* * * * *
                                        
     “Ever wonder why the American public got behind the idea of mandatory
      minimums and stiff sentences? The Seventies. The Seventies are why!”
                                        
> Clearly, the only logical thing to happen at this point in the story is for
> Tupac Shakur’s future stepfather to study acupuncture.
> 
> Look, I told you today’s installment gets crazy.
> 
> It turns out that Marxist education is not actually helpful in curing drug
> addiction, so clinic staffer Mutulu Shakur learns acupuncture. He learns
> from a doctor working at Lincoln Detox, but his education is interrupted
> when the doctor dies of a heroin overdose. IN THE CLINIC.
> 
> But he finds a new teacher and he and others eventually get doctor of
> acupuncture degrees from the Acupuncture Association of Quebec. Naturally,
> with a cushy city gig and a growing acupuncture practice, Shakur comes to
> the same decision you would in such a situation: “I should use this place
> and its connections to start robbing banks so I can raise money to start a
> revolution.”
> 
> “Also,” he doubtless added, “to pay for a cocaine habit that is already
> considerable *fnorrrrrrrrkkkkkk*”
> 
> Reminder: this is all happening at a drug treatment clinic that is fully
> funded by the tax dollars of the City of New York!
> 
> But Shakur has never robbed a bank. He needs an experienced bank robber and
> oh look here comes Sekou Odinga, formerly of the BLA! Naturally, Shakur and
> Odinga need some logistical support, and what better place to find this
> than a bunch of white communist feminists —
> 
> Look, I told you this story gets crazy.
> 

“Days of Rage | Status 451 [1]”

When I read this, I thought to myself, how did we **ever** surive the 60s and
70s? The whole sordid story comes across like a poor Monty Python sketch
stretched way too long. Don't believe me?

> In 1972, a group called Venceremos, from the Bay Area, literally broke out
> a black convict named Ronald Beaty during a prison transport so he could
> train them in guerrilla tactics and lead a revolution.
> 
> That was their actual plan. That was their entire actual plan.
> 
> Exactly that one bit from South Park, but a bunch of '70s white Bay Area
> radicals going, 'Token, you're black; you know guerrilla tactics.'
> (Spoiler: when Beaty got arrested again, he promptly rolled over on the
> white radicals.)
> 

“Days of Rage | Status 451 [2]”

It goes on and on like that. I found it hilarious, even though it's about a
serious topic of political activism gone terrorist. And believe me, the two
bits I quoted aren't even all that outrageous. Wait until you read about the
Episcopal Church funding a terrorist group out of Puerto Rico.

I wish I was making this up.

It's a long article and it's well worth reading as it points out what might
be headed our way. History doesn't repeat, but it does tend to rhyme …

[1] https://status451.com/2017/01/20/days-of-rage/
[2] https://status451.com/2017/01/20/days-of-rage/

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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