The Morning Roar: CA Assembly Votes to Turn Off Resources to NSA, Mother of Baby Bou Bou Speaks Out, and Gary Oldman a Libertarian?
Welcome to your Wednesday edition of The Morning Roar! Mother of Baby "Bou Bou" - Injured by Grenade in SWAT Raid - Speak OutMany of our readers will be familiar with the tragic story of Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh, a two year old who was badly injured by a flash grenade thrown into his crib during a no-knock SWAT Team raid of his aunt's house last month. The story is one of the most disturbing examples of the consequences of the War on Drugs and the vile acts perpetrated in the name of waging it.Now the mother of Baby "Bou Bou", Alecia Phonesavanh, has spoken out on the incident by penning an article at Salon.com entitled "A SWAT Team Blew a Hole in My Two Year Old Son".
That minivan was sitting in the front driveway of my sister-in-law’s place the night a SWAT team broke in, looking for a small amount of drugs they thought my husband’s nephew had. Some of my kids’ toys were in the front yard, but the officers claimed they had no way of knowing children might be present. Our whole family was sleeping in the same room, one bed for us, one for the girls, and a crib. After the SWAT team broke down the door, they threw a flashbang grenade inside. It landed in my son’s crib. Flashbang grenades were created for soldiers to use during battle. When they explode, the noise is so loud and the flash is so bright that anyone close by is temporarily blinded and deafened. It’s been three weeks since the flashbang exploded next to my sleeping baby, and he’s still covered in burns. There’s still a hole in his chest that exposes his ribs. At least that’s what I’ve been told; I’m afraid to look.
Ms. Phonesavanh, who must be in incredible emotional pain as her son remains in the hospital, correctly identifies the reasons that incidents such as the one that injured her son occur:
The only silver lining I can possibly see is that my baby Bou Bou’s story might make us angry enough that we stop accepting brutal SWAT raids as a normal way to fight the “war on drugs.” I know that this has happened to other families, here in Georgia and across the country. I know that SWAT teams are breaking into homes in the middle of the night, more often than not just to serve search warrants in drug cases. I know that too many local cops have stockpiled weapons that were made for soldiers to take to war. And as is usually the case with aggressive policing, I know that people of color and poor people are more likely to be targeted. I know these things because of the American Civil Liberties Union’s new report, and because I’m working with them to push for restraints on the use of SWAT.
The "War on Drugs", by it's very conception, could do nothing more than violate the rights of individuals, and it does so every single day not only with all of the violence that occurs related to drug prohibition on the street, but in tragic "no-knock raids" such as this. For a picture of the broad scope of "no-knock raids" in the name of the War on Drugs and the tragic - and deadly - consequences for completely innocent, law-abiding individuals, check out my interview with John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute.CA Assembly Votes to Turn Off Resources to NSA In a positive development in the ongoing battle to take the United States' domestic spying apparatus known as the NSA down a peg, the California Assembly Public Safety Committee unanimously voted yesterday to approve a bill which would enable the state to shut off resources to the NSA. From OffNow.org, which helped spearhead this bill:
Dubbed the 4th Amendment Protection Act, Senate Bill 828 (SB828) passed the State Senate last month by a vote of 29-1, and is just two votes away from reaching Gov. Brown’s desk. If signed into law, it would ban the state from participating in, or providing material support or resources to any federal agency engaged in the “illegal and unconstitutional collection of electronic data or metadata, without consent, of any person not based on a warrant that particularly describes the person, place, and thing to be searched or seized.
This is a great development, and a positive sign that, despite all the seemingly insurmountable odds against massive, rights-violating government agencies such as the NSA, that there are methods by which activists can combat illegal spying. It will be interesting to see if a bill such as this would actually be signed by Governor Jerry Brown if it reached his desk. Brown is certainly an establishment politician, but he is also a keen politician, and public opinion is strongly opposed to NSA spying and largely approves of Edward Snowden's leaking of documents which prove such spying is going on. If Governor Brown has aspirations for a 2nd consecutive term as Governor - and 4th total! - it might be wise for him to consider supporting this bill if it does indeed arrive at his desk. For a further explanation of the bill, check out OffNow.org.Gary Oldman Identifies as "Libertarian" in Playboy InterviewAs the term "libertarian" becomes more hip and cool with the kids, it's no surprise we see not only more politicians, but other public figures, more openly identify with the political philosophy. Now actor Gary Oldman - whose played plenty of awesome roles including "Commissioner Gordon" in the Chistopher Nolan "Batman" trilogy and "Sirius Black" in the "Harry Potter" movies - has done so as well. From the Playboy interview:
PLAYBOY: How would you describe your politics? OLDMAN: I would say that I’m probably a libertarian if I had to put myself in any category. But you don’t come out and talk about these things, for obvious reasons. PLAYBOY: But there are a ton of conservatives in Hollywood, and libertarians too. Bill Maher has called himself a libertarian. OLDMAN: I think he would fail the test. Anyway, unlike Bill Maher, conservatives in Hollywood don’t have a podium. PLAYBOY: Fine. We’ll give you one. What would America look like under President Hillary Clinton? OLDMAN: What can I say? I feel we need some real leadership, and it’s nowhere in sight. Look at what’s happening right now. John Kerry going off to China to talk about North Korea? What’s that going to do? The ludicrousness of it. What a waste of money. You’re going to go to the puppeteer and say, “Can you help me with the puppet?” As far as Hillary, I guess I feel like my character in The Contender, Shelly Runyon. He doesn’t want Joan Allen to become president; he just believes she isn’t the right person for the job. It’s nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman, but he uses a bit of dirt on her to bring her down.
The discussion about Oldman's political beliefs were prompted by the following exchange regarding political correctness in Hollywood. WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AHEAD.
OLDMAN: More and more, people in this culture are able to hide behind comedy and satire to say things we can’t ordinarily say, because it’s all too politically correct. PLAYBOY: Do you have something in mind? OLDMAN: Well, if I called Nancy Pelosi a cunt—and I’ll go one better, a fucking useless cunt—I can’t really say that. But Bill Maher and Jon Stewart can, and nobody’s going to stop them from working because of it. Bill Maher could call someone a fag and get away with it. He said to Seth MacFarlane this year, “I thought you were going to do the Oscars again. Instead they got a lesbian.” He can say something like that. Is that more or less offensive than Alec Baldwin saying to someone in the street, “You fag”? I don’t get it. PLAYBOY: You see it as a double standard. OLDMAN: It’s our culture now, absolutely. At the Oscars, if you didn’t vote for 12 Years a Slaveyou were a racist. You have to be very careful about what you say. I do have particular views and opinions that most of this town doesn’t share, but it’s not like I’m a fascist or a racist. There’s nothing like that in my history.
Of course, all sorts of people call themselves "libertarian", many of whom hold wildly opposing views. It will be interested to hear more of Gary Oldman's particular bent on the philosophy. So the question remains...who's got the Hollywood connects to get him on the Lions of Liberty Podcast??Read The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
