Paroling the Revolution

Kathy Boudin, the 60-year-old radical chic poster child and late of the Black Liberation Army, has been granted parole. In 1984, she pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree murder in a 1981 armored truck heist in which a guard was killed. Boudin was serving 20 years to life for the murder.

Not long ago, David Weigel talked with the director of a new documentary about the Weather Underground (the BLA included remnants of that group). His piece is online here. And here's Brian Doherty's 2001 piece on the capture and trial of Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathy Soliah. And if you're in a '60s/early '70s kind of mood, here's another article to check out: "Peace Corpse",

Comments

[Anonymous]

Yeah joe, a WAR that targets soldiers and dictators is the same as targeting and blowing up civilians. The IDF is the same as the people that blew up infants yesterday. The name of your affliction is "madness" not "liberalism." Nihilsts like yourself have devalued "liberal" beyond any meaning.

[Lefty]

They may have targeted soldiers but they got over 3,000 civilians. Oops.

[Anonymous]

Since results matter more than intent to Lefty, let us note Saddam killed over a quarter million of his own people and quite a few more from other countries. Double oops.

[JJ]

If it's OK to target soliders, is it OK for Boudin to shoot cops?

[joe]

First one to find a logical nexus between anon's furious rant and my comment about certainty gets a sloppy wet one.

[Joe2]

Joe, what does this have to do with stolen elections?

[Forbes]

Come on folks, she committed an armed robbery that resulted in the death of three people, leaving nine children fatherless. If she wasn't some icon of the left, her crime would keep her in jail, and the robbery/homicide would be far more relevant, rather than what she "stood" for--whatever that pitiful cause. And did anyone mention that she was a fugitive on the run, at the time of her capture, for other crimes alleged. The fact that the left finds common ground with such criminal violence proves it lacks any credibility. She is no different than Tim McVey, and those that find common cause with her are as irrelevant as those that found common cause with him.
PS: I believe New York has a law that prevents criminals from profitting from, or selling the story of their crime. (Triggered by son of Sam, or the Jack Henry Abbott/Norman Mailer? incident.)
PPS: I missed the part of her connection to Iraq and/or the IDF.

[Mark Rudd]

The Weather Underground movie is good and worth seeing, especially as a sociological lesson on the problems ssociated with extreme self-righteousness.

[Jough]

Tim who...

[rod boyd]

My understanding was that three guards were killed, one murdered as he pleaded (lying wounded) for his life.

She has celeb supporters, true left-wing Street cred and an activist base who are more than willing to accept her with open arms.

I predict the following:
1. Vanity Fair profile, fairly uncritical.
2. regular appearances in The Nation
3. Teaching slot at a univ.
4. Regular appearances in papers and the likes of Charlie Rose
5. will sell her life story to a screenwriter for upper six figures.
6. A book, but you knew that already

Getting involved with this heist was the best thing to happen to her from an economic standpoint.

John Doerr said it best: "guilty as sin, free as a bird."

[Mark Rudd]

Rod,

I hadn't thought about it from your perspective (and doubt that she did as well!), but you may be on to something. 🙂 I don't think the reception wil be that warm, however, because Americans' perception of domestic terrorism has changed since, oh, 9/11/01. But undoubtedly she will have some fans.

[J Canuck]

Mcveigh. Murrah building, Oklahoma City. Clear?

[joe]

If you are certain that a violent act, even the killing of innocent people, will bring about a freer, better world with less suffering, then it makes sense to commit the act. What's a few thousand dead Iraqis, if the outcome is a free democracy? Indeed, if you were certain that would be the outcome, even a war and occupation would be worth it.

That's why I'm on my guard around people who are too certain (like our President and Atty. General)of the rightness of their ideology.

The name for this orientation is "liberalism."

[Forbes Tuttle]

Jean: Thanks for the update on the NY law. Also, the point I was trying to make is that her notoriety is due to her leftist credentials, i.e. she's more likely to be referred to as a co-founder of the Weather Underground, rather than as a convicted murderer. Her story is always couched with this background, as if it ameliorates the crime. If she was "just" a convicted murderer, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[Jean Bart]

Forbes,

That law (New York's original "Son of Sam" law) was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1991 as a violation of the 1st Amendment's speech clause; there have been attempts at re-writes, but I don't know how successful they are. Most state courts have upheld such laws, however the California Supreme Court struck down a similar law in 2002, and I think this represents the trend at this point.

BTW, lots of people get paroled who have done terrible things, and they weren't fighting for leftist causes. Attributing her release exclusively to her ideology is a bit silly.

[Lefty]

Try as we may to lock everybody up forever, 95% of them still come back.

[Allen David]

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DATE: 01/25/2004 10:17:54
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