If blogging my own article twice in two weeks seems self-serving, it's just that I'm frustrated that I seem to be the only one who gives the slightest damn about Jamal Lewis. My article doesn't even criticize drug laws, or the War on Drugs (that's a topic for another day). It asks, instead, how can a conspiracy (that is, a couple of conversations) to commit a non-violent crime which never actually takes place, be considered a crime?
This is JAMAL LEWIS. The NFL is supposed to be the premier league of American sports, and Lewis proved in 2003 to rank with the all-time great running backs, but no one wants to even register an opinion on his case, except me. He's probably better than O.J. Simpson (he's at least a Super Bowl ring better). What am I missing?
Next year, Lewis could single-handedly beat the Patriots in the AFC title game, and then win the Super Bowl MVP award. The NFL and the broadcast networks will go through the motions of asking him about the "mistake" he made in 2000 (which was, in effect, having a conversation with a childhood friend on a cell phone), which everyone admits was not committing an actual crime. Will it only be then that the leading libertarian websites discuss his criminal case and imprisonment, and condemn it as unjust?
Nobody from Libertarian Party headquarters issued a press release. Hardly any one else has spoken up, and definitely not anyone from the leading libertarian websites, from what I've seen. Jamal Lewis is in a prison camp. Why?
That's not a rhetorical question. WHY?
Especially, why do no libertarians care?
I doubt anyone will respond, because they haven't yet. I just want to put out that challenge. If ever there was a case for libertarian outrage at a criminal case, this ranks with the Tommy Chong, Bobby Fischer, and Martha Stewart cases. But there's not a peep.
Anyone who hasn't protested the Lewis persecution now, but would a year from now if Lewis wears a Super Bowl ring, isn't a libertarian, just a self-aggrandizer exploiting libertarian readership.
Frankly, that's what I thought I was doing when writing about him, adding my name in support for a "Free Jamal Lewis" movement. But no one gives a flying rip about Jamal Lewis. Am I the only one on the list?
Again, I ask, why?
Libertarians (big "L", or small) please respond with your thoughts. Thanks.
The Partial Observer - The High-Tech Lynching of Jamal Lewis
James Leroy Wilson's one-man magazine.
Monday, February 07, 2005
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I haven't been following this story at all, although I was aware that Lewis was in trouble for something involving drugs. I really don't pay attention to pro football, although I love college football.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough that anyone ends up being harassed, arrested, or imprisoned due to our government's drug laws, but what really struck me while reading your column was this sentence and what follows it:
"No drugs ever exchanged hands."
And the fact that the FBI set this whole thing up makes it even more sick.
Regarding your concern over other libertarians not noticing - Has this story been big news outside of the sports media? I heard that Lewis was in trouble once many months ago, but I never knew the specifics, nor did I know that he's facing prison time until I read your column.