One point I would like is whether their are armed vigilantes attached to the Free Robert Latimer Movement. First of all I would like to point out that I think that this whole movement to free Robert Latimer is more of an hysterical mob than a disciplined, centrally coordinated organization. In terms of organizational structure their are movements such as Greenpeace and Earthfirst (although neither of these are fascistic). You'll have people spiking trees in these groups. These people are not ordered to do this by people higher up then them per say. But what exists of a leadership does not oppose it and the people doing have the tacit approval of those in charge.
With the Free Robert Latimer (which IS fascistic) the workings are quite similar. Robert Latimer commits an act of violence against a disabled person (disabled people being oppressed people). His actions and the mass ablest Pro-Robert Latimer hysteria whipped up by the bourgeois (capitalist) press has created and environment where killing disabled people is seen as acceptable. Because of this there are more disabled people are being killed by their caretakers. This environment has also encouraged more than a few fascists to crawl out of their whole. And Latimer and his supporters sit back while this happens. In affect Robert Latimer has become a catalyst or lightning rod for ablest terror. In fact "mercy killing" has historically been the watchword for ablest terror. The pretext that the Nazis and the Eugenics movement had for killing the disabled was that they were "mercy killing" them. That it was "euthanasia" (in really euthanasia requires consent) and "ending their suffering".
Comradely,
A Dedicated Trotksyist,
M.G.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tracy Latimer not Robert Latimer is Oppressed
There are those who claim that Tracy Latimer and Robert Latimer are "both oppressed and that they "suffered together". I intend to expose this cynical, arrogant as well and ablest and bigoted sophistry.
If you look at it, Tracy Latimer was severely disabled. People in psychiatric wards didn't get the vote until 1988. People with disabitities and mental illnesses were sterilized in the days of eugenics. People with disabilities and mental illnesses were the first people to fall victim to the holocaust. They are disproportionaly ghettoized, homeless and unemployed. They are often victims of police terror as well as fascist and fascistic terror. Cuts and privatizations of welfare, healthcare and vocational services hurt them disproportionally. Tracy Latimer was also female and a youth (both of whom are oppressed).
Robert Latimer on the other hand is white, male and has a great deal of property. White men with property were the first people to have the vote (back when voting was a privilege of a tiny elite). Robert Latimer is straight, not transgendered, not of a religous minority, not disabled, not a youth, not a senior citizen, not a Jew, not of a Muslim. So really, I think it is quite proposterous to call him "oppressed". Apparently according to a census from the 1990s by he government of Canada the average farmer in Canada has one million dollars worth of assets, according to the Financial Post more recently the average farmer has around 11.8 billion dollars worth of assets. In the 1980s Robert Latimer had around 1,820 acres of land. Today he has 2,850 acres of land.
In term of the remark that Robert Latimer and Tracy Latimer "suffer together" these to is absurd. The first disabled people killed in the holocaust had the consent of their parents. Their are parents of Autistic and disabled children who consent to having their children said to the Judge Rotenburg "Educational Centre" where disabled children are electrically shocked for everything from nail bitting to nose picking to nagging. Or how about Islamic fundamentalist parents and their daughters who don't want to don the veil. Do they "suffer together"? How about homophobic fundamentalist Christian parents and their homosexual, bisexual and transexual children. Do they "suffer together"? As the ICL points out (althought they have cadre supporting Robert Latimer), the majority of child abuse takes place within the nuclear family. The murder of children by their parents is child abuse at its worst. Also, disabled children are disproportionally victims of child abuse.
Comradely,
A Dedicated Trotskyist,
Michael Gregory
If you look at it, Tracy Latimer was severely disabled. People in psychiatric wards didn't get the vote until 1988. People with disabitities and mental illnesses were sterilized in the days of eugenics. People with disabilities and mental illnesses were the first people to fall victim to the holocaust. They are disproportionaly ghettoized, homeless and unemployed. They are often victims of police terror as well as fascist and fascistic terror. Cuts and privatizations of welfare, healthcare and vocational services hurt them disproportionally. Tracy Latimer was also female and a youth (both of whom are oppressed).
Robert Latimer on the other hand is white, male and has a great deal of property. White men with property were the first people to have the vote (back when voting was a privilege of a tiny elite). Robert Latimer is straight, not transgendered, not of a religous minority, not disabled, not a youth, not a senior citizen, not a Jew, not of a Muslim. So really, I think it is quite proposterous to call him "oppressed". Apparently according to a census from the 1990s by he government of Canada the average farmer in Canada has one million dollars worth of assets, according to the Financial Post more recently the average farmer has around 11.8 billion dollars worth of assets. In the 1980s Robert Latimer had around 1,820 acres of land. Today he has 2,850 acres of land.
In term of the remark that Robert Latimer and Tracy Latimer "suffer together" these to is absurd. The first disabled people killed in the holocaust had the consent of their parents. Their are parents of Autistic and disabled children who consent to having their children said to the Judge Rotenburg "Educational Centre" where disabled children are electrically shocked for everything from nail bitting to nose picking to nagging. Or how about Islamic fundamentalist parents and their daughters who don't want to don the veil. Do they "suffer together"? How about homophobic fundamentalist Christian parents and their homosexual, bisexual and transexual children. Do they "suffer together"? As the ICL points out (althought they have cadre supporting Robert Latimer), the majority of child abuse takes place within the nuclear family. The murder of children by their parents is child abuse at its worst. Also, disabled children are disproportionally victims of child abuse.
Comradely,
A Dedicated Trotskyist,
Michael Gregory
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Christian Right are no Friends of the Disabled and Oppressed
It has appeared that many reactionary Christian groups have come out in support of Robert Latimer. Groups such as the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. One not familiar with these groups and their history may regard these people as allies of the disabled community. But don't be fooled.
