Probably the most disappointing thing about the "Oscars So White" protests is that this year's nominations featured a number of movies specifically intended to mock them. Unfortunately this all seems to have gone completely over the heads of the protesters.
Bridge of Spies: This biopic tells the
story of James B. Donovan who was an insurance lawyer in 1950's New York City.
In 1957 the FBI arrested a Soviet spy by the name of Rudolf Abel. Rather than
summarily executing Abel as they were entitled to do the US government decided
to give him a civilian trial to highlight their superior morals and minimise
Soviet propaganda. Donovan was appointed to act as Abel's lawyer.
Although they wanted
to give the appearance of due process Abel's trial was never intended to be
anything other than a show trial that would result in his conviction. As such
Donovan wasn't expected to work too hard in his defence and if he did with
little experience of criminal law it was unlikely that he would be able to do
anything like a good job.
Donovan though
surprised everyone and angered many by mounting a passionate and competent
defence of Abel. Although Abel was guilty and therefore rightly convicted
Donovan still managed to persuade the Judge to spare him the death penalty and
instead sentence him to 30 years in prison. Donovan then went and appealed
Abel's case to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on a 4th
Amendment issue and only narrowly lost on a 5-4 split decision.
As a such much of the
first half of Bridge of Spies is spent championing the founding American values
of justice for all, the protections of the Constitution and how we shouldn't
let fear or hatred stop us from granting those rights to all.
I think it's fair to
assume that at the time Rudolf Abel was about as popular as alleged Charleston
shooter Dylann Roof is today.
The movie then moves
forward a few years to 1960 when an American U2 spyplane crashes over the
Soviet Union and the pilot - Francis Gary Powers - is captured. Impressed by
the integrity he showed during the Abel trial the Soviets request that Donovan
is brought in to negotiate a prisoner exchange of Abel for Powers.
This exchange is set
to take place in Berlin, Germany which at the time was split between Capitalist
West Germany and Communist East Germany. Donovan soon learns that the East
Germans are holding another American - Frederic Pryor - prisoner as a spy. That
prompts Donovan to embark on an extremely complex, tri-party negotiation
between the US, the Soviet Union and East Germany that would see Abel freed in
exchange for both Powers and Pryor.
Despite the
negotiations coming to the brink of collapse on numerous occasions eventually
all three prisoners are exchanged in a huge victory for the integrity of the
quiet American.
Obama desperately
wishes he could claim that mantle as part of his legacy.
Although I don't know
what prominence it is given to it in the movie the U2 spyplane that Powers
crashed originally took off from United States Air Force (USAF) base Incirilk in
Turkey. In the immediate aftermath the Soviet Union demanded that Turkey ceased
all similar operations from Incirilk and Turkish President Mahmut Celâl Bayar agreed.
Already under pressure from the US over his refusal to end the production of
Opium Bayar didn't last long after that and was removed from office in the
coup of 1960.
A lot of the current
problems in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
stem from the US being over-sensitive to Turkey's demands in return for the use
of USAF Incirilk.
So that was a hell of
a good spot from a movie that started principal photography some 14 months
before the US began its anti-ISIL operations.
Spotlight: Yep. It made both
lists.
The Boston Globe
investigation didn't just uncover child abuse by the Catholic Church. It also
uncovered a vast conspiracy between the Church, the local police, politicians
and the Courts to cover up that abuse. If you know what you are looking for you
can see a similar sort of conspiracy at work as part of the Black Lives Matter
campaign.
Probably the most
blatant example and the one I'm most familiar with is the Freddie Gray case in
Baltimore, Maryland. Here I think it is very obvious to all that Baltimore
States Attorney Marilyn Mosby is conducting a politically motivated vendetta
against the accused police officers in the hope of getting her husband Nick
Mosby elected as city Mayor.
What's worse is that
none of Baltimore's Courts seem prepared to stop her.
For example a
mistrial was recently declared in the first and strongest prosecutions against William G. Porter. Although it's unlikely we'll ever truly know what happened in the
secrecy of the jury room the strong rumour I'm now hearing is that 11 jurors voted
"Not Guilty" while just one holdout voted "Guilty." If that
is true then the Judge should have
accepted the majority verdict of Not Guilty.
Failing that the Judge really should have dismissed the case with prejudice as regards the 5th Amendment ending proceedings.
However with the case
against Porter continuing to proceed a whole new argument has emerged over
whether Porter can be denied his 5th Amendment right to silence by being
compelled to testify in the trial of Caesar R. Goodson Jr. - the second officer to go on
trial. As a result the entire case has ground to a halt while the issue of Porter's testimony is resolved.
I'm getting the distinct impression that this delay is the result of a conspiracy between the Mosby campaign and Baltimore's Courts to delay all the trials until after the Mayoral election. The intention being to prevent the Mosby campaign being handed six damaging defeats in quick succession right before the election.
However I think it's worth noting that on the day Porter's case went to the Supreme Court of Maryland, February 19th (19/2/16) Marilyn Mosby was invited to address the state Congress on the issue of child sexual abuse.
17:50 on 29/2/16 (UK date).
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