Twenty-five years after Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner was killed in the line of duty by ‘former’ Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, the case is still on appeal.  Various communist groups have maintained Jamal’s innocence, despite his guilty conviction and death sentence. They recently got active in France too in the killer’s behalf. Paris made him an honorary citizen, and a slum named St. Denis in April 2006 named a street after him. So in response to these events, one of those non-binding resolutions was put forth by Pennsylvania politicians to voice their displeasure with the actions taken by French authorities. The measure passed 368-31, with 8 members voting “present.” Â
Pardon me for noticing that it wasn’t a unanimous vote in favor. What does it say when all 31 who voted against the resolution, and all 8 who voted ‘present’ were democrats? Have cop killers, communists, socialists, and the French become a new special interest for these democrats?
| Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii) | Carolyn Kilpatrick (Mich.)Â | Robert Scott (Va.) |
| William Clay (Mo.) | Barbara Lee (Calif.) | Jose Serrano (N.Y.) |
| Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) | Cynthia McKinney (Ga.) | Fortney Hillman Stark Jr. (Calif.) |
| John Conyers (Mich.) | Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) | Edolphus Towns (N.Y.) |
| Jim Cooper (Tenn.) | Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) | Tom Udall (N.M.) |
| Danny Davis (Ill.) | James Oberstar (Minn.) | Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.) |
| Raul Grijalva (Ariz.) | Major Owens (N.Y.) | Maxine Waters (Calif.) |
| Maurice Hinchey (N.Y.) | Ed Pastor (Ariz.) | Anthony Weiner (N.Y.) |
| Mike Honda (Calif.) | Donald Payne (N.J.) | Lynn Woolsey (Calif.) |
| Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill.) | Charles Rangel (N.Y.) | |
| Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas)Â | Bobby Rush (Ill.) |
Looks like a Cop Killers Caucus to me too.  James Taranto makes an astute observation.
The most disturbing name on the “no” list is that of John Conyers. Granted, this is only a symbolic vote, but is it really a good idea to entrust the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee to a man who casts a symbolic vote for a cop-killer and against his victim?
