"Pardon is given man who aided Israel; Smuggled B-17s during fight for independence" by Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | December 24, 2008
It took decades to tell his story, but Jimmy Winters hopes he was finally able to bring closure for his father, Charles Thompson Winters, a Boston native who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 1949 for smuggling arms to Israel.
The elder Winters, a Protestant who died in 1984 at age 71, was posthumously pardoned by President Bush yesterday, erasing the lone stain on the record of a man who has been praised for helping Israel gain its independence in the 1948 war. Winters disguised three B-17 bombers as cargo planes carrying produce and smuggled them into what was then Palestine, stopping on the way to pick up arms in Czechoslovakia. He flew one of the flights himself.
It still is and always will be here!
At the time, Winters was convicted of violating the US Neutrality Act of 1939 for conspiring to export aircraft to a foreign country. He was fined $5,000 and jailed for 18 months. But in Israel, he became a hero. The B-17s were the only heavy bombers in the Israeli Air Force, and they have been credited with helping Israel survive as an independent state....
Now I want you to do something for me, readers:
I want you to substitute the words Palestinian and Palestine for Israel and imagine what the reaction would be by the Congressman and others.
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The cause to have Winters pardoned - one of 19 Bush granted yesterday before the Christmas holiday - had gained significant support from Florida and beyond. Led by US Representative Ron Klein of Florida, 21 members of Congress sent a letter supporting the application, which was dated the Fourth of July. The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County cosponsored the request. Even film director Steven Spielberg wrote a letter to Bush appealing for a pardon for Winters, according to the Associated Press.
So it is O.K. to BREAK the LAW if it is in service of Israel; now imagine if it had been Palestinians doing the same thing to fight Israel. You know what they would be!!!!!! Starts with a T and ends with an ist!!! There would be no pardon or letter; Bush keeps those guys in indefinite imprisonment in some torture hole!
As for Palm Beach, they connected to Bernie Madoff?
"The story of Mr. Winters is one we should all remember when we are called to stand up for just causes, regardless of consequences," Klein said yesterday in a prepared statement.
Translation: We must bow down at the feet of our Zionist masters, tune-callers, and string-pullers! Otherwise, do the substitution. If it's Muslim or Arab, it's "terrorists!" Yeah, there is a pile of bile next to my desk. Came out in a projectile form!
US Representative Connie Mack, the leading Republican who signed the letter, added in a separate statement, "The work that Charles Winters did to promote freedom, security and peace in Israel will leave a lasting impact on the nation and her people."
Winters was one of three people convicted of the bomber smuggling. The other men, Herman Greenspun and Al Schwimmer, two of his Jewish friends from Florida, were never jailed. President John F. Kennedy pardoned Greenspun in 1961, and President Bill Clinton pardoned Schwimmer in 2000.
It is unclear why Winters was the only person to go to jail, but some have theorized that authorities figured he did it for profit rather than nationalism. The only surviving person who knows Winters's story is Schwimmer, who lives in Israel and could not be reached for comment last night....
Again, the PECKING ORDER is REVEALED!! ZIONISM trumps MONEY!!!
Bush's latest round of pardons, forgiving convictions ranging from possession of marijuana with intent to distribute to gun crimes to harboring illegal immigrants, brings his total number of presidential pardons to 190. He has granted nine commutations, including one yesterday for a man convicted of distributing methamphetamines.
Bush likes the old drugs, 'eh?
