Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption
By Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Toreno
St. Martin’s Press 2009
298 Page
s Prologue, Afterward

Even without its provocative title, Picking Cotton would be a winner. In a way, of course, it is an old, old story. In 1984, then Jennifer Thompson, a white woman and young college student, was raped at knife point by a black man who broke into her apartment while she lay asleep. During the assault she made it a point to look at her assailant and memorize what she could about his appearance. Cunningly, she was able to escape and her assailant fled. At the police department, she gamely assisted in the development of a composite sketch, and Ronald Cotton was arrested shortly thereafter. Ms. Thompson identified Cotton in a police lineup, even though she was unsure he was her rapist. Cotton, who had a shaky alibi and a minor criminal record, was tried and convicted; he was sentenced to life plus fifty years for first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, and first-degree breaking and entering.

Washington and its willing mouthpieces in the media have for years been trying to sell us the preposterous war in Afghanistan. While they attempt to convince us that the war is predicated on a faultless military logic and moral wisdom, it remains in fact a tragic adventure with no decipherable objectives, and involving several countries, private contractors, and all sorts of firms seeking to make a quick buck.

The intellectual cowardice of some should not blind the majority to the fact that the war in Afghanistan is morally indefensible and militarily unwinnable.

The decision of the US to continue with its brutal military adventurism in Afghanistan can only be understood in terms of its limited and highly selfish political logic.

The American people voted out the policies of George W. Bush’s administration. Voters turned their back on W’s war policies and torture; repudiated his Orwellian anti-environmentalism and demanded green jobs; and rejected his bailout of the big investment bankers that destroyed our economy.
Then, in came the political savior – a seemingly untainted junior first-term senator from Illinois.

The shiny knight was distinguished from other Democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry because as a state senator he had made “the speech” opposing the illegal attack on Iraq.

But did he ride in on a Trojan horse?

It’s now clear Obama favors the same failed policies as the Bushites. Obama embraces the same “the surge is working” mantra, simply shifting the location from Iraq to Afghanistan. He echoes W’s nonsensical rhetoric that the massive U.S. forces in Iraq and being dispensed to Afghanistan are “fighting for our freedom.”

A driving snowstorm could not keep Vermonters away from the statehouse in Montpelier yesterday as the Vermont Senate convened a historic debate and then voted on the future of the state’s aging nuclear power plant.

Some 1300 people – most of them standing before live video coverage outside the small, overcrowded Senate chamber -- listened to several hours of respectful debate that even included the proposition of building a new nuclear power plant in Vermont as per President Obama’s pro-nuclear agenda. But when it was all over, senators from both parties resoundingly voted against a last-minute amendment for a new plant to replace the old one, and similarly defeated re-licensure of Vermont Yankee in 2012 by a vote of 26 to 4. Amidst cheers, clapping and hugs from the victors, it was clearly another Vermont moment for a state that prides itself on being cutting edge on social, political and environmental issues. As the only state in the nation that by statute allows its legislature to decide whether to re-license a nuclear power plant, the vote is likely to have wide-reaching ramifications, including

Our sources tell us that any day now Senator Lindsey Graham's appalling legislation (S. 2977) could be hitting the Senate floor. Graham's proposal takes a back-door approach at stopping federal trials for those suspected of being involved in the September 11th terrorist attacks - instead of flat-out opposing action to move these detainees to facilities in the U.S., this legislation drains funding from the last hope we'll have at fair September 11th trials.

If these men are guilty, then our federal courts will reach that determination. It is just wrong to cheat - and worse, even rob - them of their day in court. However, one-by-one we're seeing the Senators we thought we could count on to uphold the rule of law, turning on those values and backing this devious proposal.

Last week, we asked you to pick up the phone and put both Senator Graham and the White House on notice that we would fight any attempt to backtrack on federal trials. Now that they've been warned, it's our time to strike!