This myspace page has been created by the friends and family of Titasheen Mitchell as an objection to her unfair treatment and prosecution by the Town of Stratford and the State of Connecticut.
This is not a story on racism- though the local media has attempted to portray it as issue of rasism- it is merely the story of a troubled, aggressive police officer mishandling an already volatile situation. Based on news reports and first hand witness accounts, here is that story.
On March 21st, 2006 Titasheen Mitchell was in her mother's store when an altercation broke out in a nearby business.
At some point, a police officer (Officer Gugliotti) entered the store ostensibly looking for two of the alleged melee participants that had been seen entering the store. Once inside, the officer in a rude and brusque manner began addressing one of the young ladies.
Concerned with the negative image that this represented coupled with the effects that the aggressive officer's mannerisms were having on her nearby sibling, Titasheen Mitchell politely asked the officer if he could please lower his voice. Apparently this reasoned question from a 14 year old girl displeased the officer.
The officer then continued to exhibit behavior unbecoming of an officer of the law and was once more politely asked to lower his voice; the response was indirectly disproportionate to the manner with which the request had been made.
The officer proceeded to ask in a surly and exasperated manner, "What?!" The question seemed to have been asked in a tone of incredible disbelief cloaked in a fit of rage. It appeared that there was an air of disbelief from the officer that a 14 year old girl would deign to ask him if he could please lower his voice.
At this point, the enraged officer grabbed Titasheen Mitchell by the collars of her jacket, lifted her off the ground and headed towards the front door without a single explanation as to why. Concerned for her safety and without having an explanation from the officer as to why she was being manhandled by the 5'10" inch 285lb police officer, the 5'2" 115lb 14 year old girl resisted her brutal treatment. She did not resist with force, she resisted with the words, "Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!"
Once she had been carried to a patrol car, another officer had said to her, "Don't resist arrest." To which she did the following; she put her hands behind her back and said, "Ok, arrest me then." The officer then proceeded to arrest Ms. Mitchell but omitted to read her Miranda Rights.
Once at the station, Titasheen's mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis, demanded that her daughter receive immediate medical attention because she had heard that her daughter had been struck by a police officer. This request was denied. Marcia Mitchell-Davis repeated her request every 15 minutes for 2 hours, and was repeatedly denied. In fact, she was told that if she were to make the request again, she would be arrested. She defied this threat and outward intimidation and continued to make the request that her daughter receive medical treatment, which 5 hours later was granted. She was brought to the Bridgeport Hospital by her mother for that treatment.
During the interval from arrest to her subsequent release for medical treatment, Titasheen's mother along with her request for medical attention for her daughter also asked to file a citizen's complaint against the police officer and was told by the Captain of the station that he was too busy to take her complaint and to return the following day.
Since the time of the arrest, the Mitchell-Davis family has been subject to routine harassment from the police department including but not limited to:
*Being followed by Stratford police, who would turn on their lights, force the Mitchell-Davis family to pull over and then speed off. *Forced to remove business signs by the police. *Supremacist groups distributing paraphenalia and literature outside the Mitchell-Davis business. *Threatening phone calls. *Police harassment of patrons of the Mitchell-Davis store.
From start to finish, the officer- if not officers- acted improperly and without restraint. They mistreated and abused a 14 year old girl, her mother, but more importantly, the system of justice that they have pledged to uphold. Once done, they then proceeded to blame the victims for their own mistreatment. Somewhere in this story, justice must and will prevail.
For more information please visit Justice For Titasheen Mitchell. From there you can read the blog entries and donate to her defense fund. Who I'd like to meet: Senator Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, Senator Diane Feinstein, Queen Elizabeth, the Pope, Oprah Winfrey.
