MANDELA’S SOUTH AFRICA - ONE MINUTE BEFORE MIDNIGHT

South Africa is on the cusp of joining the sad club of third world basket cases. A steady diet of corruption and cronyism has heartbreakingly eroded the inheritance bequeathed by Mandela. The desperate plight of the new democracy has come to the fore as a result of President Zuma firing a Minister of Finance who disagreed with what appeared to be ridiculous proposals for Government expenditures in a cash strapped fiscal situation. Mercifully President Zuma only entered the scene five years ago and cannot undo the vast post apartheid progress which resulted in the creation of an embryo black professional, business and middle class and a boundless tourist industry. However the remarkable fairy tale ending to apartheid has been systematically obliterated by policies that smack of the cynicism, crookedness and abuses of power reminiscent of Robert Mugabe, Zuma’s role model. Mugabe who has appointed himself President for life in Zimbabwe has laid waste to that country while building a life style reminiscent of the Marcos’s of the Philippines.  Zuma was forced to backtrack on his most recent dictatorial fiat, as a result of the market collapse that his actions precipitated. However following the whole bohaai, in a rare moment of spontaneity, he laid bare his prejudices, paranoia, ignorance and philosophy in a speech which had been ostensibly slated to calm the upheaval that his actions had precipitated. Those who have followed the remarkable redemption saga of South Africa are relying heavily, once again, on forces for change and sanity to intervene.

ZUMA’S CONTINUING MALFESEANCE

 Zuma’s malfeasance is nothing new and had preceded his elevation to power. He barely escaped prosecution for racketeering and corruption following the trial of his financial advisor Schabir Shaik who was sentenced to 15 years for bribery and corruption. It was in that trial that Shaik testified to the effect that he procured a bribe for Zuma of 500,000 rands in order to secure the purchase of frigates for the South African navy. While the whole affair was tinged with political overtones in every direction, the decision of the National Prosecution Agency to drop corruption charges against Zuma was highly controversial to say the least. 

The shadow over Zuma has continued and Shaik’s release from prison after only serving 2 years of his sentence was attributed to Zuma’s interference. In addition allegations of shadiness swirl around his relationship with the Gupta brothers, an Indian entreupeneur family. An infamous incident, referred to as Guptagate, where a government military airport was made available for guests from India who were attending a lavish wedding, brought out allegations that Zuma, whose two sons are employed by the Guptas, was totally in their pockets.  From judicial appointments to spending massive sums on his private residence controversy continues to rage around his Presidency. So the current scandal emanating from his arbitrary dismissal of his Finance Minister is just the latest in a never ending litany of questionable decisions.

ZUMA’S MAN MADE ECONOMIC CRISIS

 The weeks following Zuma’s unceremonious axing of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene heralded ruinous economic consequences in South Africa including the downgrading of governmental bonds to just above junk bond status by rating agencies Fitch, Standard and Poor, and Moody, a stock market collapse and a thrashing of the rand on international currency markets. These seismic movements followed the firing of the Finance Minister Nene for opposing a shady deal to buy airbuses through a third party middleman. Moreover it was alleged that the promiscuous President was having an affair with the head of South African Airways who had negotiated the deal. The FW De Klerk Foundation further alleged that Nene had vetoed the purchase of a Russian nuclear reactor at a cost of a trillion South African rands.  Zuma then replaced Nene with a sycophantic nonentity with no real financial expertise only to have to backtrack under unprecedented political and business pressure, and supplant him within a few days with a former well respected Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan.  Zuma normally a very savvy politician, not even having informed his cabinet of his plan, found himself front and center of a storm that evoked nearly three thousand protests within the country,

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

International commentators rightly interpreted this sequence of events not as isolated pique by the narcissistic South African leader, but as a logical outcome of his style and philosophy of governing. The London Economist entitled a piece “Try Again The Beloved Country” a play on the title of Alan Paton’s iconic novel “Cry The Beloved Country” which was just that - a cry for help at the injustices of apartheid that triggered the half century long haul to end the totalitarian regime. The Economist article detailed the worsening economic indicators that have accompanied the Zuma reign. It recalled the initial fiscal discipline of Mandela’s ruling African Nationalist Congress, (ANC), and contrasted it with the current corruption and cronyism which is endemic and takes its lead from the highest echelons of government starting with Zuma himself. The latter scandalized the country when he built himself a palace with public funds. Black empowerment as defined by Zuma turns out to be code for handing out jobs, contracts and favors to party allies. All this translates, the Economist article continues, into nurses stealing from clinics and Union bosses giving jobs to teachers that don’t even show up. It concluded by commenting that, “South Africa deserves better”.

NEW FINANCE MINISTER CALMS THE MARKETS

Gordhan with his acceptance speech did much to restore, for the moment anyway, the jagged and raw nerves of the financial markets and losses were partially reversed. He commented on current officialdom's behavior, “It is time that individuals or groups of individuals stopped playing with governmental entities as if its a personal toy from which you can extract money when you feel like”. He echoed the sentiments of the business and opposition political constituencies when he maintained, “The prime responsibility of public institutions was either to contribute to the economy, provide a service or contribute revenue to the Government. We do require a bit of reflection as to how we want to manage State resources”.