Have any of these right-wing Christian groups called for the shutting down of the Judge Rotenburg "Educational Center" in Massachusetts where people with disabilities are electrically shocked? No! Have they spoken out against "curing" the "disabled"? No! Have they spoken out against cop terror in the ghettos where the majority of people are disabled or mentally ill? No! How about when people in psychiatric wards in Canada got the vote in 1988, what was the stance of the Conservative party in Canada? It opposed giving these people suffrage! And this is before the religious yahoos left to create the Reform Party! Has the Christian right fought to defend universal health care or fought for a National Pharmacare program? No! How about defending public vocational services for the disabled and mentally ill? Not a thing! How about defending housing for the disabled and mentally ill? Nada! How about calling for the nationalizing all special needs schools which don't seek to "cure" the disabled? Absolutely nothing! There have been rumblings about reintroducing eugenics in "special circumstances". What's the the response of the Christian Right? Silence! How about forcing the "mentally ill" to go through electro-shock therapy? The Christian Right is nowhere to be found! What if a "mentally ill" or "disabled" women is raped? The Christian Right would oppose her right to abort the fetus! Oh, and the Christian right supports legalizing corporal punishment (spanking, flogging). Corporal punishment is regarded by pediatricians as being by definition child abuse. And guess which children get more than there fair share of child abuse? The "disabled" and "mentally ill"!
I think it is quite clear that the Christian right sneers at the oppression of the disabled. So why have the involved themselves in the lynching of Tracy Latimer? To cynically manipulate the genuine grievances of the disabled to pursue their twisted own right to life agenda!
As I stated before. I think that Revolutionary must mobilize the Proletariat (both disabled and non-disabled) to smash the fascistic Free Robert Latimer Movement. However, it is equally important for revolutionaries to express their uncompromising opposition to the Christian Right. If the working class is mobilized to smash the free Robert Latimer movement the Proletariat and its vanguard would then have the moral authority to push for a split between the radical youth, Plebeian masses and the Proletarians with disabilities and the venal Christian right and the more reactionary elements among the disabled community.
Comradely,
M.G.
Have any of these right-wing Christian groups called for the shutting down of the Judge Rotenburg "Educational Center" in Massachusetts where people with disabilities are electrically shocked? No! Have they spoken out against "curing" the "disabled"? No! Have they spoken out against cop terror in the ghettos where the majority of people are disabled or mentally ill? No! How about when people in psychiatric wards in Canada got the vote in 1988, what was the stance of the Conservative party in Canada? It opposed giving these people suffrage! And this is before the religious yahoos left to create the Reform Party! Has the Christian right fought to defend universal health care or fought for a National Pharmacare program? No! How about defending public vocational services for the disabled and mentally ill? Not a thing! How about defending housing for the disabled and mentally ill? Nada! How about calling for the nationalizing all special needs schools which don't seek to "cure" the disabled? Absolutely nothing! There have been rumblings about reintroducing eugenics in "special circumstances". What's the the response of the Christian Right? Silence! How about forcing the "mentally ill" to go through electro-shock therapy? The Christian Right is nowhere to be found! What if a "mentally ill" or "disabled" women is raped? The Christian Right would oppose her right to abort the fetus! Oh, and the Christian right supports legalizing corporal punishment (spanking, flogging). Corporal punishment is regarded by pediatricians as being by definition child abuse. And guess which children get more than there fair share of child abuse? The "disabled" and "mentally ill"!
I think it is quite clear that the Christian right sneers at the oppression of the disabled. So why have the involved themselves in the lynching of Tracy Latimer? To cynically manipulate the genuine grievances of the disabled to pursue their twisted own right to life agenda!
As I stated before. I think that Revolutionary must mobilize the Proletariat (both disabled and non-disabled) to smash the fascistic Free Robert Latimer Movement. However, it is equally important for revolutionaries to express their uncompromising opposition to the Christian Right. If the working class is mobilized to smash the free Robert Latimer movement the Proletariat and its vanguard would then have the moral authority to push for a split between the radical youth, Plebeian masses and the Proletarians with disabilities and the venal Christian right and the more reactionary elements among the disabled community.
Comradely,
M.G.
Another Bunch of Fascists Sympathetics to Robert Latimer
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=364274&page=3
http://www3.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=453850
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-33485/t-444322.html
http://www3.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=453850
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-33485/t-444322.html
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Weaknesses of those Struggling against Ableist Bigotry
Dear Spartacist/Workers' Vanguard/PDC
There have been a number of weaknesses in the struggle of disability rights activists in the struggle for disability rights. This is not to say that for a minute that what Robert Latimer and others who performed similar actions aren't committing act of terror of that I was unfounded in using the term lynching in describing what Robert Latimer did to his daughter.
There are However, several weak points in the disability rights groups I have come across. First of all, illusions in the capitalist state. The state cannot be relied on to defend the disabled. Just like the state can't be relied on to defend blacks, Asians natives, gays or women from either state terror, terror committed by fascists, by fascistic red-neck or non-fascist bigots.
Second, many, not all, disability rights activists and groups oppose Euthanasia. Personally, I think voluntary euthanasia (suicide and assisted suicide) should be decriminalized. I think, however, that it is equally crucial to oppose "mercy killings" (euthanasia without consent). Involuntary euthanasia has been used, historically, to kill off the disabled and other oppressed people. This was the case with Eugenecists, the Third Reich and today with caretakers who murder the disabled in their care.
Third, Christian groups such as the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada have tried to seize on this to whip up hysteria over euthanasia. Both the Christian Right and the bigots supporting Robert Latimer (which includes outright fascists) consider the lynching of Tracy Latimer to be "Euthanasia". Latimer supporters defend the murder of Tracy Latimer as "euthanasia" and the Christian right opposed Euthanasia as "murder". I think it is highly crucial for revolutionaries who oppose the lynching of Tracy Latimer to express there opposition to the Christian Right. Most disability rights groups I don't think do this enough.
Finally, I think it is crucial to mobilize opposition to the lynching of Tracy Latimer and other disabled people on a class-basis which most disability rights groups don't. Victories for the oppressed haven't been won in the courtrooms or in parliament but on the streets and on the picket lines.
