Michael Brown v. Anwar al-Awlaki and Son

By now most of you have heard of the deaths of Michael Brown and of Anwar al-Awlaki and his son. But have you ever considered how closely these three deaths are related to each other?

• Michael Brown was killed by a policeman who apparently felt threatened by him during a physical confrontation.
• Anwar al-Awlaki and his son were killed by a President who apparently felt threatened by them even though they were thousands of miles away.
• The policeman apparently was following "proper police procedure", while the President apparently was following a procedure which he himself devised in lieu of due process.

Most Americans are very upset with the killing of Michael Brown, but few even give a damn about the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki and his son. Why the difference?

All were US citizens. But in spite of the Supreme Court ruling that the US Constitution applies both in time of peace and in time of war, all three were denied due process and killed by "the authorities". No doubt the Justice (sic) Department will find that the Ferguson Police deprived Michael Brown of his rights, but why has this same Justice (sic) Department not discovered that al-Awlaki and son also were deprived of their rights?

Some of you may say this is not a good comparison because we are at war with terrorists but are not at war with African-Americans. I would argue that you are wrong on both counts:

• We are not "at war with terrorists". The US is merely killing Muslims and anyone else who speaks out against US injustice, economic oppression, and war crimes.
• And if we're not at war with African-Americans, then why is their incarceration and execution rate so high? Why are we pouring deadly drugs and environmental waste into their neighborhoods? Why are we bringing in millions of Mexican immigrants to take their few remaining jobs? Why do their neighborhoods in New Orleans, Detroit, and other cities look like war zones?

And who is perceived as the greater threat? In the eyes of white America and the US deep state, Muslims and African-Americans both appear to be at the top of the threat list. And (unfortunately) this may be rightly so, at least by the twisted logic of white America and the US deep state:

• America and its clone Israel have no intention of sharing the wealth of the Middle East with the people of the region. We support regimes which concentrate that wealth in a few despotic hands and which imprison and/or torture anyone who speaks out against such injustice. Of course the hundreds of millions of people treated in this manner are a threat to the US empire.
• And America never had any intention of sharing the wealth of North America with its original inhabitants or with the slaves we brought here to till the soil. The government at all levels supports a system which concentrates that wealth in a few selfish hands and which imprisons and/or kills anyone who speaks out against such injustice. Of course the millions of people treated in this manner are a potential threat.

But those are merely the wicked underpinnings of the current situation. The ultimate responsibility and guilt belongs squarely in the lap of the President of the United States. In spite of his Nobel Peace Prize, he has not sought peace. Ignoring his cynical promises of hope and change, he has assisted bankgangsters, corporations, and their accomplices in the one percent in the terminal ravaging of the US economy. He has not stood up for the rights of African-Americans or any other Americans. He has concentrated his efforts at becoming "really good at killing people", and our military and police are merely following his example:

As he always does, the President may try to pin the blame for Michael Brown's death on someone else. But clearly the blame is his, and our next President will inherit it, too. These extrajudicial killings will continue unless and until we elect leaders who are accountable to We The People and who are more concerned with our welfare than in their own enrichment and in taking lavish vacations at our expense while we rot in poverty.

If, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has suggested, we are on the brink of a class war, let's make certain that We The People win the war this time. Let's not wake up when it's over only to hear that familiar refrain:

Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.