ZUMA HANDLES THE PRESSURE

It is exceedingly unlikely that Gordhan has the will or power to change the direction of Zuma’s projectory. Broad based and influential appeals to the central governing body of the ANC to remove Zuma were met by blank refusal and laudatory affirmations of his leadership. It is naive to believe that a hierarchy so beholden to him would dare make a move. If Zuma is ultimately to go it will need a concerted behind the scenes effort to garner a majority of the 400 delegates that make up the ultimate decision making component of the governing party.

He has to have lost ground as according to the South African media the pressure from within was exerted by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Secretary General of the ANC, Swede Mantashe and three other senior members of the ANC establishment. They were responding to senior bank executives which industry took the brunt of Zuma’s folly - the bank index dropping nearly twenty percent in a day.   

Meanwhile everything Zuma has said or done in relation to the current crisis and the circumstances leading up to it that has provided naught for anyone's comfort. At the time of axing Nene he inexplicably paid tribute to Mugabe who is the poster child for graft, crime and brutality on the continent. That obsequiousness would have passed by unnoticed had he not produced a rant following the appointment of Gordhan that shook the nation and those in the world that were interested.

ZUMA’S RUBICON SPEECH

Much like in 1985 when former apartheid Prime Minister P. W. Botha was scheduled to make a speech which had been billed as a turning point in South Africa’s race relations to be coupled with an announcement of the release of Nelson Mandela, Jacob Zuma was also en route to sooth frayed nerves arising out of the crises that he had precipitated. While Zuma’s audience was tiny the state sponsored television was there to slavishly broadcast every word. Botha basically told the world to go to hell and the current South African President did likewise departing from his prepared script to go into a long diatribe on his world view. Both these Presidential pontifications have come to be known as Rubicon speeches signifying the fact that their unambiguousness pointed to there being no return. While Botha displayed his arrogance and his defiance that nobody could pressure him, Zuma rambled on mainly incomprehensibly to deliver the same message. Where he could be understood his ignorance was astounding and his philosophy of life scary. He opined that Africa was the largest continent in the world in which all the other continents could fit in. Having completed the geography lesson he went onto history where he claimed that this is where civilization started. “Paul was an African that wrote the bible in Turkey” he continued. 

Zuma then detailed the slave and colonial past of the continent and how “We decided to fight for our freedom”. He mentioned that he was part of the “struggle” which indeed he was having spent ten years on Robben Island with Mandela. Having established his credentials he then went on to explain his economic theories and more or less maintained that the colonialists were still controlling the show through economics. Continuing with this theme he argued that, “Those with economic power would kill you”. To add credence to the fact that several of his advisors are still card carrying members of the now quaint Communist Party he explained that the value of a commodity had nothing to do with supply and demand but rather it was related to the amount of labor time. 

SOUTH AFICA’S FUTURE - THERE HAS TO BE HOPE!

There is every indication that Zuma and his cronies are committed to go the way of Mugabe and it will take a determined effort to stop him. Armed with massive Constitutional powers it is going to take a firm resolve and effort to oust him. There are high expectations vested in Mandela’s choice as his successor, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. The latter was elected to that position by the 400 delegates to the ANC Congress so he is not without support. In addition South Africa has a tradition of opposition and fighting for civil rights. Apartheid did not just go away on its own. So many of the activists that caused it to collapse are still in the vanguard of opposition. The Democratic Alliance a political party that is steadily gaining black support controls the Cape Province and could well make further inroads, particularly in the towns, in the upcoming municipal elections. A left wing Marxist Leninist group known as the Economic Freedom Fighters, who up till recently were regarded as fringe, now represent about seven percent of the electorate, claim that they are benefiting by the Zuma meltdown. They too have to be factored into the equation. 

There is also a vast network of non governmental organizations, some a hangover from the apartheid days such as the Institute of Race Relations, others more recent such as De Klerk’s Foundation and a vigorous internet opposition, for example, all that have a vested interest in not allowing South Africa’s hard-earned venture into democracy to fail. The far reaching internal protests in response to Zuma's behavior also illustrate the mood.

It also has to be recognized that South Africa has a sophisticated first world banking, financial and mining infrastructure. It's promise to be Africa's breadbasket can still be fufilled. In spite of a steady bleeding of talent it still has more university graduates than the whole of Africa put together. So there is hope.

Matters have really deteriorated since December 2012 when Jay H. Ell blogged, “Exit Mandela: Cry the Beloved Country Part 2”. South Africa’s standing in the world was still high even though Zuma was three years into his rampage. Zuma, unhappily, like Mugabe does not seem to care what anyone thinks. Mugabe has still enriched himself even though Zimbabwe has seen inflation of thousands of percentage points. So if you define black empowerment and advancement on the basis of how rich and powerful you and your friends are who cares about the rest of society and whether the world thinks your bonds are junk or not? 

 All in all a tense situation and indeed a Rubicon moment for both sides. It was best epitomized by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Tutu’s plaintiff cry when the Zuma government, at the behest of a new paymaster China, denied the Dalai Lama a visa to visit the country - “I never dreamed that I would pray for the defeat of the ANC”.

TRUMP’S HOSTILE TAKEOVER OF THE GOP

The latest GOP Presidential debate, fittingly held in Vegas in the gaudy Venetian Hotel Theater, did nothing to dent the Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump’s overwhelming lead. So secure did he feel of his position that he once again stated that he was in the GOP forever and would not consider running as an independent. Of course as he has explained in the past whatever he pledges is meaningless. The current state of the relationship between the GOP and Trump was succinctly summed up in a Rasmussen Report headline, “Its Donald Trump’s Party Now”.

