Another Gem from Ann Coulter

WHEN THE MSM SAY SOMEONE IS IN PRISON FOR A MINOR DRUG CRIME, THEY'RE ALWAYS LYING

July 17, 2019

If the left has its way in the next few years, there won't be anyone left in prison because, you see, they're overflowing with innocent black men locked up for "nonviolent drug crimes." All of them!

Over the weekend, NBC News investigative reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell appeared on MSNBC's "Kasie DC" to tell the story of Bill Underwood, loving parent and prison mentor, who has already spent nearly 30 years in prison for a nonviolent drug crime.

Caldwell reported:

"William Underwood, now 65 years old, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a nonviolent drug-related crime. It was his first felony, but in the middle of the tough-on-crime era, the judge showed no leniency. With no hope of ever walking free again, Underwood has made the best of his time in prison, mentoring others and staying devoted to his children and grandchildren, as (his daughter) Ebony fights for his release."

Another black body in prison for mere possession of a joint!

Actually, no one is in prison anywhere for possession of a joint, except in the pea-brain fantasies of chubby college coeds everywhere. We don't have the prison space.

NBC's Caldwell interviewed Underwood, noting how "for 30 years from inside prison walls, he still tried to be a father first." The poor man concurred, saying, "That's all I was ever taught, you know? Children first, first, foremost. That's what I try to emulate."

Can it be long before Ivanka pops up, lobbying for his release?

Despite what I'm sure was an exhaustive investigation, I was suspicious of Caldwell's characterization of Underwood's crime. My rule is: If you're not telling me why someone was sentenced to life in prison, there's probably a reason you're not telling me.

All we got from Caldwell was: Here's this great father behind bars; He just got caught up in something, we're really not sure what it was -- and here's his daughter, Ebony, to tell us what a terrific father he is.

Considering that she's arguing for Underwood's immediate release into the general public, it seems odd that Caldwell doesn't know what he's in prison for, nor does she have the slightest interest in finding out.

Maybe at NBC they don't have access to the internet. But I do! I spent a full 60 seconds doing a Nexis search on William Underwood.

Here are some excerpts from a Newsday article on Underwood's conviction, dated Jan. 10, 1990:

"A rock band manager was convicted yesterday as the head of a vicious Harlem drug gang that prosecutors said carried out six murders, including the controversial slaying of a witness in 1983."

Caldwell didn't bother to mention Underwood's SIX MURDERS?

NBC: We don't have room for everything. These stories are only so long.

"William Underwood, 36, faces up to life in prison without parole for his conviction in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on charges of racketeering and operating a continuing criminal enterprise -- the so-called federal narcotics 'kingpin' law."

It's weird that Caldwell never managed to turn up the fact that he was convicted of being the kingpin of a drug empire, distributing heroin throughout Harlem in the 1980s. "Yes, your honor, I was convicted of operating a CONTINUING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE -- but it's my first offense."

"A federal jury found him guilty of heading the murderous and now-broken Vigilantes drug gang ... known for extraordinary violence. All told, police say, it may have killed as many as 23 people."

I feel like Caldwell may not have gone the extra mile in researching this story.

The evidence against Underwood included the testimony of 50 witnesses, undercover video-recordings and confessions of Vigilante gang members -- which is especially impressive, considering that he ordered the murder of witnesses preparing to testify against him. (I guess he couldn't kill all 50.) In addition to killing witnesses, Underwood's outfit killed customers, members of rival drug gangs and innocent passersby.

In a 1988 article titled, "Brutal Drug Gangs Wage War of Terror in Upper Manhattan," The New York Times reported that Underwood's heroin operation was "considered by law-enforcement experts to be the most dangerous drug gang in Harlem." All told, the gangs were "believed to be responsible for as many as 523 slayings in upper Manhattan in the last five years."

That's lots of black bodies.

Having completely lied about these crimes – deliberately withholding this information is lying -- NBC then brought out Sen. Cory Booker as the lonely voice of sanity in the Kafka-esque nightmare that is Underwood's life.

Booker, who is running for president, has introduced legislation that would allow anyone in prison for more than 10 years, such as Underwood, to petition for release -- thus, requiring the state to prove its case all over again.

But sadly, Caldwell said, "Booker has an uphill battle on passing the bill."

She asked Booker the question on everyone's mind: "If you are president and this legislation has not passed before then, would you offer clemency to someone like William Underwood?"

Booker responded: "Hell yes, hell yes. I told you, it should disturb all of us that there are people like Mr. Underwood in prison."

What's disturbs all of us is that this guy is running for president and clearly -- we hope! -- hasn't looked into Underwood's case.

