Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 12-3-19

Political News
Bill Cosby Speaks From Prison
Trump Vows Not To Change The Name Of Thanksgiving Despite Cries From The 'Radical Left'
Bill Cosby breaks his si- lence, granting his first exclu- sive interview since beginning his sentence at SCI-Phoenix, a maximum-security Pennsylva- nia penitentiary near Philadel- phia.
Today, in a special phone call with the National Newspa- per Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com, Cosby said he’s spending his time helping to teach and encourage a large population of African American inmates – men he calls residents — via Mann Up, a prison reform program.
The 82-year-old educator and award-winning TV pro- ducer/director/comedian was sentenced to serve 3-to-10- years in Pennsylvania’s prison system following his Septem- ber 2018 conviction on charges of aggravated indecent assault.
Unless he receives relief from the state’s appellate courts, Cosby said he fully an- ticipates serving his entire sen- tence, saying he’s not guilty and will never admit to some- thing he didn’t do. Displayed remorse is generally a required prerequisite to obtaining pa- role or a shortened sentence.
During the exclusive inter- view with NNPA, Cosby was candid, vivid and outspoken.
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s
spokesman, was also on the call, where Cosby stressed that there would be no ground rules or restrictions. No topics were off-the-table for discus- sion.
Cosby received no special treatment from the facility for this interview. Because in- mates are only allowed to re- main on phone calls for 15-minutes, Cosby had to call back multiple times in order to complete today’s interview.
“I have eight years and nine months left,” Cosby stated. “When I come up for parole,
BILL COSBY
they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don’t care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren’t there. They don’t know.”
He said his trials were a sham, unjust and not fair.
“It’s all a set up. That whole jury thing. They were im- posters,” Cosby stated.
“Look at the woman who blew the whistle,” he said, al- luding to the potential juror who overheard a seated juror proclaim before the trial that, “he’s guilty, we can all go home now.”
“Then she went in and came out smiling, it’s something at- torneys will tell you is called a payoff,” Cosby stated. “I know what they’ve done to my peo- ple. But my people are going to view me and say, ‘that boy looks good. That boy is strong.’ I have too many heroes that I’ve sat with. Too many heroes whom I listened to like John Henrik Clarke, Kenneth Clark, and Dorothy Height. Those people are very strong, and they saw the rejection of their people. This is political. I can see the whole thing.”
“I am a privileged man in prison,” he stated.
President Trump told supporters at a rally held in Sunrise, Fla., Tuesday that he wouldn’t allow the “radical left” to change the name of Thanksgiving.
The president, who recently switched his residency from New York to Florida, claimed at his "homecoming rally" that the left wants to change the name of the upcoming secular holiday after what he previously described as “a war on Christmas.”
“As we gather together for Thanksgiving, you know, some people want to change the name Thanksgiving,” Trump began Tuesday night. “They don't want to use the term Thanksgiving. And that was true also with Christmas. But now everybody's using Christmas again. Remember this?”
While campaigning before the 2016 election, Trump vowed he was “a good Chris- tian,” and therefore, would ensure people could “say
The Trumps on Thanksgiving
‘Merry Christmas’ again” in stores and public places in- stead of being obliged to opt for the more secular greeting “Happy Holidays,” according to The Hill.
“But now we're going to have to do a little work on Thanksgiving,” Trump con- tinued at the Florida rally. “People have different ideas. Why it shouldn't be called Thanksgiving. But everybody
in this room, I know, loves the name Thanksgiving. And we're not changing.”
Twitter users used the hashtag “#WhatLiber- alsCallThanksgiving” to mock the president’s remarks. One person, who said she was Na- tive American, pointed to how she prefers to instead name the fourth Thursday of No- vember a “#nationaldayof- mourning."
Michelle Obama Shares Family Photo On Social Media, Wishing Everyone Happy Thanksgiving
Forever First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the holiday season with great cheer by posting a family photo on social media.
On Wednesday, Mrs. O shared a group shot of her and husband, former president Barack Hussein Obama with their two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
“From our family to yours, #HappyThanksgiving!” Mrs. Obama wrote on Twitter.
She has 13.8 million fol-
THE OBAMAS
lowers on the popular social
media platform.
This year is the family’s
third since leaving The White House.
According to People, the photo was taken in May be- fore Sasha, just shy of turn- ing 18, left for her high school prom.
Mrs. Obama has had a great year.
Her memoir Becoming be- came the best-selling book of 2018 and garnered her a Grammy Award nomination in the spoken word album cat- egory. According to CNN, her husband won two Grammys in the same category, for his two best-selling books Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope.
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