THE SETTING OF THE REALITY SHOW DEBATE

All that is by the by as the debate provided plenty of entertainment as the lesser lights flapped around the Donald candle with as much impact as moths would have on a flame. The Master of Ceremonies, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, was slick and moved the narrative around smoothly and deftly. The theme of the live show was National Security and the title was “GOP Presidential Hopefuls and the ISIS Problem”.The drama was of biblical proportions. The central theme was that the end was nigh and the country was facing the termination of history and an apocalyptic atmosphere prevailed.  The off stage villains were Hillary and Barack - the Bonnie and Clyde who were directly and personally responsible for the murder and slaughter of Americans. The script dealt with the 4000 killed by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists this past 14 years, with 9/11 having the lion share. Ignored was the other 396,000 gun deaths over the same period, many of those at the hand of homegrown “terrorists” not of the Islamic Jihadist brand. In addition the chorus line wailed that those two betrayers were worried about climate change in a world that wasn’t about to continue on long enough for it to matter whether it got hotter or colder.

A FAMILY TALE

The reality show drama featured a gathering of the offspring of the GOP Family in the format of a therapy session with CNN’s Wolf as the therapist facilitator. The topic under discussion was who merited being the heir apparent to the grand GOP endeavor. The palpable anxiety of the parents, the GOP Establishment Fathers - there are no mothers for whatever reason - hung over the proceedings. Daddy Reince Priebus, the Chairman of the Party, prior to the session, reassured, with a brave face, his offspring that anyone one of them would be better than Hillary. Jay H. Ell believed this was an effort to convince them all that they were all accepted unconditionally even though everyone knows there are the favorites and those that they would disinherit if only they could. In fact the neighbors have reported that the family establishment custodians have been up at night thinking of stratagems to prevent the eldest from obtaining the blessing.

Be that as it may the two hour debate was riveting as the sibling rivalry between all the GOP wannabes raged. The manifestation of resentment to the first born Donald manifested in all manner of styles and rationalizations. 

JEB AWAKES FROM THE DEAD

Jeb, who everyone knows is the parents’ favorite, finally gave vent to his feelings and attacked the big bully brother who had snatched his inheritance away in such a brutal, clinical and disrespectful fashion. He called The Donald “chaotic” and his Presidency would be “chaotic”. He said that his big brother, (not in real life), who had been so successful in business, had only one strong point - “one liners”. His policies weren’t serious, he continued that he had derived them from the Saturday, (cartoons) or Sunday talk shows. As for his recent thoughts that there be a moratorium on allowing any Muslim into the country and his suggestion of killing family members of ISIS terrorists, Jeb maintained that this illustrated “his lack of seriousness”. Finally the discarded anointed one opined that brother Donald J could not insult his path to the Presidency. 

All in all wonderful show biz but Jeb it is just too too late. The fact that the Donald did not appear too fuzzed and brushed him off with you are at 3 percent and I am at 42 percent in the polls told it all. He also fobbed him off as a weakling and he, Donald J. Trump, just had to do what he had to do to keep his voters safe. 

THE SENATE TRIPLETS

The family’s brightest, the two year old Senate Tea Party triplets, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz had the equivalent of a rumble in the jungle. The gloves were off as each of them eloquently enunciated what they believe should be the manifesto of the Family’s business henceforth. They were showing off in the hope that world would wake up to its senses and kick big brother off the stage. Now Marc the GOP daddies' favorite of the three would have the best chance against Hillary but has a problem with his half baked flip flopping on the destiny of the eleven million undocumented immigrants.  He at least wants to leave some wiggle room should he somehow be crowned as no one can become President without at least a sizable chunk of the Hispanic vote. Marc was particularly incensed with brother Ted.

Ted Cruz was successfully playing all sides to the middle by being a millimeter to the left of brother Donald whom he embraces in public and scoffs at in private. Ted unashamedly misrepresented the Head of the FBI claiming that the latter maintained that he cannot vet Syrian refugees when in fact the latter are being vetted. He then leaked classified information about Government telephone tracking which Marco pounced on. Brother Rand Paul who oscillates between sanity and insanity has scant respect for the warmongers and a great respect for the internet. He produced the soundest argument for America not to interfere and destabilize the Middle East any further and moreover it would incur great cost of blood and treasure. Brother Rand can however afford to sound rational cause he has even less chance than Jeb of turning the tables on the heir apparent. 

All in all the GOP Establishment fathers had to have taken some “nachas” from the three who maybe wet behind the ears but are really pretty bright. They had to believe each of them, who are so talented but so different, should all go out and start their own political parties. But none of them are ready for prime time now.

THE OTHER GOVERNORS

Fiery Chris Christie, who has had the title of being the most boorish sibling snatched away from him by the eldest, was gung ho on taking on the world, like telling Putin where to get off to the point of shooting down his planes, screwing ISIS to oblivion and the like. Man, he had experience in all these matters and was in case you didn’t know not a Governor but a former Federal Prosecutor. His ploy to out the alpha male in the room fell a bit flat. He is about 6 months too late because nobody but nobody can out macho the Donald with his crisp catastrophic “one liners”. The Donald just doesn’t just talk he encapsulates every prejudice and right wing fantasy in a “one liner” that all can understand and cheer on. Poor old Chris was crushed by Rand who said he was the candidate to start World War 111 and by snarky Marc who shouted out that he has bridge problems that would surface if he became central enough to the debate. What really hit home however were his attacks on Hillary, “our real adversary” and Obama, “a feckless weakling”, spoken with sincerity, conviction and assurance. That even made up for the major misspeak of the night when he claimed to have met with a Jordanian King at a time when he was already dead. The fact that this home grown attack went down well augurs very badly for the GOP in the not so long run.