Comradely,
M.G.
http://www.ccdonline.ca/issues/euthanasia/reflectionsmedia.htm Council of Canadians with Disabilities: Issues: Latimer - Reflection
Sunday, June 29, 2008
RobertLatimer.net is not a Credible Source
Dear Spartacist/Workers' Vanguard/PDC,
If you are to come across Robert Latimer and his ilk they are likely to refer to site called www.robertlatimer.net. This site, I don't think is credible for the following reasons. First of all, there is no About Us section meaning that one has no idea who is providing the information.
Second, for a lot of the people they site they have no contact information for those people. This makes it impossible to confirm whether or not these people are saying the things that robertlatimer.net alleges they are saying or whether robertlatimer.net is merely making it up.
Third, for things like court transcripts are on the website. There are no links to the original sources such as the Canadian Department of Justice, the Government of Canada etc.
Fourth, for a lot of their "doctors testimony" they do very little in terms of siting respected medical sites.
Another point, I think there a number of factual inaccuracies on this website site. They seem to be describing Cerebral Palsy as "increasingly degenerative". According to more reputable sources such as the Saskatchewan Cerebral Palsy Association (http://members.shaw.ca/saskcpa/Who_What_How_.htm earlier), the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC (http://www.bccerebralpalsy.com/faq.htm#q1 ) and the Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy (http://www.ofcp.on.ca/aboutcp.html##A ) Cerebral Palsy is not degenerative, doesn't get worse, isn't life threatening and isn't a disease. The claim that Cerebral Palsy is "degenerative" seems to have been regurgitated by other groups, including groups like the facebook group 'Support Robert Latimer's Release from Prison'.
Finally, they site an individual name Daphne Naegele at one point who they seem, I think, to be claiming is the editor of Transition which is a publication of the British Columbia Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD). However, I recently spoke to the BCCPD and they said that Daphne Naegele was never the editor of their publication Transition. The founder Editor of Transition magazine, apparently, is an individual named Richard A. Watson. In fact the BCCPD is supports the incarceration of Robert Latimer.
Comradely,
M.G.
http://members.shaw.ca/saskcpa/Who_What_How_.htm Saskatchewan Cerebral Palsy Association
http://www.bccerebralpalsy.com/faq.htm#q1 Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia
http://www.ofcp.on.ca/aboutcp.html##A Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy
What makes the Murder of Tracy Latimer Bigoted and Supporters of Robert Latimer Bigoted towards the Disabled
According to Dick Sobsey head of J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre when Susan Smith a Women in the U.S. murdered her two non-disabled sons there people cried for her blood (including here in Canada). When Robert Latimer murdered his disabled daughter there was a great deal of sympathy for Robert Latimer. Susan Smith's children were dealing with a divorce and the children were separated from their mother. Both Susan Smith and Robert Latimer originally lied to the police about how their children died. Also, in both cases, when it was obvious that Robert Latimer and Susan Smith murdered their children, they both claimed they killed their children out of "compassion". Saying Susan Smith's children were in "continual agony" and that they "needed" to be "relieved of their pain" contains the same logic as Robert Latimer making the same claims about his daughter. It is quite possible that both Susan Smith and Robert Latimer were under stress when they committed their respective murders. The one difference between the two murders is that Susan Smith killed two non-disabled children and Robert Latimer killed a disabled child (see. http://www.normemma.com/artaleof.htm). The common trend is, when a caretaker kills a non-disabled child their is outrage towards the killer. When a caretaker kills someone disabled in their is often sympathy for the killer.
On a related note, I am highly disappointed that the party has not solidarized with the disabled community in this time of crisis. I happen to know that there are people in your party who support Robert Latimer. If this is the party's stance and the party intends to keep this stance and still want to be consistent, then I recommend that you say you are for defending SOME or MOST oppressed people not ALL oppressed people.
Another point, some cadre in your party accused me of "trivializing lynching" because I compared Tracy Latimer's murder to lynching. Frankly, I think that those cadre's remarks, their defence of Robert Latimer and their insistence that what Robert Latimer did was "not an act of terror" can merely be attributed towards their bigotry towards the disabled.
Comradely,
M.G.
http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html Chewing the Fat: March 2008
http://www.ccdionline.org/newsletter.php?article_id=26& Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities and Illness: The Catalyst (July - August 2006)
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/INDEX.html J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/abuse/ J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre - Violence, Abuse and Disability
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/abuse/ICAD/digests/murders.html J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre - Violence, Abuse and Disability - Murder
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/abuse/ICAD/ J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre (International Coalition on Abuse and Disability - Listserver)
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/308119 Latimer ruling 'slippery slope', disabled say
http://www.sacl.org/webapp/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=243 Saskatchewan Association for Community Living - Disability Advocates Alarmed and Distressed by Proposed Changes to the Education Act
http://www.normemma.com/indxadvo.htm Professional Development for Human Services
http://www.normemma.com/artaleof.htm Susan Smith and Robert Latimer: A Tale of Two Murders
http://www.gene.ch/gentech/1997/8.96-5.97/msg00126.html Latimer Watch 5 February 1997 (fwd) by Council of Canadians with Disabilities
http://www.sacl.org/webapp/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=243 Saskatchewan Association for Community Living
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence/html/nfntsdisabl_e.html Abuse of Children with Disabilities - Public Health Agency of Canada
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=2300 Panel to Probe Media on Filicide - ExpressNews
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2007/04/c7724.html Disability Rights Advocates Monitor Robert Latimer's Parole Decision - Canadian Association for Community Living
http://enablelink.org/include/article.php?aid=94&cid=&pid=&subid= The CCD Scene - EnableLink
http://www.enablelink.org/include/article.php?pid=&cid=&subid=&aid=1070 No Justice for Tracy by Raymond D. Coren - EnableLink
http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2001/0219/pickup021901.shtml Media Ignored Joy of Tracy Latimer
http://www.kacl.ca/Tracylatimer.htm Kenora Association for Community Living - Tracy Latimer Resource Page
http://enablelink.ca/include/article.php?aid=461&cid=&pid=&subid= We Will Survive - Honouring the Memory of Tracy Latimer
http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/ Not Dead Yet
http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/press.html Not Dead Yet: The Resistance
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/ideas/story.html?id=94cc7258-aa05-462c-930b-9e25b68c8454 Tracy Latimer's Legacy - Edmonton Journal
http://www.planinstitute.ca/?q=node/181 My Wish for Robert Latimer - Plan Institute for Caring Citizenship
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Robert Latimer Supporter with Confederate Flag
http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=100000004&id=5575696199&gr=2&hash=fa7a56808600a5905993e35ab90e2152&s=630&hash=7c3353367c750f763bc2f937ac9ffe7d A Robert Latimer support here has a confederate flag symbol. The confederate flag is often associated with Confederate Slavocracy as well as the Ku Klux Klan.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
More Fascist Solidarity for Robert Latimer
There appear to be more outright fascists who support Robert Latimer. One from the Vanguard News Network exclaimed about the Robert Latimer case "It sickens me to see this brave and righteous man being kept in jail for doing what was right. At the same time, degenerate criminals who commit real crime and do real harm to society are consistently slapped on the wrist by the system." They go on to say "disabled rights/anti-euthanasia fanatics are an enemy of the white race. An egalitarian cause often overlooked as a tool used to weaken and destroy the White race."
