Sunday, December 16, 2007

Renaissance Man

It seems I can't escape being reminded of just how big a loser I am. While channel surfing the other night, I came across a tribute to a man who by the time of his death at the age of 51 had accomplished more than I could hope to if I lived to be a hundred. Here was a man who counted among his friends those in the literary, political, and entertainment worlds. Here was a man who was a five time Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Here was a man who was an author of eleven books. Here was a man who was an advocate of inner-city youth. Here was a man who those at his memorial were vowing to remember, to honor, to emulate. Here was a man who brutally murdered four innocent people in two separate robberies for a grand total of $280. Here was a man who according to those singing his praises was executed by the state of California for no other reason than it was time to sacrifice another black man to the "death dealers". Here was a man named Tookie Williams. I curse him and his memory. I curse those who fought to save his wretched life. I curse those who, with their promises to never let this puke's memory die, continue to spit on his victims and their families. I am King Selfish and I approve these curses.

3 comments:

The Archduke of Arrogance said...

Quick couple of points. First, this is a good post, and I the Archduke would like to add my approval to your curses. Second, I believe you owe your readers a list of at least the famous people that slobbered all over Stanley. Third, I wonder if all the murderers in the California penal system get access to steroids, or just the famous ones?

King Selfish said...

I purposefully omitted the names of the famous and not so famous that were gathered to honor Tookie, but since you asked -- Barbara Becnel, African-American author, journalist, film producer, and close friend of Mr. Tookie -- Tom Hayden, activist and politician, who while serving as a California state senator fought to have Tookie's death sentence commuted -- Mike Farrell, all-around nut and former M*A*S*H star, who when not grieving over the great Tookie continues in his life-long battle to abolish the death penalty. He abhors "death dealers", don't you know.

As I'm sure you will recall, leading up to his execution back in '05 there were many well known types who were engaged in the struggle to save Tookie. In addition to those I've already mentioned the following I'm certain were fighting the good fight -- Jim Brown, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Snoop Dog, the NAACP and, of course, the Nation of Islam. There were many others who I am less sure of and too lazy to look up, but if memory serves -- an Oscar winner (probably Tim Robbins), Gore Vidal/Norman Mailer (I always get these ass-wipes confused), Ed Asner, and several idiotic females whose names fail me. Allow me to add these and their sympathizers to my curse list.

Anonymous said...

Agreed agreed agreed