Then there was Governor John Kasich who really is not operating in his sibs paradigm. Rather then face armageddon head on he spoke about jobs and the economy. In the last debate he took it upon himself to expose The Donald. It fizzled so he left it to brother Jeb and concentrated on putting an unadulterated alternative platform to the Democrats that didn’t only involve screwball catastrophic solutions to the security problem. Needless to say it fell on deaf ears in this asylum and he was castigated for his self righteous attitude.

THE OTHER “NON POLITICIANS”

Of course no family therapy session would be complete without soft spoken, plenty of nonsense, brother Ben Carson. He was a bit more informed this time but the policies are just out of left field. But as the rest of the siblings have become even nuttier in an effort to oust big brother nothing really amazes anymore. The gloss of his refreshing naivety seems to be wearing off as he gives way his second place to infant terrible Ted Cruz. The gentle soul would never say a bad word about his siblings or even choose between them. However he seemed to be ok with killing thousands of  innocent children and civilians. As he explained he was a pediatric neurosurgeon and sometimes you had to do what you had to do even when the children didn’t like it. He will quietly fade into oblivion as inexplicably as he glided into prime time. 

Then there is Carly Fiorini who really is too awful. Jay H. Ell wishes he wasn’t so scared of being told he wasn’t pc and tell it how bad Carly really is. She challenges Big Brother with her propensity to fabricate the narrative. Jay H. Ell hasn’t the guts to confess that he would have as many sleepless nights with her in the WhiteHouse as he would with her eldest brother. Jay H. Ell is terrified that she would claim that he was attacking her because she was a woman. He knows it would be no defense to say that his best friend is Hillary. 

Last night was a relatively uneventful one for her with only one obvious lie being called. Fox News called it because she claimed that one of its commentators had been axed because he had a work dispute with President Obama. It really was two lies because the person had never been employed Obama and was alive and well on a Fox program. Any rate Carly, for what it is worth, tried a new tack she would get silicon valley to takeover the country’s security. She said if that had happened then the Obamacare website would not have broken down! 

By the way she believes that she is the only one that could beat Hillary Clinton. She is heavily into the argument that it is because she is also a woman. She let all know that Margaret Thatcher was to her what Ronald Reagan was to her brothers.

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY

When it was all over they hugged and kissed and gave interviews to anyone who would listen. The establishment fathers back home worst fears had been affirmed. For the moment they just had to stand by and pray. The Donald was in the groove by all the current parameters. It was the end. This interloper had highjacked the party. Jennifer Rubin a prolific writer for the Washington Post and an ardent GOP supporter echoed the darkest fears of all - if Donald got the nomination it was the end of the Republican Party. The election would be a disaster and the House and Senate would be lost as well. However even if Donald doesn’t get the nomination and there is a chance of that as the evangelicals question his virginity, the damage has already been done. Cruz is second in the polls, Carson is third and Rubio, who don’t forget was a Tea Party protege, is fourth. Between them they represent well over seventy percent of the party. 

Dispassionately reflecting on that group therapy session this has to be the most dysfunctional political party family around. The sheer vitriolic tripe that was disgorged was nothing short of a shame and a disgrace. Only punctuated by one voice of sanity Kasich and Jeb and Rand to lesser extent had their moments. All those three don’t add up to ten percent of the current GOP electorate. If this had been Donald’s reality show, The Apprentice, he would have unceremoniously fired the lot including himself. 

WHAT NOW?

* Well first stop is Iowa where The Donald has his work cut out to beat Tom Cruz  - the latter having the evangelical vote and where Donald hasn’t done nearly enough ground work. But the Iowa caucus really doesn’t carry much prognostic value. It is really just a central part of the ritzy road show that is the American Presidential election. Then follows New Hampshire which means much more where the Donald is odds on favorite to cross the line first. Then the early triumvirate ends with South Carolina where the millionaire mogul should emerge triumphant. There is also the Nevada caucus round about this time that polls put Donald ahead. Normally after these four races the field thins out. If the Donald has triumphed as expected then it is onto Super Tuesday.

* Super Tuesday itself has 12 primaries or caucuses and 4 days later on March 5, 2016 there are 4 more contests. Of these 16 contests, 10 are in the South. They then pile up and by the end of March there are another 5. So by the end of March half the primaries are over. It is hard to imagine anyone other than Ted Cruz making a significant impression on the leader as he continues his march down Pennsylvania Avenue. The Establishment fathers have to be clinging to a Rubio or even a Christie connecting early on in New Hampshire to save the day as Cruz must give them the same shivers as Trump. 

* There is always the hope that the GOP electorate will wake up as did the French body politic. 

* There is a slight chance that all these guys hang in and between the half decent candidates they mange to get over fifty percent of the delegates and it has to be a brokered convention where they try to unseat The Donald. All hell will then break loose unless the brokered candidate is the man from NY NY however.

* Looks pretty dismal doesn’t it? That is for everyone but Hillary.