A fascist from Phora remarked "This brave man aught to be rewarded for what he did, not punished!!" Another from the same sight remarked "Sounds like the actions he took were entirely reasonable, and don't warrant any criminal conviction." (see. http://www.thephora.net/forum/showthread.php?t=32828)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Fascist Vermin Crawl Out of their Holes, to show their Solidarity for Robert Latimer!
It appears Robert Latimer enjoys the backing of outright Fascists. According to the Stormfront White Nationalist Community Robert Latimer "has nothing to apologise for. I'm angry at the way he's been treated as well!" They go on to say "He gets along with everyone because he's a good man who doesn't deserve to be in prison in the first place!" (see. http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php/robert-latimer-denied-parole-444322.html).
Another from this group describes the Robert Latimer's sentence as "harsh" and describes the Free Robert Latimer Movement as a "Many of the good people that joined me in our march to free Robert Latimer". He also describes Robert Latimer as a "POW" (see. http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1308899).
Also a member from this same group talks about how "Two years ago the socialist, egalitarian communists in the supreme court of Canada made him serve a minimum of 10 YEARS in prison!!" They go on to say that Robert Latimer "did what the GOVERNMENT should have done for them 12 years earlier."
They then state:
Another from this group describes the Robert Latimer's sentence as "harsh" and describes the Free Robert Latimer Movement as a "Many of the good people that joined me in our march to free Robert Latimer". He also describes Robert Latimer as a "POW" (see. http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1308899).
Also a member from this same group talks about how "Two years ago the socialist, egalitarian communists in the supreme court of Canada made him serve a minimum of 10 YEARS in prison!!" They go on to say that Robert Latimer "did what the GOVERNMENT should have done for them 12 years earlier."
They then state:
"The powers that be were under prusure from a small group of disabled rights activists to hammer him as hard as they could. These disabled rights activists are part of what I consider an axis of evil. That is a leftist special interests group who's agenda hurts society and the race as a whole. Natrually when these bastards say jump, the jew controled system asks how high?"
According to another member from the same organization "political prisioners like Ernst Zuldel, Brad Love, and Robert Latimer are punished to the full extent of the law.
It's time this government is reined in."
(see. http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php/canada-customs-harass-nationalists-120965.html)
According to another, again an outright fascist referring to himself as 'White Renegade':
"Meanwhile, our Canadian government was spending millions of dollars prosecuting and imprisoning Robert Latimer for euthanizing his severely handicapped child, who couldn't walk, talk or feed herself. Robert Latimer's child was resuscitated at birth, only to enslave her family for the next 12 years, not to mention all of the taxpayer's money that was spent on her medical and "school" expenses. The government kept this child alive by artificial means at the taxpayers expense. Robert Latimer euthanized his child, which would have saved the taxpayer countless dollars if it wasn't for the fact that they turn around and spend MORE tax money persecuting Robert Latimer in the courts."
Not to be outdone by another from Stormfront:
"The anti-White, Jew controled government of Canada gave Robert Latimer the maximun sentence possible for euthanizing his severely disabled 12 year old daughter who could not walk, talk of feed itself. The Canadian government usually reserves it's harshest punishments for those who go against their Marxist, Jewish establishment."
There rhetoric isn't even that different from the Bourgeois Press or the Free Robert Latimer Movement. All three groups use terms like "she was dead the day she was born", "she was in continual agony", "Robert Latimer was relieving Tracy of her pain", "keeping Tracy alive and jailing Robert Latimer are a waste of tax dollars" etc.
I rest my case.
Comradely,
M.G.
Fascists who Support Robert Latimer:
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php/robert-latimer-denied-parole-444322.html Robert Latimer Denied Parole - Stormfront White Nationalist Community
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php/abuse-medical-technoloy-39054.html Abuse of Technology - Stormfront White Nationalist Community
On the "Oppresion" of Robert Latimer
Some supporters of Robert Latimer have argued that he is oppressed like the daughter he lynched. I have already pointed out that Mr. Latimer is white, male and heterosexual, non of which are oppressed. I should probably point out that Robert Latimer is a farmer. Apparently, the average farmer in Canada has one million dollars in assets putting them on the upper stratum of the petty-bourgeoisie. This would mean that Robert Latimer is most likely a Kulak.
