Category: Bob Small

By a Jury of his Peers

By Bob Small

According to 1215 Magna Carta – Clause 39, “No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers”.

However, there is now a dissenting view Magna Carta and Trial by Jury.

In England, recently, there has been a significant backlog of cases, about 80,000 , with many trials being listed far into the future.

Potential problem areas include whether defendants are being judged by a “representative cross-section of society”, concentration of decisions in a single individual, and that “this may not significantly reduce delays”, rather than addressing “funding, staffing, and court capacity”.

There is a plan to scrap jury trials in England and Wales

Unless the expected prison sentence is more than five years, defendants would not be allowed to ask for a jury trial. Mike Evans, President of the Law Society of England and Wales, called the proposals “extreme”.

“This is a fundamental change to how our criminal justice system operates, and it goes too far,” he said.

There were 78,000 cases pending currently, as compared to 38,000 at the end of 2019.

Another possible negative effect, would be for women who were victims of violence.

Labor MP Natalie Fleet, said , “You know what’s worse than being raped? Facing years of waiting to see if people believe you.” Academic Kitty Lymperopoulou advocated for jury trials, saying “Conversely, the involvement of 12 randomly selected people brings a wider range of lived experiences, insights and perspectives .”

For a dissenting view there’s this Birmingham, England woman who says in a caveat, “Just because we have done something for hundreds of years is not reason enough alone to keep doing it.”

Because U.S. Constitution – Article III | Resources | Library of Congress, U.S. Constitution – Sixth Amendment | Library of Congress and U.S. Constitution – Seventh Amendment | Library of Congress all guarantee our rights to Jury trials, this seems safe here. Unless we fear Prince Shapiro changing this in Pennsylvania.

See also The Ox-Bow Incident

12 Angry Men (1957)

Both with the indefatigable Henry Fonda.

When Is Violence Implied?

By Bob Small

Eight students from Swarthmore College are facing charges, including expulsion, for distributing protest fliers that, at least, implied violence. Specifically, the 37 profile photos of the college’s Board of Managers, were shown under the “firearm scopes cross hairs”.

If this was a radical political group targeting conservatives, would we consider this differently?

Just asking.

On the fifth of March, at a time when the Board of Managers was at the Swarthmore Inn for its quarterly meeting, someone spray- painted “Board of Butchers”. Again, see above.

Meanwhile, at least one of these students discovered they had been filmed by security cameras. There has also been surveillance at Bryn Mawr, Haverford and who knows where else. (see article below)

Swarthmore has been increasing surveillance especially when students were found shaking an innocent camera. Who knows what other violence they were capable of!

Bryn Mawr has even hired Private Investigators! What Netflix series is that?

Meanwhile, at Haverford , it sounds like an honest-to-Delco brawl at Haviv Rettig Gur’s talk, “Roots, Return, and Reality: Jews, Israel, and the Myth of Settler Colonialism “. The WWE comes to Haverford!

From a quote from Swarthmore SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) For us, the Student Intifada shattered this facade with a sledgehammer. October 7^th, 2023 upended our world, and the ensuing movement and swift war of repression cemented our understanding of the university as an unsalveagably violent arm of the state.

There’s more, but that’s the main idea.

Let’s just conclude by maybe agreeing that both sides have “blood on their hands”.

Let’s also agree that violence won’t solve anything. It’s being tried and…..

Any protest now is only useful if it makes one feel better.

No mention in the Swarthmorean, Delco Times, or Town Talk.

Since the trial is in-college, the results will probably wait for Swarthmore SJP to send a notice.

Can Flip Philly Red succeed?

By Bob Small

During my time living and working in South Philadelphia, circa 1978-88, Republicans were as common as unicorns, and not as successful. So, when we first heard of a group called Flip Philly Red at the 2025 Bill of Rights Banquet, we put it on a list to look at later.

It turns out that Republicans are alive and well in Philadelphia. B

John McCauley, an Afro-Philadelphian representing FPR rose to confront the predominantly Democratic City Council of Philadelphia when it was considering a resolution in October urging both Pennsylvania senators to oppose ICE funding.

Eventually, his microphone was turned off which happens when one side doesn’t want to hear the other side. If they start to have Candidates (see below), then the Dems will have to listen.

Flip Philly Red was listed at a Philadelphia-based Keystone Town Hall and more appearances are expected.

This article describes McCauley as a “Trump-loving, America-first, registered Republican” speaking at City Hall as Philadelphia’s “intellectual mausoleum”.