* Who could ever have believed so much naked bigotry, racism and xenophobia would ever be uttered by leading contenders in an American presidential election? It wont be too long when commentators will reflect that this was all an aberration and a lamentable lapse in the American psyche comparable with the turning away of the St Louis liner packed with German Jews and the internment of the Japanese. Many of the pundits who will do the reflecting will have participated in the current food fest blowing up these totalitarians to gigantic proportions all in the name of a God called Ratings.

CHICAGO - A CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

Tuesday 23 November 2015 will go down in history as the day that the culture of Chicago was laid bare for all the world to see. That was the day that an Illinois Court of Law mandated the release of the police video detailing the cold blooded shooting of a 17 year old African American youth Laquan McDonald. Before delving into the immense cover up of this dispassionate, callous and inhuman execution it is worth noting that this behavior is symptomatic of a City and a State steeped in malfeasance that dates back to Al Capone. Illinois is a State where over half its Governors since 1970 have been jailed for corruption and a third of its Alderman in Chicago since 1972 have been convicted as criminals. The FBI this month has subpoenaed the files of the outgoing Chicago Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan who was in the midst of investigating 29 Alderman for criminal wrongdoing. The whole scenario stinks to high heaven and it is quite possible that the number of convicted Chicago Alderman may well increase.  

All this is by way of background to the McDonald tragedy that begun in October 2014. The official police report blandly stated that the youth had been shot in the chest and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and pronounced dead. The police version as told by Patrick Camden of the Fraternal Order of Police to The Chicago Tribune was that a crazed individual lunged at officers with a knife and one of the officers shot him with a single shot. The officers, Camden continued, had told McDonald to drop the knife and were waiting for stun guns to arrive at the scene. Camden opined that the victim was a very serious threat and this was a clear cut case of self defense. One of the Officers Jason Van Dyke had fired at the oncoming menacing individual.

CULTURE OF SILENCE AND COVER UP

So the line was out. It was cut and dried and the cover up was well under way and it had started from the word go and it was going to continue up into the highest echelons of power. It all started at the crime scene. As the video showed there were several officers present all of whom knew that Van Dyke, an officer with a rap sheet a mile long, had murdered McDonald in cold blood. They not only said nothing they immediately and automatically went into cover up mode. There were bystanders who were shoed away and according to one report one was taken to the police station and was so harassed that she has kept her mouth shut to this day. The other officers acted systematically so as to remove any possible impediment to the expected narrative of the incident and nonchalantly walked into the nearby Burger King and allegedly wiped off the observation videos’ recording of the incident. The police took the video recorder with them. Although there is a gap of 86 minutes of the recording the prosecutor states that there is no evidence that the video was tampered with.

FROM THE BEGINNING THE STORY DID NOT JIVE

Whoever received the report from the scene had to have realized that it didn’t hang together. Why for example was it only Van Dyke who opened fire if McDonald was lunging at a number of the officers? Who chose him to fire when all were under attack? Why would he only shoot once, (sic), if a crazed person was coming at them with a knife? But leaving those subtleties aside it would not be long before it would be even more obvious that the official story was a lie. The cover up would have to expand as more and more police staff involved in the post mortem noted the body and post mortem findings. The simple sketch done by the forensic pathologist detailed 16 entry and exit wounds sprayed over the whole body. Not only was the one bullet explanation a lie the very distribution of the shots did not support someone being shot at while rushing at a target. The shooter would not have as a priority systematically putting in bullets up one side of the body then down the next of the assailant, execution or target practice style. Rather, in fear of his life, he would fire rapidly in one area. The inconsistencies abound - another was that the police spokesman has Van Dyke together with all the other officers while it is now common cause that he arrived in another squad car got out and within six seconds mowed down the victim who was walking away from him and then fired several shots while he was lying on the ground. An accused incidentally as it turns out had been slashing tires with his knife which according to reports was found folded in his dead hand.

It is almost as if no one cared about getting the cover up totally straight. This was self defense and there an end. Who was going to take the word of a dead teenager with a knife in his hand over those who are protecting society? As long as there was no witnesses talking and the tapes were obliterated there wasn’t a problem. Also for whatever reason no other shooting had gone anywhere so why should this one? 

THE DASHBOARD VIDEO AND OUTCOME

Everyone now knows that 5 months later in March the McDonald family attorney obtained a video of the shooting and that the City Council settled there and then for 5 million dollars. This before even a legal action was initiated. Now 5 million dollars is a helluva lot of money. The procedure to effect this exchange would have been for a person or persons, pretty high up, to instruct the City Attorneys to negotiate a settlement. The City Council attorneys objective would have been, to dish out as little as possible. How the latter is achieved in a country that lives, eats and drinks litigation is to drag out the proceedings as long as possible, usually for several years, on the assumption that the plaintiff tires and accepts anything. Here the victim’s family would obviously be vulnerable to calling it quits relatively quickly to reach closure. Remember too plaintiffs against the police in Illinois have not exactly a stellar record of success so the McDonalds must have thought after their tragedy they had won the lottery. There was one known stipulation to this settlement namely that the video must not see the cold light of day. One can assume the McDonald family also agreed to keep their mouths shut.

Now this agreement had to be ratified by the City Alderman at a formal meeting. The unique circumstances surrounding this massive payment so promptly agreed to must have made it stand out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless  it obviously passed without a whimper. The Mayor had of course to be involved and It has been alleged that the he was more than anxious to keep this under wraps as he was in the midst of a tough reelection. 