If you believe that this so called war can be won by being worse than them or just a little bit better than them...then you are doomed to continued failure after failure after failure. You cannot win the war for hearts and minds by not maintaining the moral high ground, and as has oft been stated, this is supposed to be a war for civilization. They (the Al Qaeda terrorists) believe civilization requires one set of rules, we believe it requires a completely different set. If you believe that this is a war for freedom, for alues, for civilization then you must act like it. If they choose to act like animals killing civilians, murdering children, indiscriminately maiming, torturing, and committing all manners of grotesque evil...then so be it. The whole world will turn against them until, like Cain, they have nowhere to turn.
However, should they be able to point the finger and say that the only tool they have to use is terror in the face of a greater evil, and you choose to indulge the finger pointing with evil acts of your own, then the best you can ever hope for is a stalemate of perpetual war; for they will have their supporters willing to say that evil begets evil but what choice do we have against so mighty an enemy who can deliver the ultimate evils to our doorstep?
Stop kidding yourselves, this is a war for that moral high ground and we must regain and maintain it in order to prevail. If we have already abandoned it with no wish to regain it, then all is already lost.
The greater battle is not the bombs you can drop or the people that you can kill, but rather, the minds that you can change.This is not to say that good people should not be vigilant in protecting their citizens, that is part and parcel of 'community,' just be careful about the manner you choose to proceed with to do that. Just as we know that murderers exist on our streets, we do not want to live in communities where the knowledge that murderers exist overcome our desire to walk freely in our own streets. We know too that terror and terrorists will forever be omnipresent in one form or another- it is the nature of a noun to exist in perpetuity; however we have no desire to live every day of our lives in total fear.
Race Day
Just a few quick thoughts on a few different issues.
NativesBlood is a big deal in the native community; it is the source of a governmental policy that retains the full backing of Native Communities. It is an explicit-exclusionary policy vs my thoughts that it should be a quasi-inclusionary policy.
My father once said something that I agree with; 'In 10000 years, if there is one Native person still remaining in Canada/USA with even an ounce of Native blood running through their veins; then that person retains the right to rise up and overthrow the government.' To my father, time was inconsequential to the absolute rights that the Natives hold, and I agreed.
The current policies are designed to ensure that someday there will be only one remaining native in Canada/USA.
Race in GeneralEvery community is racist or bigoted, even- maybe even most especially- internally.
Iraq and the Misery Index
Iraq and the Misery Index
By Richard Stoyeck
The other day it occurred to me that during Ronald Reagan’s run for the Presidency he created a “Misery Index”. This index represented a total of the rate of inflation, plus the prime rate, as an indicator of how the American people felt about how they were doing. No one has suggested resurrecting this index in recent years. My thought was to create a “Happiness Index”. How happy are you with the leadership of the country. The problem is that other than taking an outright poll, how do you determine happiness? Could you merely ask people if they are happy, or not with the way things are going?
Think about it for a moment, and try to objectively look at what’s been going on the last couple of years. For the last fifty years, the Republican Party successfully presented itself as the people’s choice for as a strong anti-communist party versus the former Soviet threat. Republican President after President was elected on the basis of toughness versus communism.
By 1992, communism was no longer an issue as Russia, and the satellites went democratic, and the Berlin Wall had fallen. Suddenly, the Republican Party felt its foreign policy legs come out from under it. The communist bogeyman which was real since 1917 was no longer an issue. A sitting Republican President, George HW Bush was defeated handily by Democratic Candidate, Bill Clinton who had NO foreign policy experience, or even an understanding of things foreign. During the campaign that followed, foreign policy was a NON-ISSUE. There was no communist bogeyman for the Republicans to pin their hopes on.
The tragedy of 9/11 changed everything. When the tragedy struck, the current President of the United States was handed terrorism on a silver platter as an issue. Terrorism could then be used as a replacement for communism as the next boogeyman. Anti-terrorism would serve as the underpinning of the Republican Party the same way anti-communism served for over 70 years.
The President attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan who had harbored Osama Bin Laden, and his allies for years. When it came to finishing the job, and surrounding Osama in the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, we let this mass murderer get away by leaving the job to foreign hired mercenaries, the anti Taliban Afkan nationals. I assume we simply did not want to take the American manpower losses that might have been demanded.