Also, there have been supporters of Robert Latimer who have argued that the fact that alot of Robert Latimer's supporters are white guys with shaved heads doens't mean anything. First of all, there have been cadre in your Trotskyist League that have said that if a white guy with a shaved head approached them at your rally that they would expect a physical confrontation. Also, the supporters of Robert Latimer would make remarks like "Tracy Latimer was dead the day she was born". These remarks are not unlike Hitler's justification for killing the disabled in the gas chambers during the "Final Solution". Hitler described the disabled as "life unworthy of life" or "lives not worth living". Hitler also referred to these killings as "mercy killings". Robert Latimer too used this term to describe his murder of his daughter. So, both the Free Robert Latimer Movement and the Nazis consider disabled "lives not worth living", both describe the murder of the disabled as "mercy killings", both are mostly white people with shaved heads and most importantly both considered it acceptable to murder the disabled. In fact, disabled people were only the first victims of the Holocaust.
And with all due respects I don't think the Internationalist Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) and its sections, including the Spartacist League (US) and the Trotskyist League of Canada, adequately champions the rights of the disabled. The party doesn't recruit and also expels people for having mental illnesses and disabilities. The party uses remarks like "senile", "demented", "nuts", "psychotic" and "schizophrenic" as insults. I have not come across a single article by the party devoted to the rights of the disabled. And now there are people in your party who support Robert Latimer who lynched is disabled daughter. I don't like pointing the finger but I really think the party really needs to change its attitude towards the disabled.
Comradely,
M.G.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Parallels between the Lynching of Tracy Latimer and the Lynching of Emmett Till
I had been advised from one of your cadre to reread the Lynching of Emmett Till in response to my earlier emails on Tracy Latimer (where I called Tracy's killing a lynching). I have read it for the third time. I have already seen the Documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till by Keith Beauchamp. I have also seen Malcolm X by Spike Lee.
After having reading the above books and articles and watching the above movies I fully stand by accusing of Robert Latimer of lynching. I in fact noticed several parrellels between the two. First of all, Tracy Latimer had cerebral palsy and was mentally challenged, both of which make her an oppressed person. Emmett Till was oppressed for being black. Second, Robert Latimer admitted to having planned Tracy's murder in advance yet only got convicted with second degree murder not first degree murder. I believe Emmett Till's killer's admitted to killing him but got acquitted. Although Latimer was not acquitted there have been plenty of cases similar to the Latimer case (where a caregiver kills a disabled person in their care) where the killers get acquitted, are not charged or get a light sentence like manslaughter. Third, Robert Latimer, like Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam had a great deal of public sympathy as well as sympathy from the Bourgeois Press. And finally, although not in the Latimer case, there have been similar cases of disabled people being murdered by their caregivers that have involved beating to death, stabbing to death and ways similar to the lynching of Emmett Till. Robert Latimer, however, gassed his daughter to death which how the Nazis like to do it. I should probably point out that the killing of Tracy wasn't as ritualized as the most ritualized lynchings.
One of your cadre, rather had argued in the defense of Robert Latimer saying "their is a big long history of rural types being blamed for their own oppression". I should probably point out that Mississippi during the lynching of Emmett Till was quite rural. Judging by the above cadre's argument, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam are just "rural types being blamed for their own oppression".
Comradely,
M.G.
Once More and Again on the Rights of the Disabled
Frankly, I think the idea that Tracy Latimer and Robert Latimer "are both oppressed" or "suffered together" is ludicrous (as I have mentioned before). The fact that Robert Latimer was here father does not mean that he necessarily mean he acted in her best interests. Women in Islamic countries are stoned to death by their own relatives. Homosexual children have been killed by homophobic parents. I have even heard of white supremecists parents adopting non-white kids and killing them. Need I not mention that the family is the nucleus of women, youth and gay oppression. Tracy Latimer was a youth, meaning she was oppressed by the family.
There is also a big long history of parents killing their children for their disability. There is also a big long history of the murderers of the disabled getting light sentences (see. http://thiswayoflife.org/murder.html, http://www.phen.ab.ca/materials/het/het12-01c.asp, http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/drn/latimer0402.html, http://enablelink.ca/include/article.php?aid=1024&cid=&pid=&subid=%20). Robert Latimer admitted in court that he planned to murder Tracy twelve days in advance (see. http://dawn.thot.net/Tracy_Latimer.html). Under Canadian law premeditated murder should count as first-degree murder (see. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-46//20080505/en?command=HOME&caller=SI&fragment=First%20Degree%20Murder&search_type=all&day=5&month=5&year=2008&search_domain=cs&showall=L&statuteyear=all&lengthannual=50&length=50). Robert Latimer got convicted of second-degree murder.
As for whether the killing of Tracy Latimer was meant to terrorize the oppressed. Even if it weren't the intent of Robert Latimer that is the affect. It has served to terrorized the disabled community and almost all in that community fear that it will lead to more killing. According to Dick Sobsey, Head of the JP Das Centre for Developmental Disabilities at the University Alberta, the killing of Tracy Latimer and sympathy for Robert Latimer has lead to an increase in the murdering of disabled (see. http://www.phen.ab.ca/materials/het/het12-01c.asp, http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/drn/latimer0402.html).
I have gotten back from a couple individual cadre from the Trotskyist League (Canadian section of the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist)) on the Tracy Latimer issue. The impression I got was the party supports Robert Latimer. This, I believe, is a serious betrayel of what the party stands for. The vanguard, I believe, and I think you can agree is meant to defend ALL oppressed people. Defending oppressed people requires making the distinction between the oppressed and the bigots, rednecks and fascistic yahoos who killed oppressed people. I strongly believe, that if you defend Robert Latimer that you are not making this distinction.
PLEASE COME TO YOUR SENSES.
Comradely,
M.G.
Some more information on the Disability Question:
http://amanda.autistics.org/ Amanda Baggs Autism Non-Site
http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/ Jim Sinclair's Website
http://www.autistics.org/library/ Autism Information Library at Autistics.org
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/mediacircus/leland.html The Sub-Human Life
http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/2004/0404/040904.html Euthanasia Made Easy
http://www.gopetition.com/online/1390.html Boycott the Movie "The United States of Leland"
Sunday, April 20, 2008
On whether the Disabled are "inherently progressive", "inherently reactionary" or neither
One of your cadre responded to my remark, that disabled community that regards the killing of Tracy Latimer to be an act of violent bigotry, the disabled people "aren't inherently progressive" and talking about the reactionary and racist high school I went to (I think that he was implying that they were "inherently reactionary"). The high school I went to was for people with disabilities. One thing about my high school is it was a private school making it only available to the rich. Another point, is that the administration/board-of-directors didn't provide ESL services at the high school as well as having an entrance exam where fluency in the English language is required (these things would prevent immigrants and minorities from entering the school). This meant that Fraser Academy, my high school, was a fertile ground for reactionaries including white supremacist. The administration, I believe, shared in this racism and the administration were not disabled. Very few disabled people from minority ethnic backgrounds or from blue-collar or plebeian backgrounds went to Fraser.