To add to the argument that this is a far reaching conspiracy was the announcement of the murder charge of Officer Van Dyke by the Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alverez just a few days prior to the court instructed release of the video of the crime scene. This 13 months after the alleged murder where it was argued that she had the tape for over a year and had more than enough evidence to proceed months ago. To add to the alleged treachery her announcement was preceded by a press conference held by the Mayor Rab Emannuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. It all sounded a bit hollow when McCarthy dolefully extolled that, “The officer in this case took a young man’s life and he’s going to have to account for his actions”.  The comments of both the Superintendent and the Mayor, who maintained that this was an isolated case, were greeted with cynicism. The belief was that not only was this a defense of what was alleged to be a cover up but an attempt to keep the anticipated city protests peaceful.

Whatever anyone was saying now about the officer “who took a young man’s life” he had been still in the employ of the City of Chicago’s Police Force up until the State’s Attorney laid the charges.

The irresistible conclusion is that the cover up started from minute one, was systematic and comprehensive and involved several departments reaching to the highest levels of the City Council. It is also argued that the efficiency of the operation and the way the cover up swung into gear is indicative of normal practice in the knowledge that the perpetrators’ backs will be covered by a system that has adapted to this behavior if not outright condoned it. There are 50 police shootings a year in Chicago with 13 deaths last year. This passage of events lends very little assurance to society that all of these were in “self defense”. According to the journalist who blew the lid on the scandal the self defense finding is the usual outcome of the Chicago police shooting internal investigations after 18 months of “investigation”.  

NOTHING WOULD EVER HAVE HAPPENED BUT FOR……

 It was not the traditional media with all their resources and influence that can claim credit for the expose. Jay H. Ell grows more and more disillusioned with the Fourth Estate every day. What was once society’s safety valve has now become rather it’s chief source of entertainment. Once a part of the solution it is now is part of the status quo. This story is just beginning. Are the media going to press for charges against those who wiped out the tapes at Burger King? An exhaustive account is needed from the time of the shooting, where 9 officers were on the scene,  to how this report was put together Council, why the police department after the post mortem report, which flat out negated the bullshit narrative, stuck to their guns and nothing changed when it was patently obvious that at best there had been a false report. The media knew all this way back and were about as proactive as the City Council.

Thus It was left to a few socially conscious citizens who took on the establishment and hammered away till the whole pack of cards collapsed. James Kalven, a free lance journalist, was tipped off by a whistleblower about Van Dyke’s dashboard video cam. The whisper was that it did not tell the same story the police were giving out. Once Kalven had persuaded a court to release the damning autopsy report five months after the event, the unravelling started and everyone else suddenly was really interested. Kalven together with an attorney Craig Futterman relentlessly investigated till they were granted another court order for the release of the video of that awful awful night. This set into motion, a Mayoral and Chicago Police Superintendent media meeting and the announcement of the indictment of murder. The forewarning of the video to be released didn’t soften the savagery of the execution ala ISIS and now joins the archive of all the other police brutalities on celluloid that have been punctuating the news scene for the past 18 months. 

….

SOME ACTION AT LAST

The fear is this will all die down and life will carry on as usual. Culture change is not easy and this conduct appears to be ingrained in civic life in Chicago together with all the other misconduct of its elected officials. So much so is political corruption and cronyism the norm around here that Governor Blagojevich maintained that he had done nothing wrong in soliciting bribes in return for granting a politician the right to serve out President Obama’s Senate term. His “maneuvering" was part of normal political horse trading he maintained. The Federal Court disagreed with him and he is taking the matter to the Supreme Court. The Governor and his Counsel obviously believe that in the State of Illinois they have a strong argument.

The good news is that the McDonald abscess has been slashed open and the pus is gushing out in the streets of Chicago. The daily protests by thousands of angry black youth who for years have been making allegations against police brutality are peaceful albeit that they disrupted Black Friday shopping on Michigan Avenue. These protests are gaining strength and appear to be ongoing. Not surprisingly they called for the Mayor, Police Superintendent and Prosecutor to resign and for the Feds to conduct an enquiry. Surprisingly however Mayor Rahm changed course and axed Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and initiated an enquiry into the police department in addition to equipping 1200 police officers with body cameras. 

Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon including Lisa Madigan the Attorney General of Illinois who has called upon the Feds to investigate the Chicago Police Department as has Hillary Clinton Democratic Presidential contender Hillary Clinton.  Heavens knows there is enough to analyze, for example what happened to the 28,000 complaints against the Windy City’s police in the past few years and why has the City paid out nearly half a billion dollars in settlements for police misconduct. 

It appears that finally this may not go away. Sadly what will fan the flames will be the release of yet another shooting. Ronald Johnson a 25 year old black male was shot allegedly because he pointed a gun at the police. The mother has seen the video and there is no gun. She says no money will shut her up……….

It has to be getting serious when the Mayor is under siege and is furiously refusing “to step down”. The Johnson tape is not going to help his cause.