The President then committed the American army and wealth to destroying the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Our entry to this war was based on false premises. There were no weapons of mass destruction. We are now left with chaos and civil war in that country, and no EXIT STRATEGY. As Americans, not one of us, including the President has any idea how this war will finish. He, the President has now placed our country in the same position as we were in during Viet Nam - Quagmire.
When Americans enter a war, they need to know the objective. During WW II, it was the taking of Berlin in Europe, or the fall of Tokyo in Japan. In Viet Nam, there was no mission, except the ephemeral objective of keeping South Viet Nam from going communist. What does that mean? Depending on how you calculate it, the Viet Nam war went on for about 15 years. How long will Iraq take?
I believe the President has been notified by the American people in the recent Congressional election that he is on a “short leash” when it comes to Iraq. What is the objective in Iraq? It can’t be democracy any longer. These people do not understand democracy as we understand it. The concept of democracy in that part of the world has not existed in thousands of years.
Democracy is everybody’s SECOND choice in Iraq. The Shia and Sunni’s are killing each other on a daily basis in large numbers, some of which are unreported. Good, decent American troops, none of which are sons of any member of Congress, are dying in a war without an objective, except for “Stay the Course”.
These policies should be unacceptable to all of us as Americans. The Republican Party in Congress was a surrogate for President Bush in this election. The voters could not vent their ANGER at President Bush direct. The electorate chose instead, to vent their pent-up anger towards Republican incumbents, who took a “thumping” as the President said. Yes there were other issues like corruption, but Iraq was the emotional issue. Had President Bush been up for re-election, he would have been soundly defeated by even a paraplegic blind mute this time around.
Let’s get back to that “happiness index” I spoke about in the beginning of this article. Are any of us happier with the progress of our country over the last six years than we were before that period? Are we more optimistic about the future of our country now than we were a few years ago? Do any of us believe we are headed in the right direction, or even where we are headed at all?
I believe we are now facing MASSIVE UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS that if not addressed will get worse, and our present leadership is not even aware that they exist. America has moved from a farming economy pre 1900, to a manufacturing economy in the 20th century. It must now complete the move from a manufacturing economy, to a services / post industrial society in this the 21st century. This is going to be a tough move with big unanticipated downdrafts that can knock us for an economic loop.
China and the Asian rim want to manufacture everything, leaving us with nothing. Some of our brand name companies are more than willing to accommodate them. Nike manufactures nothing – everything comes from Asia. The massive oil companies in this country including Exxon, and others manufacture nothing – they are strictly distribution and marketing entities. GM and Ford can not compete against Asian manufacturing, and then there’s Wal-Mart, which really functions as a distribution arm for China. Eighty percent of everything Wal-Mart sells comes from China.
This President does not have his eye on the ball, and we are in danger of losing our economic fire power in the next decade. He is asleep at the switch, and must realize that we can no longer afford the loss of precious lives, and national wealth on wars without objectives in countries that none of us have ever been to.
We do not have a “Happiness Index” in this country, but if we did, I believe we are near a low in our emotional happiness in this country. Things have to change, and they have to change in a hurry. Time is NOT on our side. Other countries want to eat our economy for lunch, and displace us as the world’s only remaining superpower. This President would do well to act his act together, and start thinking about how to maintain national economic wellbeing in the face of the coming foreign economic threats that are looming.
Richard Stoyeck’s background includes being a limited partner at Bear Stearns, Senior VP at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn Loeb, Arthur Andersen, and KPMG. Educated at Pace University, NYU, and Harvard University, today he runs Rockefeller Capital Partners and StocksAtBottom.com
http://www.stocksatbottom.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Stoyeck
Proud Montrealer
Having recently read about how the Mayor and hs staff feel about certain Montrealers, this "Neo-Montrealer" feels a need to respond.
