Maydays in May: 3 American distress signals

It was conceived as a radio distress signal for airplane pilots and ship captains. “may day” (pronounced the same as the French “m’aidez,” meaning “help”) was officially adopted by the United States in 1927. The convention requires that the initial announcement be “Mayday” repeated three times, followed by the call sign, a description of the emergency, and the ship’s current position, or last known position if lost.

Several incidents this month have revealed US national ships becoming lost, and more frequent and stronger distress calls need to be issued to guide these vessels back safely.

Here are three of them.

In mid-May, Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) A full pardon was grantedFormer U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was granted a pardon, including restoration of his right to bear arms, following a vote by members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, all of whom were appointed by Governor Abbott. Perry was convicted last year of killing Air Force veteran Garrett Foster in July 2020 during protests in Austin following the killing of George Floyd, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

After Perry ran a red light and drove his car into a crowd of protesters, Foster approached his car with an assault rifle (legal in Texas) and motioned for Perry to roll down the window, at which point Perry shot and killed him with a handgun (which he had obtained legally).

During the trial and sentencing The witness testified Perry was able to escape in a car and Foster did not raise a weapon. testified Perry was “basically a loaded gun.” Prosecutors uncovered social media posts in which Perry used “white supremacist” memes, declared that he “may have to kill a few people protesting outside his house,” said he would “go to Dallas and shoot looters,” and likened Black Lives Matter to “a zoo full of monkeys panicking and throwing feces.” Perry claimed self-defense, claiming he feared for his life, but did not testify. His lawyers later acknowledged that he suffers from mental illness.

Before Perry’s sentence was handed down, Governor Abbott declared that the conviction violated Texas’ “self-defense” law and ordered the Board of Pardons to expedite its review of the case. The governor granted pardons before the appeals process was completed, contrary to Texas practice.

In an anguished phone call in May, Foster’s fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, argued that the pardon shows that “certain lives matter.” Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said: stated “The Texas Republican Party has once again proven it is incapable of protecting public safety. They are not the party of ‘tough on crime’ and they are not the party of ‘law and order’…Today, our justice system has been hijacked for political gain.”

Around the same time Abbott pardoned Perry, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) also issued a pardon. Signed into law It would remove all references to “climate change” from state law, prohibit government officials from considering the effects of climate change in energy policy, eliminate subsidy programs that encourage environmental protection, and eliminate mandates for the use of climate-friendly products. The law also bans offshore wind farms, but none are planned for construction. Governor DeSantis previously vetoed $346 million in federal funding to make homes more energy efficient.

Florida, of course, is one of the states most vulnerable to hurricanes, sea level rise, flooding, and threats to marine life, and 2023 is on track to be the state’s hottest year since 1895. according to Columbia University climate scientist Michael Gerard said Florida “is in big trouble and should be the last state to hold out in the fight against climate change.”

Of note, 68% of Floridians I wish for their condition We need to do more to reduce the effects of climate change. Nationwide, 73 percent of Americans Looking to the Federal Government Cut global warming pollution by half or by 45 percent by 2030 He said he became more worried. About climate change last year.

Apparently those distress calls weren’t strong enough to counter the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists in the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee and many other Republican-leaning states.

May 16th, The New York Times reported. Three days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration and in the middle of court deliberations in a 2020 election fraud case, an upside-down flag — a distress signal for sailors appropriated by pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” zealots — was flown at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Alito and Clarence Thomas ultimately dissented in the decision not to hear the case.

Justice Alito maintains that the decision to fly the flag was his wife’s, not his, but the action runs counter to the court’s ethics rules, which say it is essential to avoid even the appearance of partisan bias.

The Times article came out as the Supreme Court was considering two cases brought by Trump and others seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Justice Alito has not indicated any intention to recuse himself, nor has Justice Thomas, whose wife was actively involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement. It is important to note that the Supreme Court’s ethics code does not have enforcement provisions.

The controversy seems to underscore the hypocrisy of Republicans’ persistent claims that the Biden administration is trying to weaponize our nation’s judicial system. Is anyone wondering how Republicans would respond if a Black Lives Matter flag was hung at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s home?

“Mayday, mayday, mayday.”

Glenn C. Altshuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies Emeritus at Cornell University.