republican cong wild bill janklow weeps

[frankiepop]

south dakota/x united states congressman
'wild' bill janklow is on trial

i should write cong bill janklow's political obituary,
but i hesitate. today, wild bill or 'indian fighter'
congressman janklow testified at his vehicular manslaughter
trial & wept on the stand in his
own defense. his case doesnt look bad
for him. he had seemingly mounted a good defense.

janklow is a wonderful generous man in his
personal life by all accounts. also he is as
smart as a whip as they say.

as a politician he is one who says and does
exactly what he thinks. he doesnt hold back
his mind at all.

I PERSONALLY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT JANKLOW
HELD 1 POSITION IN SOUTH DAKOTA THAT HE PERSONALLY DIDNT
BELEIVE IN. he's a completely frank & outspoken politician.
a rarity in american politics if not completely unique.

wild bill led a controversial life tho.
janklow is admitted fast driver who
traverses sd country roads
& ignores speed limits and stop signs.
he's collected the tickets to prove it, but
that's a mere beginning of wild bill.

a 16 yr old delinquent, drop out and marine,
who returned to college and then law school.

a 27 yr old janklow was accused of rape by a 15 yr old
sioux girl, where he was a tribal lawyer on the Rosebud Indian
Reservation in south dakota. the story shortly precedes the
american indian movement (AIM) revolutionary fervor,
& gets so damn convoluted i won't discuss it here.

janklow was later elected state attorney general.
he stated as a lead prosecutor

"The only way to deal with these AIM leaders is to put
a bullet in their heads."

also he said that dennis banks, an AIM leader, needed
a bullet between between the eyes. banks had raised the
rape charges b4 janklow's election.

later calif governor jerry brown decided to ignore janklow's
extradition request and gave safe haven to banks from
janklow's prosecution.

it wasnt unusual when there was trouble on the
reservation. that 'indian fighter' janklow and his boys
would jump a plane deputized and armed on flight
to the reservation

When a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under the nixon
administration reported that sd violated the civil rights
of Native Americans and called janklow a constitutional
disgrace, Janklow called the report "garbage."

of course janklow served 2 terms as governor next and
could not run again legally. so after a defeat for a senate run
at mcgovern he enter private law practice in the 80s.

he runs for governor again in the 90s where financial
dealings haunted him. one includes an alleged phone call to
a sd supreme court judge. this was the day b4
the court shut down all gambling in sd. allegedly janklow
sold all his stock in gambling that day as well.
btw the reporting attorney was disbarred & charged
with a crime .

the washington republicans had championed the at large
congressman from sd. it will be interesting to see how
they will recieve janklow if acquitted with open arms
or censure... to date, he has refused to resign.

one friend stated that janklow would be the 1st to help
the family of the victim of this car motorcycle wreck. that's
the type of guy he is. that's true, what he didnt mention is that
wild bill would be the 1st to try to lock a guy like himself up.

[frankiepop]

wild bill enroute to trial:

[jesus marion joseph]

I don't know a lot about Janklow, but he comes across as a sincere and straightforward legislator. Needs to take off the lead sneakers, though.

[Brian Olewnick]

I have no idea how sincere he is as a legislator, but as a person he seems to fall way, way short. I mean, you have a guy with a self-publicized love for speeding in cars who, as I understand it, sped through stop signs at an intersection and KILLED somebody. Wouldn't a "sincere" person simply admit to his crime and put himself at the court's mercy?

It's not like he lied under oath or fudged some pork into a spending bill, he KILLED a totally innocent person. If that's reckless mansalughter or whatever in that jurisdiction, take the penalty and serve the time fer krissake.

[Gary Sisco]

He's a sincere racist and at least cryptofascist, to judge from his public comments above. Those AIM trials were some of the dirtiest bullshit of American 20th C attacks on dissenters.

He also, clearly, from his own behavior, has shown an almost insane disregard for human life including his own -- and mine -- and anyone else who has the unfortunate fate of meeting him at a stop sign that he clearly considers a personal inconvenience.

Fuck him. Let him weep.

[jesus marion joseph]

Originally posted by Brian Olewnick
Wouldn't a "sincere" person simply admit to his crime and put himself at the court's mercy?

That would be an "insane" person..............

[Brian Olewnick]

Yeah, call me old-fashioned. Given his rep, I'd be willing to bet that he's railed against lenient courts, of guilty defendents clogging the system with unnecessary, protracted delays, etc. "Sincerity" would insist that he own up to his obvious guilt. Pretty sad when that's considered "insane" which, I've no doubt in much of the country it would be.

[Tanager]

I'm not sure he's obligated by anything, including "duty," to throw himself on the mercy of the courts - but I am quite sure we shouldn't feel any sympathy for him, either. And I don't. Given what little I know of the man and the quotations cited above, I have to agree with Gary's assessment of Janklow.

[Gary Sisco]

I've always pleaded no contest whenever I've been in court. It skips to the chase, but unlike pleading guilty, you get to have your say before the judge pronounces sentence.

[Brian Olewnick]

Gary, I'm guessing in your case that you were in court for doing things that, while illegal, you thought you had every right and/or duty to perform, no?

It just disgusts me that someone who has, through his own negligence and utter disregard for the safety of others, ended someone else's life doesn't have the basic decency to say, "Yes, I did it. I'm sorry. I'll accept whatever the penalty is."

[Gary Sisco]

Not always, Brian, but, yes, many times you'd have been correct. I still plead nolo, however, even in the other cases, as I always have to have my say, first, then comes the sentence. I've never plead not-guilty, or gone for a jury trial, because I'm not a liar and I've never been in court for something I didn't do.

It backfired on me once when I was in court for having kicked in the inside panel of a police cruiser, thinking I'd have my chance to ask the court to ask the police what I'd been doing in their custody to begin with and what was the charge, but the judge absolutely refused to do so and ordered me to shut up or be faced with a contempt charge as well. So I wasn't able to tell the truth, which is that it was roust and I'd been arrested for nothing but being who I am, and had been beaten for it as well, in the jailhouse, while in cuffs. The only charge was for the kicking in of the panel, which happened after I'd been arrested -- for what no one has ever said, and cuffed, for what no one has ever said.

Most times it has worked in my favor, though, as I've found that telling the truth, when allowed, is the best approach, regardless of situation.

Indeed, I was once acquitted by a jury against my will. I'd been arrested along with 40-odd others at a demonstration and the judge refused to allow me to fire the lawyers and be tried as an individual. I'd always made a point of defending myself in court, and didn't like the defense the lawyers had decided to present, either, but, too bad. I got tried against my will, with defense I'd vocally fired in court, presenting a defense that offended me, and was acquitted by a jury I never saw or wanted to see, as I told the judge straight up that if that was going to be her attitude, she could come look me up in Jalapa, Nicaragua, as that's where I was going to be, long before the trial date. There's a book about the trial, actually, because of the acquittal, but my objections aren't in it.