This is the left's famous two-step on criminal punishment:

1. Oppose the death penalty on the grounds that "life in prison without possibility of parole" is just as good;

2. Wait a few years for all the witnesses to die or move away, and then demand the convict's release on the basis of absolutely no information about his crime.

William Underwood was tried and convicted of being the kingpin of a bloody drug empire that terrorized Harlem throughout the 1980s. Thanks to federal prosecutions wrapping up operations like Underwood's, now there are coffee shops, restaurants and multi-million-dollar brownstones in Harlem.

But if you're an investigative reporter for NBC or a Democratic presidential candidate and don't check the facts, his case goes in the "life imprisonment for a single joint" file.

Just remember: Whenever you read about a guy in prison for a "nonviolent drug-related crime," they're lying.

COPYRIGHT 2019 ANN COULTER

Bloomington peace coilition

2/25/2019 in HT

This guest column was written by Bloomington resident David Keppel, who is spokesperson for Bloomington Peace Action Coalition.

Does humanity owe its survival to a television docudrama? In November 1983, President Ronald Reagan watched the film “The Day After,” a movie starring Jason Robard, which imagines the aftermath of a U.S.-Soviet nuclear war and its impact on Lawrence, Kansas. He was deeply shaken by the devastation. One reason he was receptive is that in the weeks preceding that screening, the world had come even closer to nuclear war than it had in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. NATO had just conducted Operation Able Archer, simulating a U.S. nuclear strike on Russia. Since the Russians had a war plan for an attack disguised as a mere exercise, they thought our exercise might be a real strike. Reagan, who had entered office as an ultra hawk, knew we had come to the brink of catastrophe.

Few Americans realize that the danger of nuclear war is again rising. The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists stands at an ominous two minutes to midnight. Claiming Russian violations, President Donald Trump has renounced the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. The administration is embarking on a $1.5 trillion nuclear modernization program to build a new generation of “usable” nuclear weapons. One of these, a stealth nuclear cruise missile, could be deployed at forward sites in Europe within striking distance of Russia. At the same time, the administration is deploying a so-called “low-yield” warhead (the W76-2) for the Trident nuclear missile aboard strategic submarines. With an impact slightly short of the Hiroshima bomb, these are considered “usable.” Yet our Trident missiles will also continue to carry warheads hundreds of times more powerful. If the Russians see an incoming Trident missile, they will likely assume the worst and fire their full nuclear deterrent, engulfing the world in an all-out nuclear war. Since “The Day After” was produced in 1983, scientists have learned that nuclear war would not only cause hundreds of millions of deaths from blast, firestorms and radiation sickness; it would also unleash such severe and rapid climate change (“Nuclear Winter”) that most life on Earth would go extinct.

In 2018, former Sen. Richard Lugar, along with former Secretary of State George Shultz and former Defense Secretary William Perry, wrote to Congress in opposition to the new warhead. “Perhaps the biggest fallacy in the whole argument is the mistaken and dangerous belief that a ‘small’ nuclear war would remain small. There is no basis for the dubious theory that, if Russia used a ‘low-yield’ nuclear weapon and the United States responded in kind, the conflict could stay at that level. Indeed, it is unlikely that there is such a thing as a limited nuclear war; preparing for one is folly.”

Despite this warning, Congress approved the funds for the W76-2. In the new Congress, some senators and representatives (including Elizabeth Warren and Ted Lieu) are trying to block its actual deployment.

Citizen action is essential. The nuclear freeze movement in the 1980s called for a U.S.-Soviet halt in the testing, production and deployment of new nuclear weapons. This proposal recognized that the greatest danger lay not in sheer number of weapons but in development of first-strike weapons designed to “win” a nuclear war, bringing both sides to nuclear hair-trigger. Today, that danger has returned with a vengeance, and again the key is to stop a new generation of nuclear weapons on all sides.

The freeze campaign took its proposal to town meetings across the nation and built a huge grassroots movement that forced Congress and the president to pay attention. Today again, the future is in our hands.

My reply:

The Russian state controls media inside Russia and uses a constant stream of propaganda to convince it's citizens that the west is evil. Citizens are told that Russian military forces protect them from the nefarious schemes of western nations and the US. The dictator Putin masquerades as the strong leader needed to repel western invaders.

Russia has an economy smaller than that of Italy. Economists describe it as a kleptocracy (rule by thieves). The only thing it has to sell are gas and oil and weapons. However, Putin props up the country internationally with threats designed to instill fear in the west such as constant airspace intrusions, bragging about new nuclear super-weapons and invading teritory from neighboring countries. This is the reality the Bloomington Peace Coilition needs to confront rather than trying to disarm America.

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