> is it so hard to go to Mumia rallies? what is being called for at those
> actions? sure, smash the state. in the meantime, Mumia's best hope is to
> get a "fair", that is "just", trial.
Yes, Mumia's best hope right now is to get a new trial.
I was involved in the Free Mumia movement for several years in the mid-90s. I got a chance to see it turned from a decentralized grassroots network into a centralized, top-down organization that played perfectly into the hands of Left sectarians who wanted to use Mumia's plight to sell newspapers and get new recruits.
I joined the movement at pretty much the same time as everybody else--when Governor Ridge signed that first death warrant. The first goal was to save Mumia's life and give him a chance to fight the system through the courts. We managed to do that through an international upswell of activism.
After this crisis, the movement settled down into the long term support work role. But it missed an important opportunity which became obvious later on. When the grassroots movement still had high numbers of activists, there was talk about broadening the movement to bring our energy and resources to bear against the death penalty. Some of us felt that strategically this was the best way to fight for Mumia's life in the long run, so that he could live until he got a new trial or was released. This didn't happen but a few years later those students in Illinois managed to get several guys freed from death row, which sparked a national debate on the death penalty. This led to many states adopting or considering moratoriums on the death penalty. This was not accomplished by the Free Mumia movement, although the movement could have figured out this strategy earlier if it had broadened its goals.
Chuck0