~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

In Memory of Renisha McBride …


EqualityToday,  … a guest post

A Message from Britain on the Death of Renisha McBride

I am a middle-aged White British man who lives in Harlow, a town approximately 22 miles Northeast of the centre of London. I am a writer (so far without any commercial success).

I read about the tragic case of Renisha McBride last Friday in a British newspaper called The Guardian, and wrote the following verses in response. Anyone who feels that my composition may be useful is free to use it in any form they see fit. I ask only that my authorship is acknowledged.

The following verses are also attached to this email in the form of a Word document, to facilitate their use.

I hope that justice can be served in this case, those responsible punished, and the law changed.

Regards and Best Wishes

Paul T Kegan

== The Dear Folk of Dearborn Heights

There’s a suburb of Detroit City Goes by the name of Dearborn Heights Where householders stand their ground Where they know their Goddamn rights

Their idea of assistance Is a bullet in your head If you’re young and Black and female They’ll probably shoot you dead

The highway of compassion It bypasses Dearborn Heights On blistering August days And cold November nights

Renisha McBride crashed her car At the tender age of nineteen Early one Saturday morning On streets unfriendly and mean

She knocked on his door and asked him for help He picked up his gun and he fired As from his house she turned away And on his front porch she expired

“The local police aren’t racist!” I imagine the outraged cries How then do we explain Their filthy racist lies?

Renisha she was dumped That was what they said On the porch of an innocent man She was already dead

The Prosecutor vetoed arrest In Wayne County it wasn’t a crime To shoot in the back of her head A woman, unarmed, in her prime

Because killing Blacks is legal It’s written in Michigan law They’re free to gun you down If you knock upon their door

Black folk can expect no sympathy In good ol’ Dearborn Heights Where householders stand their ground Where they know their Goddamn rights ■ Paul T Kegan 10 November 2013

In memory of Renisha McBride.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

1967 – The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment required the appointment of a vice-president when that office became vacant and instituted new measures in the event of presidential disability.


See the source image
~ 25th Amendment ~ 
Presidential Disability and Succession
Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.

The 25th Amendment changed a portion of Article II, Section 1

Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

constitutioncenter.org

history.com

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