In terms of whether the disabled are "inherently progressive" or "inherently reactionary" I would argue neither. The disabled community like any minority community is divided into classes. There is the Proletariat who's objective interests are in abolishing private property and class society. There is the Bourgeoisie who's interests are in maintaining this decaying order. Then you have the Petty-Bourgeoisie and the Lumpenproletariat who can go either way in class-struggle.
Even if people with disabilities were "inherently reactionary" I think it would criminal not to defend them from oppression. The Lumpenproletariat have a reputation for social backwardness. Does that mean they should be defended from state terror. Islam and Sikhism (like all religions including Christianity and Judaism) seek to chain the working class to their exploiters. Does that mean the workers movement shouldn't oppose the oppression of Sikhs and Muslims.
In terms of the argument that Tracy Latimer was in "continual agony" and needed to be "relieved of pain". This is the typical hackneyed rhetoric of ableist bigots who promote the killing and oppression of the disabled including eugenicists and outright fascists (like the Third Reich). When Hitler had the disabled "mercy killed" (only the first victims of the Nazi by the way) he described them as "live unworthy of life" and their lives as "lives not worth living". It has been commonly argued by ableist bigots that the disabled are in "hopeless pain" and need to be "put out of their misery".
It has been argued by some that because Robert Latimer didn't personally say "I am for violence against the disabled" that what he did was not an act of terror. By the that logic the cops don't commit acts of terror, because in their press conferences, when they are interviewed by the press or on their websites they don't talk about killing minorities or terrorizing the oppressed. They instead talk about "law and order", "fighting crime" and "getting tough on criminals". You could also logically argue that suit-and-tie fascists aren't racist or fascist because they say they want to kill, terrorize and exterminate minorities but instead that they are "white separatist", that they are for "civil rights for white people", "self-determination for white people" etc. There is even a white-supremacist group out there called the "National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP)" a sick parody of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
Comradely,
M.G.
A Robert Latimer Support who Supports Flogging, Hanging and Tasers
This is a Robert Latimer supporter who supports the use of police tasers and supports the reintroduction of the death penalty by hanging and the flogging of children in the nuclear family and public schools.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507995461
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507995461
Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Tracy Latimer Case, the Gutting of Public Services and the Rights of the Disabled
There are supporters of Robert Latimer who will argue that Latimer was justified in killing his daughter because healthcare has been gutted. There is no denying that public services has been gutting and that this has been harmful to the disabled. Programs that are beneficial to the disabled include vocational services, welfare, disability, mental health housing and healthcare. That being said, the fact that an oppressed person is denied public does not justify the killing of that oppressed people. Does the fact that blacks in the US are disproporionately unemployed, disproportianately jailed mean that lynching is justified? Does the fact that first nations people in Canada are segregated on reserves justify cop terror against natives? There are many arguments made by racists of this sort such as "blacks were better off during slavery", "Hitler was an asset to the Jewish cause" etc.
As for the claim by some that the Latimer case is "an example of rural people being blamed for their own oppression". The killers of Matthew Shepard and Gwen Araujuo took place in rural towns. Would condemning the killing of Matthew Shepard and Gwen Araujuo be "blaiming the victim"? The KKK has a strong foothold in the southern states in the US and the Prairies in Canada both of which have been historically rural. Does that make opposing fascist terror "blaiming the victim". The scabs and the gun thugs, the nucleus of the fascist movement, are generally recruited from the lumpenproletariat. The lumpenproletariat are oppressed, so is one to assume that the fascists aren't a threat to the working class or the oppressed or that opposing the fascists is "blaiming the victims for their own oppression".
As for the argument by some that Robert Latimer and Tracy Latimer "suffered together" I personally think this is absurd. Their are plenty of cases of parents of the disabled being bigoted towards their own disabled children. Do racists "suffer together" with racially minorities? Do homophobes "suffer together" with gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders. Do misogynists "suffer together" with women? I would personally have to answer no to all of those.
Comradely,
M.G.
On whether the State has a Vendetta against Robert Latimer
Personally, I would argue that the state does not have a vendetta against Robert Latimer. Robert had planned to murder his daughter Tracy 12 days before he actually killed her. This would make what he did technically, first-degree murder. Robert Latimer was, however, charged with second-degree murder. If the state was determined to go after Robert Latimer wouldn't they have charged him with first-degree murder?
A case similar to this, I think, is the Robert Pickton case. The courts only charged Pickton with second-degree murder when his actions two were premeditated, meaning he should have been charged with first-degree murder. Not only that, but when Pickton's victims were disappearing, the cops sat on their hands.
What Robert Latimer's victim and Pickton's victim have in common (apart from being killed in cold-blood) is the fact that they are both oppressed peoples. Pickton's victims were all female First Nation's prostitutes and Robert Latimer's victim, Tracy Latimer, was a mentally challenged girl with cerebral palsy. And as we know the Bourgeois state is not in the business of defending oppressed people.
It can not be denied that the Bourgeois state has unjustly jailed people. Notable examples would include Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Alison Bodine, the Cuban Five, the MOVE Eight, the Ohio Seven etc. What these people have in common is that they all fought for the oppressed. Robert Latimer, however, killed an oppressed person. Bigots that kill minorities, immigrants, natives, the disabled etc. are, in my opinion, are not class war prisoners and do not belong on your stipend program nor should they have the solidarity of the workers' movement.
