President Obama didn’t see this one coming, and on the first anniversary of his inauguration no one seriously thought the Republicans were going to win the Senate seat in Massachusetts. But they have and Scott Brown must be feeling very happy with himself.

Symbolically, it’s a terrible look. The seat belonged to the late Ted Kennedy for nearly half a century and was considered to be ultra safe. Practically, it means even the drastically watered down version of the healthcare bill is in big trouble.

The Republicans now have enough votes to stop Obama’s reforms. If, however, he manages to still push the bill through it will make him look twice as strong.

And what about freeing Mumia? If Obama does something about Mumia Abu Jamal it will be even more impressive. But it’s not likely. If his response to the earthquake in Haiti saw the usual suspects on the right scream with anger at him rushing to help a predominantly black country (even though they obviously didn’t say it quite like that.), imagine the outrage at him freeing a black 'freedom fighter'.

Mumia, a former Black Panther who used to be one of most outspoken voices on the radio, has been in prison ever since 1982 when he was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Faulkner pulled Mumia and his brother over one fateful night, and a confrontation ensued which finished with Mumia injured and Faulkner dead.

Fourteen years after KRS-One and Channel Live made Free Mumia and introduced him to a generation of hip-hop heads, he is no closer to being a free man. It now seems likely that he will stay in jail for the rest of his days, or at least until he is a very, very old man.

The latest legal tussle has seen the Supreme Court overturn a previous ruling that ruled out the death sentence. The pattern is now very familiar: that decision will be appealed, and then overturned, and then there will be another hearing about something or other, and then the same will happen with that… It’s been happening for almost thirty years now.

The plethora of, shall we say, inconsistencies, that occurred during his initial trial and all of the subsequent hearings are too numerous to mention here. Anyone with any type of knowledge will know how former Black Panthers were routinely harrassed as a matter of course.

Fourteen years after KRS-One and Channel Live made Free Mumia and introduced him to a generation of hip-hop heads, he is no closer to being a free man.

Seek out In Prison My Whole Life, the brilliant documentary, executive produced by Colin Firth of all people, and all will be revealed. Similarly, while his book Live At Death Row is extremely hard to finish, and very depressing, it’s worth the effort if you can actually find a copy.

More than anything else, political prisoners like Mumia (and Leonard Peltier) show that talking the talk about freedom and values has become even more hollow and worthless than it initially appeared.

Images: From here and here