Globex Corporation Newsletter

Rosa Parks died yesterday. In 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man and was arrested. As much as anything, that one act of "civil disobediance" sparked the civil rights movement in this country. I saw her mugshot for the first time today and it made me stop and think. Look at her face, if anything she looks embarassed. Rosa Parks grew up in a country of laws, even if the laws were biased against people who shared her skin color. Being charged with a crime, as unjust as she thought it was, was not a joke to Rosa Parks.

The other mugshot is of Tom DeLay, former House majority leader. 'Former' because GOP rules state that any member can no longer hold a leadership position when charged with a crime. 'Former' because Tom DeLay has been charged with money laundering and conspiracy. Like Rosa Parks, Tom DeLay doesn't think he's done anything wrong, that shows a little more in his mugshot than it does in Parks'.

I've often expressed my admiration of how the Republicans handle the media. This is a fantastic example of that. Had DeLay taken the 'normal' mugshot (think Nick Nolte - my favorite mugshot of all time), it could have been used by the opposition. A smiling Tom DeLay, well dressed, photo devoid of any jailhouse references make that difficult for the Dems. In short, it's amazing handling of the media by the GOP. Don't get me wrong, I simply admire the media handling, I don't admire the man or the crimes he's accused of.

That said, I look at two mugshots. I see one where a woman was charged the crime of not giving up her seat on a bus to a white man - she looks embarassed but there is a defience there, a realization that she didn't do anything wrong whether she broke the law or not. I see another where a man is charged with two crimes, the types of crimes you read about in a Mario Puzo novel, but to him it's just a big freaking joke. It's an event to be handled by the GOP media machine, and I'm sure he was briefed on how to look and act and what to say before he set foot in the courthouse. I doubt Rosa Parks had 'media handlers' to help her prepare for her mugshot.

The fact of the matter is that one of these mugshots is real and the other is 100% fabrication other than the fact that the man in it is the one who has been charged with two crimes. Talk to some and they will say that the charges against Tom DeLay are as unjust as that against Rosa Parks. Fair enough, I'm not a judge and it's not for me to say. A judge will decide the matter, once Tom DeLay finds one who isn't too much of a Democrat.

BOJ
All day long, I show two.....