I think I noted before that Tracy Latimer was not terminally ill, not brain-dead nor is their any evidence of her wanting to die or consenting to being killed. This is murder not assisted suicide. I'm all for suicide and assisted suicide being legal or at least decriminalized. Being disabled, however, does not make someone better off dead. Their is a big long history of people with disabilities being considered "better off dead". This has been the logic of the eugenics movement and of the Nazis. Hitler when "mercy killed" the sick and disabled described the disabled as "lives not worth living" and "life not worthy of life". Robert Latimer supporters describe Tracy as "dead the day she was born" which is quite simply not true. Tracy's life was not "nothing but pain".
The overwhelming majority of the disabled community as well as disability rights groups see what Robert Latimer did as an act of violence and ableist bigotry. If the Trotskyist League and/or the Workers' Movement supports Robert Latimer this will only drive a wedge between the worker's movement and the disabled. The disabled community would rightly see the Trotskyist League and the worker's movement as supporting their extermination. This in the past has at it worst forced sections of the oppressed into the hands of the Bourgeois. The betrayal of the Reformists, Centrists, Stalinists and Syndicalists of the popular front in Spain for the peasants and the Moroccan separatists into the hands of Franco. The betrayals of the Kremlin and Warsaw Stalinists forced the historically class-conscious Proletariat into the hands of Solidarnosc which was controlled by Washington, Wall Street, London, the Vatican and the IMF.
I get that this is a very sensitive issue for alot of people and I apologize if I have come off as too confrontational with you people but a revolutionary party that prides itself on fighting for all oppressed people must not capitulate to ableist bigotry and support the murderers of the disabled.
Comradely,
M.G.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Altruistic Filicide: Bioethics or Criminology?
http://www.ualberta.ca/~bioethic/HETVol12No1/page8.html Altruistic Filicide: Bioethics or Criminology?
On whether Robert Latimer is oppressed
From what I understand, Robert Latimer owned a farm which would make him a peasant (petty-bourgeois) since he owned land he would not be a landless peasant but either the middle or upper stratum of the peasantry (I don't know how much land he owned). I think the petty-bourgeoisie could be considered oppressed. I think landless peasants would be the most oppressed peasants. He is white (not oppressed), he is male (not oppressed), from what I understand he is heterosexual (not oppressed). I am not aware of him being of a minority of any stripe.
In terms of Latimer killing his daughter, I don't think Latimer is oppressed. I earlier compared the killing of Tracy Latimer to "honour killing". "Honour killing" from what I understand has taken place in the Muslim community and I think the Sikh community. On the one hand, Muslims and Sikhs are the victims of oppression but then again so are women, the victims of "honour killings". The fact that Muslims and Sikhs are oppressed, which they clearly are, doesn't mean that "honour killings" aren't barbaric.
Reflections on the Tracy Latimer Case
I think if I gave the impression that Robert Latimer was a fascist that it was inaccurate since he has never called for the decimation of the Proletariat. Bigotry isn't necessarily fascist. One thing about the Holocaust is the goal was to wipe entire peoples off the face of the earth. This is different from a single act of bigotry like the killing of Matthew Shepard or the killing of Gwen Araujuo it is not merely an act of genocide.
In terms of "mercy killings" (involuntary "euthanising" of the disabled and other oppressed people). This has been advocated by Eugenecists and the Third Reich. Again, I should probably, there is no evidence that Robert Latimer is a fascist since fascists are for decimating the working class (which Latimer hasn't called for). In terms of whether not Latimer is support the extermiting of the disabled, I haven't yet confirmed but have heard that Robert Latimer is lobbying the government to legalize "mercy killings" (i.e. the killing of the disabled).
I terms of whether Robert Latimer's action were an act of bigotry. With Robert Latimer and his supporters and likely with Robert Latimer himself they don't seem to make a distinction between "relieving someone in pain" and killing someone with a disability. Many of his supporters including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) will say things like "he did what he did to relieve Tracy of her pain (she had severe cerebral palsy)" or they justify what Latimer killing Tracy without consent on the grounds that she had a low IQ or has the mind of a 3 month old child. The fact that someone has a low IQ doesn't make killing them any more exceptable. This same society that to a large extent is sympathetic to Robert Latimer is also a society deeply bigoted towards the disabled. Whenever someone non-disabled is killed by their parents their is outrage yet when a parent kills their disabled child there can often by public sympathy. And not all bigots are as openly bigoted. Many opponents of affirmative action say they are "fighting for equal opportunity". The are white racists who claim to be fighting for "civil rights and self-determination for white people".
In terms of a number of Robert Latimer's being white people with shaved head. Historically, from what I understand, white people with shaved heads has been associated with outright fascists. I should have pointed out that there are some white people with shaved heads her aren't fascist. I think, however, if white guys with shaved heads are rallying around a person who killed someone with a disability I don't think this should be ignored. He also has a prominent supporter who claims the US is a puppet for Israel.
In terms of Tracy feeling nothing but pain, this I think is highly inaccurate. According to the Toronto Star, "T racy Latimer is remembered by her schoolteachers as a girl who loved music. They also remember her smile." There were points were she felt great pain mind you. Many people with Tracy's condition, however, choose to go on living. Cerebral palsy is also treatable, in fact Robert Latimer was opposed to giving Tracy hip surgery saying that "it was mutilation and that it wouldn't cure Tracy". He also refused to give Tracy a permanent institutional place a respite home. The Toronto Star pointed out "critics say other people who take anti-convulsing medication do find compatible pain relief".
In terms of whether or not the killing of Tracy Latimer has led to more killing of the disabled, according to Ragged Edge Magazine:
"Between 1990 and 1994, the average number of Canadian murder cases in which parents killed their children was 34 for each year, according to University of Alberta psychology professor Dick Sobsey.
Between 1994 and 1998, the average rate was 49, with 62 cases in 1997 alone.
Why the increase in what Sobsey calls "altruistic filicide", the killing of a child out of the belief that death is in the child's best interest?