Other major cities, like LA and NYC, are also building these movements, but Swarthmore, for instance, is not yet in any danger of being “flipped”, but grassroots agitators are working towards those goals.

See also:

Black Republican revolution brewing in Philadelphia?

Chicago Flips Red

Our Candidates – Chicago Flips Red

The Need For Gadflies

By Bob Small

Recently, we’ve received a number of “mailers”, some of them up to 10 pages, on political issues. Since the Greens and the socialista have removed us from their mailings, we can only attribute these to sources on the other side of the shoutings. These particular three mailings are not available online, even my AI sources couldn’t locate any of them, so we’ll quote some selected passages.

The President of America’s Survival talks of the “trial of the century” and that Barack Hussein Obama was actually a “mole” groomed by a Frank Marshall Davis, a noted African American Poet who lived for a while in Hawaii. Cliff Kincaid also explores this obsession with books entitled Comrade Obama Unmasked: Marxist Mole in the White , Permanent Revolution aka The Secret Life and Legacy of Barack Hussein Obama by Kincaid …, and Red Star Rising: The Making of Barack Hussein Obama and … These books are available online.

We’d love to hear from anyone who’s read one or more of them. Based on the mailer, we remain unconvinced, though don’t think Obama should be the fifth on Mount Rushmore.

On the other hand, isn’t Broadway — 44 The Obama Musical — part of the Islamist/Socialist agenda?

Besides America’s Survival, Kincaid has served as a representative for Accuracy In Media, not the American Indian Movement. He is also on the Board of Stop Islamization of America, among other groups.

There are others talking about the Stonewall Riots monument that President Trump may revoke national monument status for .

Besides Kincaid, who want to remove the national monument status for the “Stonewall Riots” monument. We can only say this was a historic fact and the question becomes what do we remember and what do we ignore. The first Gay rights march may have been the 1965 Philly march.

No, I was not one of the marchers.

Kincaid also believes Gen. Mark Milley betrayed America in the same way as Benedict Arnold by meeting with General Zi Zuocheng, his Chinese Counterpart. Peril,’ by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, reports this incident. This third mailer , “How Benedict Arnold and Mark Milley betrayed America”, certainly has some meat on its bones.

My conclusion is that we need these professional “gadflies”, but we need to review each and every claim they make and judge them on their merits.

Can Pennsylvania become a free state?

By Bob Small

In December we joined the Pennsylvania Pioneers after seeing them online. They use the quote “all power is inherent in the people”, going on to say “if we claim it and work at it!” They describe their mission as “ To revive the fundamental freedoms and principles our founders enshrined in the Declaration of Independence by empowering all counties and states to become de jure, self-governing entities. “

Copilot describes Pennsylvania Pioneers as “a sovereignty-focused political group,” and lists a number of goals, being one of many anti-administrative-state movements.

Among the 11 listed counties are Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery. One needs to be aware that this is not to be confused with  pennsylvania free state and the  Gradual Abolition Act.

Pennsylvania being the first state (1780) to partially abolish slavery!

In their March Newsletter About Us | Pennsylvania Free St they spoke about their work against Data Collection Centers in Pennsylvania, specifically attending en masse at a Lancaster County Commissioners meeting. They also listed the Pennsylvania Pioneers Assembly Training Calls, Chester County information meeting Q and A, their Sunday Book Study, and more, including Potlucks.

We should mention that, unlike many other Independent Organizing groups, the majority of organizers listed are female. We wonder if anyone else has met with this group.

Swarthmore Won’t Say Why Manager, Library Workers Are Gone

By Bob Small

The sleepy borough of Swarthmore made the internet pages of The Inquirer and MSN with the firing of borough manager Sean Halbom after just six months.

He was placed on administrative leave, Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, and probably unrelated, Scott Schumacher left his decades-long stint as Swarthmore Public Library children’s librarian.

And also terminated in February was long-term Swarthmore Library associate, Marnie Berkowitz.

No reasons were given for any of the actions.

Regarding Halbom, we reported on a possible violation of “the sunshine act.”

This is likely not intentional but it was the only miscue we know about regarding the position.

“Swarthmore Borough Council has had four managers in four years,” said Rob Jordan who chairs the Swarthmore Republican Committee. “It’s a crisis of leadership and a lack of competence in our council. They need to focus on things that truly matter to borough residents instead of distractions like gas-powered leaf blowers and forced composting.”

David Unkovic has been appointed interim borough manager.

Sudden staff shifts shake Swarthmore – The Swarthmorean (2026-

Resolution No. 19-2025 – swarthmorepa.org