Taser Death: John Wrana (Park Forest, IL)

It happened again! Unidentified Park Forest (IL) police officers couldn't handle the disrespect that they received from an angry 95-year old John Wrana at Victory Centre, a senior living community -- so they killed him.  

Yep, you read me right ... the guy was 95-years old! Older than your grandparents. Heck, he is probably older than your great-grandparents would be if they were still living. What was the punishment for disrespecting the police? They electrocuted him to death with their taser guns ... and then for good measure fired some bean bags into the elderly man.

John Wrana was ornery. Most 95-year old folks are ornery. He was being 'involuntarily' committed for medical treatment by the Victory Centre staff. The private ambulance firm that was onsite called 911 to get assistance from the police with a "combative" resident.

When police arrived, the man was threatening staff and paramedics with a metal cane and a 2-foot metal shoehorn, according to a police press release. Police demanded that he drop the cane and shoehorn, but he did not comply and then picked up a "12-inch butcher type kitchen knife." So, if the press release is to be believed, Wrana, had three (3) weapons in this two hands -- cane, shoehorn and a "butcher" kitchen knife (what the hell is a "butcher" kitchen knife)? Sound credible to you?

Unidentified police officers continued to command the man to surrender and follow their orders. They felt disrespected when he didn't comply immediately. Eventually the police pulled out their taser guns ... pointed the 50,000 volts of electricity at the 95-year old man ... and shot. That wasn't enough. The police then fired bean bag rounds at the man to get him to drop the knife and surrender. He did so and was taken into custody. Shortly, thereafter Wrana was declared dead by the local hospital staff.

What is the justification for electrocuting a 95-year old man? Are the Lake Forest police truly that inept that they can't subdue a man born in 1918 without killing him?

Taser Death: Jersey Green (Aurora, IL)

It happened again! This time the electrocution-by-taser took place in Aurora, Illinois. Police responded to several 911 calls last night about 37-year old Jersey Green. It appears that Green was jumping on parked vehicles. Police say that Green jumped off a parked SUV when they arrived and he tried to run away.

Ordinarily being a fool doesn't result in the death penalty.   However, we now know that the Aurora Police Department doesn't like to be disrespected. They don't bother seeking out a reason for disrespect. They react.

Green made the mistake of jumping on the hood of a police car. That was enough provocation for a police officer to pump 50,000 volts of electricity into Green. The jolt was enough to knock Green to the ground where three police officers handcuffed him and put him into custody.

At this point the officers figured out that this UNARMED man was in physical distress. They called for an ambulance.  Shortly thereafter Green stopped breathing. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

It took only a few hours for the police to let the public know that Green was a registered sex offender and that he was charged with some drug offenses 15 years ago. They conveniently avoid mentioning that he wasn't convicted of those charges. It is typical in these taser-related deaths for the police to try to indicate that drugs were involved in the death ... anything to avoid admitting that they killed an UNARMED man by extra-judicial electrocution.

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow by the Kane County coroner’s office.

Republican Joe Walsh Plays Race Card: "Obama Was Elected Because He Was Black"

Joe Walsh

It is nice to be reminded that racist politicians don't all reside below the Mason-Dixon line. In fact, not all racist politicians were raised back in the Jim Crow era. If you don't believe me ... just listen to what freshman Republican congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) had to say about President Barack Obama:

"Why was he elected? Again, it comes back to who he was. He was Black, he was historic. And there's nothing racist about this. It is what it is. If he had been a dynamic, white, state senator elected to Congress he wouldn't have gotten in the game this fast. This is what made him different. That, combined with the fact that your profession, not you, but your profession, was just absolutely compliant. They made up their minds early that they were in love with him. They were in love with him because they thought he was a good liberal guy and they were in love with him because he pushed that magical button: a Black man who was articulate, liberal, the whole white guilt, all of that." [SOURCE]

Yeah, this GOP wing-nut pulled out the race card in this recent interview. I guess it is part of his strategy to get re-elected to Congress. When the Medicare gambit failed ... this guy went to the tried-and-true -- racism.

I imagine that most villagers join with me in hoping that Rep. Walsh is a one-time wonder in Congress. His type of ignorance is not needed in Washington DC.

Blagojevich Appoints Roland Burris to Replace Barack Obama in US Senate

Only three African Americans ... Ed Brooke, Carol Moseley-Braun and Barack Obama ... have served as a United States senator since the end of Reconstruction era. It appears that Gov. Blagojevich wants to add a fourth nubian to the list.

Blagojevich will name former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate later today.

Born in Centralia, Illinois, Roland Burris received his bachelor's degree in political science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1959. He then studied at the University of Hamburg, Germany, for a year before entering law school at Howard University.

Burris began his career in 1963 as a national bank examiner for the U.S. Treasury Department. This gave him the honor of being the first African American to examine banks in the United States. From 1964 to 1973, he served as vice president of Continental Illinois National Bank, making significant contacts in both the corporate and African American communities. Burris began his government career in 1973 as director of the Illinois Department of General Services. In 1978, with his election to the first of three terms as state comptroller, he made history as the first African American elected to state office.

On November 6, 1990, Roland W. Burris was elected attorney general for the state of Illinois. At that time, the only African American ranking higher in state office was Douglas Wilder, the governor of Virginia. He served as Illinois attorney general from 1991 to 1995.

Burris is now an attorney with the Peters law firm in Chicago, where he specializes in environmental, consumer affairs and estate law. Previously he was managing partner of the Chicago-based law firm of Jones, Ware & Grenard, one of the largest minority law firms in the country. Burris previously ran and lost bids for the U.S. senate and governor.

If Burris makes it to Washington DC, he would be the only African American in the U.S. Senate.

Politics makes for strange bedfellows. I've never heard of Roland Burris before today. What are your thoughts about this appointment?