Our friend Bob Dylan might have presaged the events in Judge Ellis' D.C. courtroom yesterday in the powerful, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll wherein the poet recounted in song the injustice of the Maryland court that sentenced plantation owner William Zanzinger to six months in prison for the willful and savage murder of his kitchen maid in a fit of anger while wielding 'a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger' as it 'flew through the air, doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle...'
Likewise yesterday, a man's place of privilege was honored by a judge who 'spoke through his cloak, deep and distinguished, and handed down strongly for penalty and repentance': Paul Manafort with a 47 month sentence, drastically reduced from the prescribed sentencing guideline of 15-25 years. Like the Maryland court of old, Judge Ellis 'pounded his gavel in the courtroom of honor, to show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level and that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom; and that even the nobles get properly handled once the cops have chased after and caught 'em'...stared at the person who defrauded the American people of 30 million dollars, 'who just happened to be feeling that way without warning' and allowed him to pass with a shamefully light sentence while thousands of people of color continue to languish in prisons all over the land for longer durations as a result of convictions for offenses of much less magnitude.
So in the wake of the injustice on full display in our nation's capital yesterday, we can say in sad voices and with heads bowed, to all those who 'philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears' that today you may 'bury the rag deep in your face; for now is the time for your tears'!
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