President Obama Must Free Leonard Peltier

Oh-ho! Must he, now? (Or what? You won’t vote for him again?) Yes, I’m sure he’ll get right on that, given his appetite for confrontation and his steadfast refusal to be bullied by people who think anyone to the left of Mussolini is a communist (though, goodness me, wouldn’t it be fun to see the apoplectic reaction from the right wing if he did.)

I remember people being optimistic that another charismatic young Democratic president would free Peltier. I was at a concert/rally back in 1994, where the excellent band Red Thunder performed. I didn’t really believe anything would come of the trip up to D.C. the following day, but at least one cool thing occurred: a kindly, elderly man came up to my table, shook my hand and thanked me for coming, asked me my name, where I was from, and so on, before introducing himself as Dennis Banks. (I believe I responded with something brilliant like, “Ah gur duh hoouh…”)

Ho-lee shit.

Haven’t washed that hand since!