Sobsey, the head of J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre, points to the 1993 murder of Tracy Latimer, and the media coverage surrounding her death and her murderer's court trials.
"After 1994, we saw a big increase in the number of parents killing their children in Canada," Sobsey said.
It goes on to say:
"The case has become a focal point of a debate between disability rights advocates who see Tracy's death as one of countless examples of extreme abuse upon people with disabilities, and people who believe that "mercy killing" is justified when the victim has a severe disability. Most on both sides agree, however, that the media and public sentiment favors Robert Latimer."
In terms
My sources:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-euthanasia.htm The History Place - Talks about "Mercy Killings"
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/ Eugenics Archive - Talks about "Mercy Killings"
http://www.dnai.org/e/index.html DNA Interactive - Talks about "Mercy Killings"
http://dawn.thot.net/Tracy_Latimer.html DisAbled Women's Action Network - On Tracy Latimer not feeling "nothing but pain"
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/309347 The Toronto Star - Talks about Tracy Latimer feeling more than just pain
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/drn/latimer0402.html Ragged Edge Magazine - Sympathy for Robert Latimer link to increase in child murders
An Anti-Semite who Supports Robert Latimer (The "Free Robert Latimer!" Group had a link to him)
One person that the Free Robert Latimer group has as a supporter is a man named Greg Felton who also wrote a book claiming the United States of America is a puppet for Israel which has been a slander made by, I believe, the Militia of the 1990s (a movement of Right-Wing Paramilitaries, which is affiliated to outright fascists like the KKK) as well as outright fascists like the Neo-Nazis.
Demands I Think You Should Have on the Disability Question
1) Abolish all state-funding for the Lovaas Treatment, IBI Treatment and ABA Treatment!
2) Abolish all state-funding for the Autism Society and all "Cure Autism" groups! Abolish all groups advocating the supremacy of neurotypicals.
3) Abolish the Judge Rotenburg "Educational Centre"!
4) Mobilize Labour to Smash the Free Robert Latimer Movement!
5) Labour must oppose "mercy killings" of the disabled and the oppressed!
6) Labour must oppose must solidarize with all disabled and oppressed people who fall victim to "mercy killings"!
7) Defend welfare, public healthcare and government funded vocational services from government cuts!
Note: "Mercy Killings" are fundamentally different from Euthanasia.
A Hue and Cry for a Witchhunt against the Disabled: The Bourgeois Presses Support for Robert Latimer
Dear Spartacist Canada/Workers' Vanguard/PDC,
The bourgeois press for the most part has been favouring Robert Latimer against the disabled in the case of him lynching his disabled daughter. This has had a bandwagon effect on the majority of society. The majority of Canadian bourgeois society favours Robert Latimer. And like I have said before "mercy killing" which Robert Latimer calls his actions has been proven by history to be a rallying cry for fascist terror and genocide against the oppressed. Hitler described the killing of people in the concentration camps during the 'Final Solution' as "mercy killings". Eugenecists used the term to describe the involuntary "euthanizing" of the disabled as well as other oppressed people.
I believe the bourgeois press's support could be paving the way possibly for a witchhunt against the disabled. Often, from what I understand, the bourgeois press will be sure to whipped up hysteria when preparing for a witchhunt, bolstering the state, going to war etc. The bourgeois press whipped hysteria about "Satanic Ritual Abuse" to whip up the anti-sex hysteria, the third great witchhunt. The bourgeois press whipped up hysteria about "weapons of mass destruction" before going to war with Iraq. The bourgeois press whipped up hysteria about "terrorism" before curtailing civil liberties. The beorgeois press today is whipping up hysteria today to pave the way for possible wars on China, North Korea and Iran. I think too the beorgeois press is whipping up bigotry towards the disabled and sympathy for Robert Latimer possibly to pave the way for genocide or witchhunt or the like against the disabled.
Comradely,
M.G.
What I think you stances should be on the Abortion, Euthanasia and "Mercy Killings"
1) I think that you are right to call for 'Free Abortion on Demand'. The reason being fetuses are not scientifically human since they are not yet living outside and physically part of the women's body.
2) I think that you are right in supporting Voluntary Euthanasia (especially the terminally ill). The reason being that it is a personal choice.
3) I think that you had the right stance on the Terry Schiavo case since Schiavo is brain-dead. The Terry Shiavo incident was technically not a homocide
4) I think that you should unconditionaly oppose "mercy killings" (involuntary "euthanasia"). The reason being that "mercy killing" has historically been a rallying cry for fascist terror and genocide against the oppressed. "Mercy Killing" was advocated by Eugenicists as well as the Nazis in Germany (Hitler used the very term "mercy killing" in reference to the Final Solution). "Mercy Killing" today has been used today as a pretext to kill the disabled (eg. The lynching of Tracy Latimer at the hands of her fascistic yahoo of a father Robert Latimer).
5) If someone is not terminally ill or brain-dead and there is evidence of them requesting to or consenting to have their life being terminated then, in my opinion, it is not a case of euthanasia.
6) Groups that support the "mercy killing" of disabled as well as the 'Free Robert Latimer', I think, should in most cases be labeled as fascistic (unless there is evidence of them physically attacking the working class, in which I think that they should be labed fascist). If these groups were to rally it should be dealt with the way you deal with KKK, Neo-Nazi, Skinhead or Minutemen rallies. If these people speak at a forum they should be dealt with they way you deal with the Minutemen or right-wing bigots like Horowitz when they speak at a forum.
7) Since "mercy killing" has been historically advocated by fascists and many of Robert Latimer's supporter (at least on facebook probably in the real world too) are white people with shaved heads, I think it can be assumed that the Free Robert Latimer Movement contains within it the embryo of fascism.
More Information on Tracy Latimer
http://www.ccdonline.ca/publications/latimer-watch/1298d.htm Council of Canadians with Disabilities: Publications: Latimer Watch
Article by a Fascistic Bigot Arthur Schafer from Manitoba who supports legalizing the lynching of the disabled (his article really plays on emotions):
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