My family started to emigrate to Canada in 1969, with Montreal being the bright shining city beckoning them from sunny Jamaica...if only they had known how cold it could be...and by that, I mean the people who today refer to them as "Neo-Montrealers.
First my mom came in 1969, followed quickly by my father, grandmother, sisters, and others. Montreal, Quebec, Canada soon became home to us all. Whenever we travel and are asked where we are from, we do not say Kingston, Jamaica, we say Montreal, Quebec. It's not that we have abandoned our heritage or forgotten it, Jamaica still beats strongly in our hearts; but the drums it beats on are fiercely proud Canadians, and the soulful song it sings is one of gratitude and love for Montreal, Quebec.
Democrats Beware
My opinion, as lowly as it may be regarded, is for Democrats to beware the the extremes and to wield their new found powers judiciously. It may be a great idea to leave Iraq but do not do so in a hurry. Make sure that in leaving Iraq that you have thought through all relevant possibilities. Do not leave without considering all options.
Your predecessors failed to plan; they did not have any benchmarks by which to judge success or failure and left their mission open-ended and without alternatives. I say put together a plan that will alllow America to extricate itself from Iraq without harming:
A) Iraq
B) America
Establish a time frame and what needs to be accomplished in that time frame before leaving. Create alternate scenarios and contingency plans. Do ask the UN for help, indeed, force the UN to help. Despite what conservatives/right wing/republicans say, there is a place for the UN in all of this.
Leaving without considering all the options properly will make the democratic party look weak, unprepared, and sloppy with foreign affairs. So again, no knee-jerk reactions, no leaving Iraq until you have a plan for peace, a plan for freedom, and a plan for success. Above all else, do the planning quickly.
The Kids Are Back In Charge - relieved?
A few years ago I wrote an article titled, "Congratulations, Now You Own It," which was originally published at the Washington Dispatch. I feel the need to look back at it today in order to write this new article about the Democratic victory in the 2006 elections. Originally, the article was meant to serve as a wake up call to Republicans who had consistently dismissed the idea that the President was not king and that power should not be abused but used with all due humility. I wish to echo the same warnings to the other side of the debates.
There was one line that I wrote that drew my particular attention, this one, "With your votes and with your voices- you have bought it, you now own it." To see the entire article, you can visit The Washington Dispatch. That one line carries over from election to election as a warning to be sure to vote for what is in the best interests of America and the rest of the world. America is to the world, what GM used to be to America. What's good for America is good for the world and what is good for the world is good for America. It is a crucial symbiosis which has been on vivid display over the last twenty plus years, if not longer.
There are those who would label people such as me and pigeonhole us into one stream of thought or another, whether it be liberal or conservative, left or right, Republican or Democrat. Personally, I do not believe that is what I do nor do I believe it to be useful to expect a commentator to espouse a point of view to satiate the public desire to hear only good things about "their team," which is what makes that one line important. I will do today what I did then and then is to call for accountability from those who are in power. If the mainstream media cannot hold up their end of the "bargain," the public trust suffers, therefore independent voices must pick up the slack. The mainstream media ought not be a cheering squad for one side or another.
A quick review of my old article tells me that I need to give credit where credit is due; that though the Republicans have suffered what can only be described as a massive defeat in the elections, their tenure did not result in whole scale catastrophes for America as a nation. They deserve their due credit that was promised. Unemployment has not spiraled out of control. The ecology did not suffer unbearably. The economy has not crumbled, in fact it is stronger- although some would argue that it is on a borrowed dime, therefore borrowed time. The world did not explode and the sky did not fall.
There are good reasons for the Democratic victory though; despite the good economy, there has been too much mistrust, mistakes, and misery in Washington to allow the party in power to stay in power. The Republicans had the world in America; The House, The Senate, The State Governors, The Judiciary, The Media and yet could not hold on to power...today they need to look within and ask why and not blame the voters for the decisions that were made. Think about it, the Democrats did not need to put forward any concrete plans about the war, the economy, or social issues; all they had to do was say, we are not them and we will not do as they have done.
