked the car on the side of the street near to me and told me to stay put. I asked him what he wanted; he asked me what I wanted, that I had gestured to him that I wanted to talk to him. Quite perturbed by this falsehood I told him I didn’t want anything. He then proceeded to tell three more rather bizarre fabrications, even for a policeman:

I had stopped him in order to inform him of the location of stolen goods.
That it had just been reported that someone who “looked” like me was a suspect for something he didn’t explain. In frustration I informed of what I had been doing for the past hour; the fact that the officer didn’t feel justified to repeat his claim spoke for its lack of veracity.

After calling him on these falsehoods, He wanted to see ID; I have often wondered what would happened if I refused to do this, but now wasn’t the time and I had things to before I went to jail on principle. A dispatcher informed him in one of those code numbers that they had nothing on me. Still insisting on acting the clever/stupid cop, he asked me about the robbery I wanted to “report.” This really upset me, and I amused several bystanders while gesturing with my arms and telling the cop to “stop lying.” The cop informed the dispatcher that he was letting me go, and that I was, well, angry.

Of course, there was a fourth lie, which was the fact that looking like a “Mexican” had nothing to do with his initial interest in me. Anyways, while I proceeded on my way to the shop, I noticed this officer and another pulled into a parking lot further down the road. As I was walking by, the cop rolled down his window and asked me if I hadn’t just told him I was going to the bank. I informed him I had just been to the bank (as I had told him before), pointing in the direction I had just come from. I informed him that I thought his behavior was “sick.”

Enough my ongoing struggles for dignity. A few months ago a jury found a Kent cop and the city not liable for violating the civil rights of man who had been wounded during a shooting spree by a Kent cop who claimed his life had been in danger. The man was a passenger in a car that unbeknownst to him was stolen; video showed that the cop’s life was in no way “imperiled” when he fired the shots that wounded this victim. Of course, we may ask when it became customary for police to shoot people in moving cars rather than trying to disable the vehicle (like blowing out tires), especially when a head shot is what they are aiming for. Now there are reports that one juror, the wife of a police officer, bullied the other jurors with the usual police paranoia and alibis. Even the trial judge reportedly disagrees with the original verdict, and there may be a retrial.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that the victim only had civil rights to defend because he was alive. If he was dead, he would have no need for civil rights.

Still, I give the Kent police a slight edge over the Tukwilla police for level of thuggery; the Kent police are, after all, more “proficient” with lethal force, the victim just spoken of notwithstanding. Of course, speaking out like this only invites more abuse than I’ve already received. But like I told one of those bystanders who was laughing, I am not afraid of cops. Why should a law-abiding citizen be afraid of cops? Or should they be?

Chris Matthews got into a dust-up with Mika and Joe on "Morning Joe" today over the morality of universal health care in the U.S.:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#31523383

We do have food banks and food stamps from the Farm Bill

If you people wish, you can call the Iranian Consulate, like I did at (202) 965-4990. Press 2 for not a citizen, then 2 again for general information, then 0 for a rep. I got right through and just told him that I didn't think the authorities should be shooting people in the streets and arresting journalists and other people. He was real fired up that I called, and said he would report that to the Iranian authorities. I made sure I let him know that this was not our government speaking.. just a concerned citizen.. Got the idea from John Stewart's guest the other night..Son of a prisioned Iranian activist. He thinks that is the best thing we could do. .Thanks, Blake

Oops. I did not mean to write "Demorats" instead of "Democrats". Nice accidental pun, though.

With health care I do not want competition; I want competence and care when needed. An HMO is not competent to decide what care is needed. That is a matter between the patient and the doctor.
To consider health care as a business is another circumstance in which humans are treated as objects of profit just as they are considered expendable in their jobs.
I am fortunate to benefit from health care in France where I reside. I choose my doctor and received excellent care after heart surgery ten years ago, two weeks in the hospital and a month in a specialized center for recovery , exercise, pool, dieticien and medical care.
This care is not free. We pay for it out of salaries and retirement benefits and the employer pays his share into the Medical fund that insures everyone.
We are not furniture, we are human beings and we deserve human care.

Here is a suggestion for what to say when callers like "Bob" insist that a public option will put private companies out of business. Forget about pointing out that their argument is illogical. Instead, just say, "Oh, sure, just like the Post Office put UPS and Fedex out of business. Just like public schools put private schools out of business. Just like police departments put private security firms out of business." I'd like to hear what their response is to that.

While watching the government crackdown on the Iranian people a comment was made that the Iranian middle class could not sustain a prolonged general strike because their economy was in bad shape. I was stuck by what Thom has been preaching to us that the wealthy in the US do not want a wealthy middle class in the US so that they can control us and they can keep us from protesting in the street. There it was, being played out right now in front of our own eyes, the ruling classes worst nightmare.

For your caller on Hillary Clinton’s healthcare plan:

Revisionist much? Ms Clinton did not put forth the best healthcare plan. There were two Democratic candidates with better healthcare plans than Ms Clinton’s . . . Dennis Kucinich advocated a true single-payer AND Ms Clinton’s plan widely parroted John Edward’s plan with greater protections for corporate health insurance providers.

Yes, Ms Clinton’s efforts remain worthy of respect BUT not unnecessarily glorified.

Did anyone else check out the Michelle Bachmann comic book put out by the folks at DUMP BACHMANN?

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/the-bachmann-comic-our-review...

Richard Adlof,

RE: Actually, I am surprised that it was a woman . . .

Too true!

Are there still lots of secreted Nazi-Fascists in Argentina?

Aloha and "right on" John! Every excuse has been used by transnational corporations against a single payer health plan. Why? Because pharmaceutical and insurance corporations stand to lose billions that are being cheated from people who pay medical insurance. Like parrot's, many in the republican party mimic these arguments and don't even understand, or for that matter, base anything they say on fact or personal experience. Many of these people have never been out of the USA! They repeat what dad, uncle, cousin, auntie said, but have no factual basis for what they say.

When someone tells you that they know of someone that had to drive down to the states from Canada to receive prompt health care, ask for a name. I have many times and so far, no one has given me a name or email address so that I can ask the question. However, I have asked people from Canada, England, Norway and France (I recently graduated from online international animation school) and they all seem to like their health care. So... who do I believe... the people who can't give me proof of their assertions, or from people who are friends and give me their "actual" opinion?

The bottom line is that health care costs are crippling American small business owners, the backbone of our economy. Millions of people are going without healthcare. Millions of Americans are paying billions of dollars each year on inadequate health care, being denied services even after paying and going bankrupt.

Since most Americans favor a public health plan, the opposition is now saying that we can't afford it. I say, "how can we not afford it?" We spent trillions on a war in Iraq we were "scammed" into. We allow goods from other countries to enter our country and compete with American made goods without tariffs to compensate for the lack of health care, environmental protection and safe working conditions that are required by our US companies? And we can't afford universal health care for our own citizens?