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Friday, November 21, 2014

Rapper Could Face Lifetime in Prison for Lyrics, Congress Set to Prosecute President Under Same Law


SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Racially charged incidents over the past few years, seemingly on the rise, illustrate clearly that nothing is scarier to Americans than black people shopping, walking, talking or even thinking. The dark aftermaths of events in Ferguson, Mo., and Sanford, Fla., where unarmed teens Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin fell to hails of bullets fired by the fearful, continue to haunt our national conscience. The legal showdown now raging in a San Diego, Calif., court, involving rapper Tiny Doo (Brandon Duncan), marks a new iteration in this ongoing dilemma: how can worried Americans suppress the threat posed by people of color who insist on co-existing with the rest of the population? Although Duncan is not tied to the nine shootings at the heart of the trial, he could face life in prison for lyrics he penned about them. Seizing on this potential legal precedent, Congressional Republicans say they are preparing to launch similar charges against President Barack Obama, another terrifying and influential black man who keeps saying uncomfortable things.

Tiny Doo has worked with Lil’ Wayne and enjoys a sizable following for works that deconstruct and chronicle gang life -- and he could be incarcerated for cutting a new album. Prosecutors are invoking a seldom-used statute passed by voters in 2000. Under the law, the performer could be convicted of attempted murder because he benefited from the shootings committed by associate gang members, even though he had no direct involvement in those activities.

The shootings provided inspiration for his songs, bolstered his gang’s reputation and increased his record sales. The songs, prosecutors claim, incite people to commit felonious acts, or otherwise engage in socially unacceptable behaviors, through gritty and obscenity-laden language that willfully glorifies an outlaw lifestyle.

“How is the people’s case against Tiny Doo any different than the people’s case against Barack Obama, which was made evident by their votes this month?” asked soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The similarities, other members of Congress assert, are undeniable. Like Tiny Doo, Barack Obama has no real criminal record or past felony convictions. Like Tiny Doo, Barack Obama’s performances and words have led to civil unrest. And like Tiny Doo, Barack Obama is black.

“In some ways,” McConnell continued, “the president’s oratory has incited greater violence -- on a global scale. Tiny Doo is not responsible for the countless deaths on President Obama’s head. Tiny Doo has not organized drone strikes overseas, nor has he managed the power to send American troops to wars in foreign theaters.”

The president has also been responsible for igniting panic, civil disobedience and widespread social disruption from words that have led to a horrifying increase in the acceptance of unsavory aberrations that threaten to unravel the moral fabric of the country: gay marriage, racial equality, women’s rights to control their own bodies, economically detrimental environmental protections, the extension of healthcare to the poor and undesirable, and, most recently, immigration reform.

“Last night, the president unleashed perhaps his most destructive rhetoric when he promised an executive order to allow more brown and yellow people admission to the country,” McConnell said. “Soon, it won’t just be a black rapper and a black commander-in-chief ruining our great nation with their heinous thoughts and words -- it will be millions of black and brown people thinking and talking about things that are bad for the American way of life. Look at Bill Cosby. Father figure to scores of Americans. Role model. And what are his values? Drugs and rape.”

Brian Watkins, Tiny Doo’s attorney, called his client’s predicament shocking: “He has no criminal record. Nothing in his lyrics say go out and commit a crime. Nothing in his lyrics reference these shootings, yet they are holding him liable for conspiracy.”

President Obama’s lyrics, McConnell contends, are considerably more insidious: “He has continually used his fiery words to pervert and overturn established laws. Everything in his lyrics entreats Americans to embrace criminal acts, Sure, they may not all run afoul of established laws, but they are almost certainly crimes against God. Regardless of whether Tiny Doo does or doesn’t deserve to rot in prison, the case against our president is clear: he should be shackled, thrown in a hold and never allowed to breathe the air of freedom again, unless it’s on a work farm where’s breaking rocks or picking cotton.”

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