SYRIAN REFUGEES, XENOPHOBIA AND TRUMP

As predicted the Parisian massacre turned out to be a game changer with far reaching consequences, (Blog: Paris and the Future of Terror). A key fallout was the marked hardening of attitude to the plight of the pitiful Syrian refugees. In no time they were swiftly relegated to pariah status. While Western Europe had previously accepted their predicament, in some instances only grudgingly, the body politic of EU countries now spurred on by right wing xenophobia reacted sharply to the Paris carnage. Nowhere was the terrorist blood spattered splurge more exploited than in the United States of America. It became front and center in the 2016 Presidential campaign with the GOP hopefuls finally finding a fear that resonates deep into the soul of the electorate. 

There are two tacks that the politicians are using to fuel the controversy. There is the argument that the vetting process on the refugees is not adequate enough to ensure that jihadist saboteurs will be excluded and more tendentiously that those Muslims currently in America need to be put on file and surveyed as some of them may be traitors.

XENOPHOBIA AND PARANOIA VERSUS REASON

Before continuing there is a very legitimate fear amongst the citizenry that there will be cold blooded murderous mayhem in the USA following the Paris, Beirut, Mali and Russian incidents. These fears are valid and need a rational response. However politically motivated exploitative xenophobia and paranoia is unconscionable and not a substitute for reason. So let us examine the facts as to whether Trump, Carson, Cruz, Rubio and several lesser lights among the GOP candidates, and about 30 GOP Governors who unconstitutionally refuse to allow any Syrian immigrants into their State are substituting xenophobia for reason.

COULD REFUGEES INCLUDE TERRORISTS?

Terrorist infiltration of refugees.

The narrative of those that wish to keep out the Syrian refugees is based on the potential for terrorists to masquerade as political fugitives. The latter theory has two fragments of supportive evidence. The first is in the form of a Syrian passport stamped by the Greeks certifying the bearer to be a refugee, which was found near a slain suicide bomber outside the French football stadium. The passport was found to be fake, The name on the passport was Ahmad Almohammad. The latter was a loyalist soldier in Assad’s Syrian army who had died a few months earlier. A refugee with a passport bearing the exact same name and details was located in a Serbian refugee camp. The German Minister of Interior, Thomas De Maziere, believes that the passport was deliberately left outside the stadium to mislead. The other supportive evidence of Jihadist penetration comes via ISIS themselves who have announced that they are infiltrating the refugees with their fighters. 

The claim ISIS made in regard to refugee infiltration was contemporaneous with the recent acceleration of fugitives onto the Mediterranean shores. The potential American immigrants have been in refugee camps for up to two years and are not being recruited from those just newly arrived in Europe. In any case no reliance can be placed on what ISIS does or does not say and it was fascinating to hear the GOP governors quote this as a rationale.

Further, negating the probability of the new Americans being “freedom fighters” is the fact that of the1600 already admitted half are children, a quarter are over 60 years and according to immigration officials only 2 percent are single males of combat age. In addition it has been emphasized that the easiest way for a terrorist to enter America is as visitor on the visa waver program. Why would they hang around in a refugee camp for 2 years and risk detection?

Back ground checks for Obama’s 10,000 Refugees insufficient.

The gist of the agitation of some of the opponents is not that they are against immigration of the Syrians per se but rather that their background checks are inadequate. National Public Radio recently featured the rigorous vetting that the current immigrants have been subject too.  These include the following steps:

The United Nations High Commission For Refugees, (UNHCR): The screening process starts here as this is where the potential immigrants are first registered. The UNHCR then make recommendations to certain countries on the basis of the applicants suitability to the destination country. They take into account whether the displaced persons have family in America and the like. If the US officials accept the UN assessments they begin their own processes.

US vetting agencies: These include the National Counterterrorism Center, The FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, The Department of Defense, Homeland Security and Department of State. All pprospective immigrants are finger printed and in view of ISIS those from Syria are subject to even further investigations as to their circumstances prior to fleeing Syria and any possible terrorist connections.

Their final destination in America is decided on by nine non profit groups six of which are faith based. 

This all looks pretty reasonable so why aren’t the fears stilled? This issue is still up and front because the politicians, with Donald Trump, the pacemaker, are not only ignoring the facts in their ongoing onslaught but are inferring that the indigenous Muslim population are terrorists and linking that to the danger of the Syrian refugees gaining immigrant status.

 ATTACKS ON AMERICAN MUSLIMS, BLACKS AND LATINOS LINKING THEM TO REFUGEES AND TERRORISM

The  Donald and his fawning presidential competitors have upped the ante by piggybacking the issue of the Syrian refugees to the alleged danger inherent in the Muslim minority of America. By so doing they are implying that the latter are either terrorists or harbor them. Then when it is politically advantageous the business tycoon links the Muslim “problem” to his initial bogeyman the 12 million undocumented Latino immigrants whom he has labelled as murderers, rapists and drug dealers. Then every so now and then he will add the “blacks” to his menu casting them as “untermenschen”. Of course in each and every instance of these excesses, there are clarifications or subsequent flat out denials often offering, in addition, that “some of his best workers are……” and "that the....... love him".

It is common cause that Trump is America’s greatest entertainer and can evoke interest and excitement more than anyone else and his signature message in this campaign is dehumanizing and scapegoating minority groups. Apparently he believes this is the pathway to making America great again.

LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES

As outlined above there is next to no evidence to back up Trump’s campaign so he resorts to lies in addition to attacking by smear as evidenced above.

