One week ago, the NAACP is furious with lily white dough boy Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour for his highly insensitive remarks about the Civil Rights era in Mississippi, and this week they are singing his praises and calling him "courageous" and a "shining example of a governor" for freeing two black sisters from prison after sixteen years.
Hell just froze over in Dixie.
Barbour gave himself away by saying that: "...Jamie Scott's medical condition creates a substantial cost to the state of Mississippi." Obviously her dialysis was costing the state of Mississippi a fortune in their eyes, and we would be willing to bet that was the big (and only) reason that the sparkling white Barbour commuted the life sentences of two black sisters in Mississippi on December 29th.
They were sentenced in 1994 to life for armed robbery that amounted to $11.00 and immediately deemed a threat to society which resulted in their lengthy sentence. We have to wonder how many black faces there were on the jury that arrived at a verdict of life for this huge heist that sparked a civil rights outcry of large measure.
The NAACP has been pushing for their release for years, while Barbour has been deaf to their pleas, and we understand their relief, but this fawning over Barbour is absolutely disgusting beyond words. Their accolades towards Barbour, given what the NAACP is supposed to represent, are shocking and repulsive to us.
No doubt Barbour will use this to his advantage in an attempt to run for the White House. It really will be white in the truest sense of the word if he takes up residence there. That's an equally repulsive thought...whitey mouse in the White House.
No doubt Barbour will use this to his advantage in an attempt to run for the White House. It really will be white in the truest sense of the word if he takes up residence there. That's an equally repulsive thought...whitey mouse in the White House.
There is one catch in the sister's release though, one of them must, by condition of commutation, give up a kidney to the other. Never mind the fact that the healthy sister had previously offered to do so, it is now a binding condition of her release.
Or maybe not.
Barbour may have a bit of a problem with that stipulation:
One organ donation expert said Barbour was wrong. "This is clearly a violation of federal law, which prohibits the exchange of 'valuable consideration' in return for an organ," Dr. Michael Shapiro, chairman of the ethics committee for the United Network for Organ Sharing, said in a statement.Shapiro said commutation of a prison sentence would "clearly" fall into the category of "valuable consideration" under the law.
The sisters have yet to undergo the important tissue typing testing. Only blood tests have been performed on them for compatibility so far. And that is raising an obvious question.
If they don't match, or if she backs out, will she be heading back to prison?
"All of the 'What if' questions are, at this point, purely hypothetical," Barbour said in a statement from his office late Thursday. "We'll deal with those situations if they actually happen."
"All of the 'What if' questions are, at this point, purely hypothetical," Barbour said in a statement from his office late Thursday. "We'll deal with those situations if they actually happen."
No clear answer on what would happen to the sisters from Barbour if tissue type tests show the match as incompatible.
This is a very strange story, but it's crystal clear why Barbour decided to finally release these women to everyone but the NAACP. It had nothing to do with courage, compassion or his sweet lil' pea pickin' I'm tolerant now heart. He is and will always be a Boss Hog type who sees the world through dollar signs and racial lines.
Posted by Winger
Posted by Winger
WTF?
ReplyDeleteThis story is like a bad trip, NAACP praising a racist, state mandated organ procurement...yeesh!
Do the crime, do the time, but the sentence should fit the crime. IMHO, this one did not. Barbour is a hot mess of Dixie dinosaur and shame on the NAACP for having anything good to say about him.
ReplyDeleteIf Barbour is hoping for usable sound bites from this it may well backfire on him. From what I can tell the reaction from the public is anything but positive. The story is all over the place and sparking fierce debate.
ReplyDeleteAs well it should.
More disgrace for the south....
ReplyDeleteHe's playing the game shrewdly though by saying if she doesn't get the kidney she will die, which is true, given. But why wait until someone is in a dire situation to do the right thing?
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing he can say that would justify such a lengthy sentence for their crime. Nothing.
But they have been behind bars for 16 years now and I am certain MS inmates don't get the best of care, so how much of her being incarcerated had to do with her declining health? How long has she had kidney problems? Would better care have changed the course of her condition?
So much to love about Barbour--he has recently spun white citizens councils as an antidote to the Klan and has also earned millions shilling for Southern Company and other major polluters in efforts to gut the Clean Air act.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's not all, lopsided amounts of Katrina money steered away from Louisiana to Mississippi, support of bad guest worker programs . . . .