Friday, July 23, 2010

Grapski May Miss DemocracyFest

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="467" caption="Supporters demonstrate to free Charlie Grapski"][/caption]
Charlie Grapski, a lecturer on democracy currently under house arrest in Florida, may be absent from this year's DemocracyFest in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Along with former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Grapski is one of two men who spoke at every DemocracyFest event since the series began in 2004 upon the formation of Democracy For America (DFA) -- an outgrowth of the Howard Dean campaign.

I've written about his case before, as here:

'Corruption Watch: Alachua Florida Must Reform'
http://alachuapost.com/Editorial/4002.html

and here:

'Unsatisfactory Outcome in Activist Trial'
http://coto2.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/unsatisfactory-outcome-in-activist-trial/

And at The COTO Report, I re-posted half of this television appearance:

'Progressive Soup hosts Charlie Grapski'
http://coto2.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/progressive-soup-hosts-charlie-grapski/

Upon research, one can discern that Grapski and I were sidekicks in 1989, when we were both co-founders of the China Support Network, rising to support the pro-democracy movement that was routed from Tiananmen Square.

I recall that I wrote to the judge on the eve of Grapski's sentencing hearing; I called his prosecution "a grasp on top of a reach after a stretch." I'm told that the judge read it to the hearing.

Evidently, there is a man named Fleck, who was hired to be a prosecutor, but actually fills the role of 'persecutor.' (Maybe he should return to the dictionary to discover his actual job description...)

Grapski is allowed to "work" while he is under house arrest, but apparently not in his role as a prominent figure in Democracy For America. Prosecutor Fleck is objecting to Grapski's projected travel to DemocracyFest in Las Vegas.

Therefore, I have written to State Attorney Cervone (cervonew@SAO8.ORG) to demand that Grapski be allowed to attend DemocracyFest / NetRoots Nation. (Both are in Vegas this weekend, but I'm foggy about the connection, if any, between them.)

I described this case as "tawdry thuggery carried out through abuse of power" and called it "a lengthy story of political persecution -- worthy of tin-pot dictatorships." I noted that Grapski's sentence "is an injustice in the first place."

I referred to Prosecutor Fleck as "an Alachua goon," and drew an analogy with Wile E. Coyote, in cartoons where he blows up the Road Runner with ACME TNT.

I wonder if they'll read this one in court? Maybe not.

I've got to imagine that someone such as Fleck (or Wile E. Coyote) says to himself, "BWAH HA HA, I've got Charlie Grapski incarcerated! I've got the power to stop his trip!" And hence comes the objection by Fleck against the appearance of Grapski at DemocracyFest in Las Vegas.

Of course, "BWAH HA HA" is something that is said by power-mad villains (or perhaps, Wile E. Coyote). When that level of mentality prevails, then Grapski's trip will be stopped merely because Alachua's thugs and goons have usurped the power to stop it.

It appears that we can read from the situation a bottom-line truth about the Florida justice system:

BWAH-HA-HA trumps CIVIL RIGHTS.

This morning, I learned that three days ago, Grapski filed a 78-page lawsuit against Alachua and its officials, precisely for the violations of his civil rights.

That leads to the thought, "Go, Charlie!" :)

I don't know whether the state will make a last-minute decision and allow Grapski to attend DemocracyFest / NetRoots Nation. But, as I wrote to State Attorney Cervone, "Shame on you, if you stand with them! And shame on the Florida justice system, for going rogue and being off the page with the American Constitution!"

The proceedings in Vegas this weekend will change, based on the decision making in the State of Florida.

7 comments:

  1. He's a tough nail but maybe not as tough as he thinks. These cops in Florida are killers.

    John what happened to Kusumi.com and ChinaSupport.net?

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  2. He was already beaten within an inch of his life, almost two years ago. When I saw him late last year, it was the first anniversary of that, and he was having flashbacks. Now on Facebook, he said "I was hospitalized this past weekend (re near death police beating07)."

    So yes, he's already been there - by now, it's not his first time at the rodeo. And there is some progress on the pushback. In his new federal civil rights lawsuit, it mentions:

    "One of GRAPSKI’s disputes over the CITY’s public records policies and Sunshine Law violations was recently decided substantially in his favor in the landmark case of Grapski v. City of Alachua"

    So he's already won one lawsuit, and the new one is federal.

    He may end up with the last laugh - the previous win might get him six figures, and the civil rights suit, in a victory, may be worth seven figures of moola.

    About Kusumi.com, the domain is gone from my hands. I'm working on a new project to better showcase my stuff.

    And about ChinaSupport.net, it's still there. A link from an article above was faulty, because it added a bogus period "." at the end of the URL. But you should just be able to go to:
    http://www.chinasupport.net

    --It should work.

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  3. Good for you John for standing up for Grapski. From what little I know about the state of Florida, I'm glad I don't live there. This coming from a woman that lives in the corrupt state of NJ ......

    Go Charlie!

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  4. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/11/22/a1a_thurlow_1123.html

    I knew this guy. Granted he wasn't creating the headaches that Charlie was for the corrupt governments but he wasn't given any mercy. This made national news then.

    I also remember when Charles Whitman's brother Michael died in West Palm Beach at a lounge we used to drink at. He was talking about his brother and MK-Ultra. The shadow government snuffed him out as well. His other brother Patrick died of Aids, a creation of the Ft. Detrick bioweapons lab.

    Florida can get you killed fast. Forty years there, I have seen a number of Charlie Grapski's. I hope he doesn't end up on the short end. I'll be looking to see how this ends up. I hope you'll revisit it here John.

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  5. I added chinasupport to the blogroll for what it's worth. It's nice to have your postings here. Isn't it time for another presidential run?

    I'd like to get you and Michael Cavlan on a ticket.

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  6. Now that's the ticket !! ;)

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  7. Thanks for the link and plug.

    In my life, I am in a time of research and development, and it remains to be seen what I will be able to speak for in the future...

    In my worldview, government is supposed to prevent bad things, not perpetrate bad things. The fix is in, but the elites are in the fix. Careerists and careerism are a closer problem to us than fascists and fascism, but the former are moving us toward the latter.

    Do we need a sweeping thing like FDR's New Deal? I think we need a whole New Ballgame! (Just like China, what needs to be fixed is not one thing; it's everything!)

    But, I became a software developer and there's research and development (R&D) before any system gets on its feet. So, the future remains to be seen; I'm simply into R&D.

    ReplyDelete