The Democrats have inherited, the war on terror, a good economy, a growing deficit and the elephant in the room that nobody wants to discuss, war in Iraq. The American people have voted and that line now holds true for all those that voted Democrat instead of sticking with "Stay the Course." So to all those that voted Democrat I repeat, "With your votes and with your voices- you have bought it, you now own it." What exactly are you expecting the Democrats to do? That question is the crux of the matter. There is no clear read from the electorate on what they expect other than they are expecting change and a shift away from two things; doublespeak and the destruction.
By doublespeak, they do not want to hear promises and empty slogans such as, "uniter, not a divider," which is then followed up by the most dismissive, abusive, and divisive tactics used in Washington politics over the last twenty plus years. The electorate is not stupid and they can see when a slogan like that was really meant as 'unite behind my team or I will destroy you.' Which brings me to destruction, it is not just the destruction caused by war which turned Americans off to the Republicans, it was that pledge from so many years ago to end the "politics of personal destruction," followed by active campaigns sanctioned at the highest levels to destroy anyone that:
a) stood in the way of policy
and/or
b) used as policy to attain a political goal.
The adults who were supposed to be in charge turned out to be corrupt and incompetent; not all of them, but enough for questions to be asked about the entire team. Due to these egregious acts and actions, the American electorate has turned to a party that has no clear leadership, that has no clearly defined goals for the economy, no clear plan for fighting terrorism, and no clear ideas on Iraq. I figured I could offer the "other party" a bit of advise on these pages.
The War on Terror
My opinion on this is that the Republican party made a huge lapse in judgment by believing that the way to fight terrorism is by limiting or restricting freedom for all. They tried to fight terror through the use of fear and thereby "terrorized" the US population. Republicans have made the war on terror a war on the liberties and freedom of Americans and have spread that war to other parts of the world. I am sure that the attempt to restrict freedom was not a mean-spirited one, but one that was made out of a good faith attempt to fight the evils of terrorism. The Democrats may try the same but is that it ought not be terror that is used to fight terror, but the ideas of freedom, liberty, and justice. Freedom is not a product to be sold, it is an ideal and no amount of terrorism can ever defeat it. No amount of 911s could ever reduce the cravings of the oppressed to be free nor the desire of free people to have even greater freedoms.
The problem with fighting terror is that it can never be defeated, it will never go away; you can take steps to reduce it, but you will never ever stamp it out: so why throw what you believe in out? All it ends up doing, is making you more like "them."
If over the next two years, the Democrats cannot voice a comprehensive plan to protect Americans from terror attacks that does not involve less freedom, less liberty and less justice in particular for Americans, but by extension the whole world, then they will not deserve to also capture the Presidency in '08.
The Economy
If over the next two years, the Democrats cannot put together a plan that will strengthen the economy while reducing the deficit- it may involve tax increases, but it would be preferable if it did not- then they may not deserve the Presidency in '08.
Iraq
I dislike discussing Iraq because it is what it is and the choices are limited. For Democrats the issue should not be to pull out or not pull out, but rather what is the situation and what metrics should be used to decide when American troops can pull out. In other words, somebody has to craft a plan that has reasonable and attainable goals. A plan that has timetables and goals as well as a review process to establish if those goals are being met. If they are not, why or why not and what needs to be done to get back on track. Pulling out for the sake of pulling out does no one any good, after all, this is the part about ownership after invasion and occupation of a land and its people that did not threaten nor attack you. This is part and parcel of the "now you own it," votes in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
My personal opinion for solving Americas situation is a simple one, give the problem to the UN. At this point Iraq may need peacekeepers, educators, diplomats, and reconstruction experts more than it needs soldiers, planes and bombs. So America, take off the green helmets, green berets, and red berets and don the UN blue. Gradually, other countries can assume a larger role in the peace keeping efforts while lessening the load of America. While there may be bitter feelings from UN member nations, it is a pill that the UN now has to swallow since the situation is what it is. There is no turning back the clock to 2003, and the needs of the Iraqi people must jump to the forefront.