Syrian Refugee Lies

The mogul Presidential wannabe's first sally into the Syrian refugee crises was asserting that Obama had sanctioned 250,000 Syrian immigrants which lie he has repeated ad nauseam. This was the beginning of ongoing lying on this issue. This inexactitude was coupled with the revelation that the Syrian refugees were pouring into the country at this very moment. He then claimed “We don’t know who they are” knowing full well that the authorities did. He then fantasized that the refugees were being sent to Republican controlled States and not Democratic States. Finally, he forewarned all potential Syrian immigrants that they were going back if he was elected - a promise he could not legally fulfill. He interspersed his venom with a false tweet that 8 Syrian refugees, not terrorists mark you, tried to penetrate our Southern border, and that this justified his wall. 

Muslim Lies and Guilt by Association Lies

He then started making the connection between the terrorists, refugees and the American Muslims. Amongst this all was his tweet after Paris, “Everyone is saying how right I am with illegal immigration and the wall. After Paris they are all on the bandwagon”. Most recently Trump has steadfastly confirmed that after 9/11 he saw thousands of Arabs in New Jersey cheering the flaming twin towers. Now no one can corroborate this story and the police have maintained that this is nonsense. He has amidst an outcry moved for a registry of all Muslims in this country something that even Cruz would not acquiesce to. The task was not impossible it was just a question of good management he replied to the dumbfounded reporter.

Black Lies

The Donald tweeted, correction retweeted, to 5 million followers that Blacks where responsible for 81 percent of white murders. He argued in his defense that he, the Presidential wannabe, could not keep tabs on all these statistics. He did not even bother to apologize when it was pointed out to him that in fact 80 percent of white murders were perpetrated by whites.

For a comprehensive review of Trump’s most recent lies Jay H. Ell recommends a piece in The Fiscal Times by Rob Garver.

TRUMP NOT ALONE IN XENOPHOBIA

Now if Trump was an isolated voice it would be one thing but as he correctly observes “everyone is on the bandwagon”. The whole GOP Presidential cabal except Kasich and to a lesser extent Bush have followed like lemmings.  Carson has likened the refugees to rabid dogs and does not believe a Muslim is eligible to be President. Cruz believes that bringing in tens of thousands of Syrians into the US is lunacy and will be bringing in a bill to halt any immigrants. Rubio is so compromised on the issue it is irrelevant what he says. The Republican Governors fell into line pretending they have a constitutional say as to who can and who cannot enter the USA. Implicit in their stand is that if someone is legally in the USA they can prevent them from entering their State. They will need a wall! Chris Christie Governor of New Jersey and a no hoper in the GOP Presidential Race maintained that he wouldn’t accept a five year old orphan Syrian refugee. The latter response more or less epitomizes the Republican Governors spineless acquiescence to the Trump line. Finally, to their dying shame, 47 Democrats joined the House GOP to insist on impossible vetting processes where heads of Agencies would personally have to sign off on each and every prospective fugitive. In addition at least half of the GOP, probably twenty percent of the electorate are joining in the Trump jamboree and hysterically cheering him on. 

All in all this behavior with its degradation and scapegoating of a group, lying in the process, creates an unreasonable suspicion, fear and hate that adds up to xenophobia and paranoia. It is up there with the attitude to Jewish immigration in the 20’s and 30’s which culminated with the turning back of the passenger ship St. Louis, whose passengers were jews fleeing from Nazi Germany. The sad parallel has not escaped 11 major Jewish groups and organizations that have outright condemned this dehumanization of the Syrian refugees. 

The media have largely abandoned their role as “The Fourth Estate” as Jay H. Ell has blogged again and again. Their priority is ratings and what can command a greater viewership - a Trump rave or explanations as to the vetting process for refugees?

AT THE END OF THE DAY

Jay H. Ell, forever the optimist, believes that this xenophobia could create a ceiling on the support Trump can garner. If he remains around 28% it is not enough to beat a single GOP hopeful - if it ever gets down to that. Also as we speak Carson is unravelling. Cruz who is right of Genghis Khan could replace The Donald and he is the conservative with the best chance to win a majority of Primary Republican voters. In the event of Jeb of not coming out of hibernation - at least he has made a start by labelling Trump a fascist - the establishment may be forced to back Rubio. Karl Rove has declared war on Trump and is placing his hopes on Christie - phew those guys are really hoping for a miracle. For those with reasonable memories just two short years ago, Cruz, Paul and Rubio were regarded as the Tea Party darlings and nothing has changed other than Cruz has outrighted the other two. If Cruz does in fact assume the lead that will not guarantee the departure of The Donald who again reaffirmed, in spite of his pledge to support the winner of the Primary process, that he has not excluded a third party run. They just have to be high fiving back in Hillary’s headquarters as the Republicans settle in for a long hard year.

The good news is that more and more Islamic groups are condemning the violent interpretation of Islam. Some in Islamic leadership positions consider it demeaning that they should have to assert the obvious anymore than, let us say, the Baptists should be responsible for an outrage perpetrated by one of their number. Jay H. Ell believes that if any group acts in your name and besmirches it the obvious response is to condemn their behavior and discredit them. (This is as opposed to an individual committing a crime who happens to be a jew, for example, where making a statement on behalf of the jewish position on the crime would indeed be uncalled for.)

Finally, there is a need for education to allay fears as to the refugee vetting process and to hear the stories of the victims of Assad and ISIS. “Time” has an excellent feature, “A Syrian Refugee Story - Inside One Family’s Odyssey from Daraa to Dallas”. (Must have somehow jumped over Trump’s wall and ran past the Texas Governor).