We’ve all come to know Cinco de Mayo which is a big Mexican holiday that celebrates the time the Mexicans defeated a French army near Puebla in 1862. Its roots are long forgotten yet the 5th of May is celebrated widely by Mexicans, Latinos and others throughout the world. It makes for a nice spring time holiday.
When I think of Cinco de Mayo I recall the story of the many Irish who left Ireland during the great famine years 1845 to 1852. Well over a million left their native land and spread out through the world with many settling not only in North America, just in tie to take part in the War Between The States, but in other parts of the Americas especially among the Spanish speaking populations. This was difficult for a people who had as a first tongue, Irish, and an imposed tongue, English, to familiarized themselves with a third language.
You must know that many Irish left their homeland and settled in the Americas. Take for example Che Guevara who is a descent of the Lynchs and Blakes of Galway. Then, of course, we all know of the famous St. Patricio Battalion who were Irishmen who fought for Mexico against the United States.
I bring up the Irish in connection with Cinco de Mayo because they had the reputation among their Latino friends of really throwing all discretion to the wind and imbibing heavily on that day. Driven by impulses the Mexicans could not fathom they sought to out-drink everyone present on this one day. When inquired of, they explained celebrating victory in battle, as the Mexicans had in 1862, was always a great pleasures of the Irish.
As you’d expect after such a frenzy celebration these Irish would wake up on the next day suffering mightily. The heat, light and noise were particularly egregious. Not knowing how long they had been away from consciousness they’d ask what day it was. The reply came, “Seis de Mayo.” They interpreted that as the Mexicans telling them it was their day to suffer or their day of reckoning for their rash conduct the day before.
Thus it was that Seis de Mayo became an expresssion among the Irish living in the Spanish speaking countries for a day of reckoning. Prior to any big battle the expression tomorrow is “Seis de Mayo” became commonplace. (Some have misunderstood the expression as Irish words involving County Mayo in Ireland.)
Now I don’t know much about Judge Casper, as I’ve previously explained. But she seems like a bright woman who would have a grasp of history. So I have to wonder whether it is merely a coincidence that she has set today, Seis de Mayo, as the day of reckoning for Whitey Bulger.
Today is the date when he has to put up or shut up. The trial is set to begin in a month. Whitey has been doing all in his power with the help of his legal team Carney & Brennan (C&B) to postpone his trial. C&B have done marvelous legal maneuverings to push the trial into June.
When C&B’s hand was called by Judge Casper in her recent decision we saw she had pocketed the immunity issue, It was off the table and couldn’t be used to bring about a delay by demanding that more discovery was needed to prove it. Unless they do something, it is a mad rush toward the beginning of the trial which will start shortly after the Big Apple Circus leaves town.
C&B seemed to have put all its eggs into one basket with the immunity defense relinquishing the right to file any substantive motions that would require a hearing that would cause a delay. So pretty much nothing stands between Whitey and his trial except for the bone Judge Casper threw C&B in her memorandum, which is that he can claim the defenses of “public authority” or “entrapment by estoppel” If C&B assert either or both of these there will be a hearing on them.
This will require that Whitey take the stand since he is the only person alive who can testify as to the agreement he had with Assistant US attorney Jeremiah O’Sullivan. He has until midnight today, May 6, to decide whether he will pick up the bone and chew on it.
It’s a hard decision to make because to call the judge he pretty much has to go all in. That means Whitey on the stand and the prosecutors Wyshak and Kelly sitting at counsel table with sharpened knives ready to carve him up into tiny bits. It also means settling once and for all on the terms of the agreement with O’Sullivan.
Overriding all of this is that they know Whitey won’t be believed and the judge will rule against them. But since they are going to lose when the jury comes in with a verdict and their goal is to delay and not to win it may be worth making the claim to push off the trial date.
I’d say it’s now or never, or as I said the day of reckoning, but knowing C&B I may be wrong. They might have some other ways to delay the date but I’m at a loss to figure out how they will do it in light of their prior commitments. We’ll know before the cock crows.
Few in Mexico celebrate 5 May, and not many ever heard of it until a booze company in the US began marketing it as a holiday, mainly in the US. Mexican Independence Day should be the one celebrated – 16 September. Viva Dieciséis de Septiembre!
Cinco de Mayo began when France lent money to Mexico and invaded to try to get its money back. They lost a battle on 5 May, and then invited the younger brother of the Austrian Emperor to try and unite the country’s different factions. The Emperor Maximilian was rousted and killed in 1867.