My personal opinions aside, if the Democratic party cannot formulate a plan or compromise on Iraq, then they will not deserve the Presidency in '08.
The Mood in Washington
If over the next two years, Democrats do not display a willingness to work with Republicans on solving issues. Democrats must display to the American public that bipartisanship is not just another feel good word to be thrown around whenever convenient. If they do nothing else but make a good faith attempt to work with their Republican counterparts and the President, they may not need to come up with anything on their own to win in '08.
I will conclude with a similar statement as was made in my article from 2004. America, you now own it. If in 2008 the economy has worsened, the situation in Iraq has worsened, the mood in Washington has worsened then you will not have much choice but to vote Republican. On the other hand should things improve then some of the 59 million that voted for Bush in 2004, need to jump ship and vote Democrat in 2008.
Congratulations, Now You Own It!
Commentary by Garfield Jones
November 4, 2004 Congratulations are in order to the American right for winning yet another national election. Conservatives and Republicans have this election thing down to a science and continue their ‘schooling’ of Democrats in a third straight election. They are connecting with America on a visceral level while the Democrats keep attempting to connect on a cerebral one- I wonder if Democrats have now figured out which one works?
Now, there are certain aspects of the election, which stink to high hell, but those issues are irrelevant. The Democrats need to learn certain lessons from that other competitive world, sports, where the motto is, ‘to be the champs, you gotta beat the champs!’ This is especially true in sports where judging of some sort is required; the close ones always go to the current reigning champ. Democrats and liberals have to face it, G.W. Bush and his NeoConservative/Republican base are the champs, and to beat them, they need to regroup, rethink, and react.
In any case for all those who know me and have read my work in the past- and have branded me a liberal - I have a deal, the same deal I offered to my Conservative friends; a truce. Here it is: from here on in, no more excuses! From here on in, Conservative/Republicans must take complete ownership for whatever occurs. There is to be no more blaming of Clinton and, no more blaming the Democrats!
If the economy completely tanks, do not blame Liberals/Democrats! If international affairs spiral out of control, do not blame Liberals/Democrats! If poverty escalates, do not blame Liberals/Democrats! If pollution levels become unbearably high and your children need to wear masks to go outside, do not blame Liberals/Democrats! If crime skyrockets, do not blame Liberals/Democrats!
If you lose a part of your body or your life to a product that is knowingly defective, and you find yourself with no recourse, do not blame Liberals/Democrats! If the sky should fall, do not blame Liberals/Democrats! It is yours now. With your votes and with your voices- you have bought it, you now own it.
With the house firmly in Republican hands; with the senate firmly in Republican hands; with the judiciary firmly in Republican hands; and with the Presidency firmly in Republican hands there is no more blame to pass around. Should everything go all to hell by 2008, remember how you got there and accept complete responsibility for the choices you made in 2004. Also, do not be fooled again if the people that have broken it tell you they are the only ones qualified to fix it.
On the flip side, for all the Liberals/Democrats out there, if the next four years produce the best economy in the last 100 years, give credit where credit is due. If the world becomes more peaceful, more harmonious, and safer, give credit where credit is due, vote Republican in 2006 and especially in 2008. None of it may happen, things may get worse, but give Bush a chance to disappoint the 59 million that voted for him. If he does not, then a few million of the 55 million that did not vote for him should jump on the Conservative/Republican juggernaught.
Bush Speak
I am amazed at conservatives and at Bush in particular. There I am listening to Bush say that 'anyone in a position to lead the country ought to understand the consequences of words.'
This has got to be the most hypocritical statement I have ever heard coming from someone. Here is a man, the POTUS, who throughout the last 6 years has had to have people (his team) pooh pooh away his so-called Bushisms as irrelevant since we ought to know what he really means. Now he has the nerve to basically tell someone else to think before he speaks?!!!
This is truly outrageous!