So that’s the lesson: A loanshark sends an enforcer to collect the money and vig owed, a turf-war breaks out and the enforcers are killed. There is an appeal to the Committee, which sends their man who is also killed. The war continues. A liquor company creates a holiday.
Whitey would be right at home.
Henry:
You know so much more about history than I do. Thanks for the update. I actually was wondering where it came from because I hadn’t heard of it until over the last twenty years or so. But spring time is a good day for a holiday so lets hope it grows. By the way, Whitey could use a holiday about now but I don’t think he’ll be getting one any too soon.
Here is an article by some forensic journalists who take on causes ignored by the mainstream media. I’m convinced these journalists follow your blog because they wrote an excellent article about the Swartz case, the Motel Caswell, and another case you followed. Essentially, this article depicts another Aaron Swartz type prosecution of an internet activist named Barrett Brown. This poor bastard is facing 100 years. When Brown’s supporters gathered some money in a defense fund, the US Attorney stepped in and seized the funds. Fortunately, the magistrate reversed the forfeiture and Brown has hired some good lawyers.
http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/05/02/barrett-brown-update-new-defense-team-feds-fish-for-activists/
A PRIOR ARTICLE ABOUT BROWN:
http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/02/21/the-saga-of-barrett-brown/
Patty:
I don’t know enough about the Brown case to really comment on it in depth but there seems to a a passionate commitment by the US to protect the mighty like the bankers and go after those who are trying to keep us informed about how all this is happening. There’s an interesting article in the Guardian about Andrew Auernheimer another internet person who was just sent to prison by the feds. He is quoted as saying: “Powerful people want to throw you in jail when you humiliate them. And I’m going to do it again and again, even from a prison cell.”
Andrew got 41 months (21 less months than Weeks served for murdering 5 people) because he downloaded a list of email addresses of 114,000 people who had brought an iPad from AT&T and then sent it to a journalist at Gawker an online newsite. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/04/security-alert-war-in-cyberspace
That article and the on on Brown are indicative of the focus of the Justice Department which is on scaring people with internet skills into staying away from disclosing government business. If the CIA can drop bags of cash in Karhsai’s office every week where else is it dropping our money. Do friendly newspaper people get some since there is no check on what is done with it?
I’m going to propose repealing so much of the Second Amendment as refers to guns being necessary to the security of a free state and insert in it open access to the internet. We’ll never be able to correct anything our government is inclined to do with guns because we are outgunned so the only avenue left to us is freedom of speech, especially over the internet. That must be kept out of the government’s control.
Just like the government forces declared a “shelter in” and continually violated the 4th Amendment by entering peoples houses without warrants and having the people leave which is really new in this country soon it will be able to tell internet providers to shut people off the internet during times when things get a little out of control.
Thanks for that information about Brown
Matt,
Not sure if you’ve heard the rumors (probably more than rumor) that Robert DeLuca has become an informant and is in the witness protection program and will be a star witness in the Bulger trial. I can’t vouch for this other than to refer to articles I’ve read at WPRI.
DeLuca, of course, was Salemme’s right hand man in RI and was one of the four men inducted into NELCN in the infamous October
1989 mob induction ceremony. He was part of the 1995 indictment and ended up spending some 12 years in jail, making more mob connections, before going free in 2007 or 2008, and was rumored as the next NELCN underboss under Limone after Mannochio stepped down, until he suddenly disappeared in 2009 or so, and an informant by the name of RD started showing up in court documents.
Do you know anything more about this? Would this seem to make it even more certain that Bulger will be found guilty and add impetus to C&B efforts to delay? DeLuca was very active with Salemme in the late 80s and early 90s.
Jon.
I’ve heard DeLuca had dropped out of sight and was in the fed bed. He has probably little to offer against Whitey but that won’t matter to the Feds. They enjoy putting these gangsters on the stand who can entertain us with their sordid lives. They figure if they show enough of these repellant people to the jury that the jury will figure anyone who associated with that type scum must be guilty of something. Remember the Feds only need one guilty finding to declare victory sort of
like the Muslim terrorist needing only one successful attack. It’s going to be a long summer for Whitey if Carney doesn’t file today. All that is left is the “sick” card.
My guess is that it will be the “Rifleman” playing “Sammy the Bull” to Whitey’s “John Gotti”