I suspect the proliferation of "privately operated" prisons to be part of this appalling situation.
The worst part is that it's been documented that the drug lords are major shareholders of these "private" prisons so the drug business now includes running the prisons to hold largely clueless people for unimaginably long terms.
Yes, it is a big prison, and we hone our skills at Gitmos and such. Did you watch "Frontline" last nighit? It was entitled "Bush's War" and was a hideous exposure of the chain of falsehoods and dissembling that led up to the Iraq war. Photos of treatment of prisoners at Gitmo were included, with the information that Rumsfeld had ordered the specific abuses depicted.
Read my piece "Juvenile Justice: An Oxymoron" to see how we are starting children down this path. The government (at least the neocons) apparently feel that it is cheaper than education.
If you look at the number of people in America who carry guns vs. the number of people in other nations who carry guns...you would be amazed. A statistic very proportionate to the number of prison inmates there are. Coincidence? I don't think so....
To borrow a phrase : "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation whose felons are locked up tight, where these vermin will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the nastiness of their crime."
Perhaps the way the State deals with its citizens needs to evolve into a more mature type of relationship in which convicted criminals themselves can participate in choosing the best way to purge a "target sentence" while still contributing to society, when that's possible.
The way we deal with crime, prisons and the overcrowded detainee population hardly provides the kind of rehabilitation outcome that's sought, initially.
"What are they doing in the White House, hero boy?"
This article is about 25% of the world's prisoners being in the United States. Are you hijacking the thread?
Besides, you Libs have been in power now for 2 years, and still no charges. So, technically, you're just howling at the moon. Your Lefties have done nothing while in power - and that is why their poll numbers are the lowest ever recorded.
Bret: You Cons were in power for 7 years and there were no changes. So technically you have no room to talk. You righties did nothing while in power, that's why congress's poll numbers are the lowest ever recorded, or did you forget that congress contains about half Republicans?
We Conservatives changed the Clinton agenda from Day One.
Congress today has the lowest numbers ever recorded, not because of Conservative leadership...................but because of the Liberal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. In 2003 & 2004, Congress had about average poll numbers. These numbers spiked in 2006 after the Democratic win, but they've been spiraling downward ever since. This is a 'do-nothing' Congress guided by a weak leadership - and everybody sees that now.
Sorry, but their numbers were almost as low when you guys ran everything. They spiked only because people hoped that even with razor thin majorities, they would do more than they did. I agree with you about the leadership being a bunch of gutless wonders. Pretty much the same as the previous leadership in that regard. You conservatives, by the way, drove the country into the ground and had majorities in both houses of congress and the administration. Not hard to make changes when you have a rubber stamp.
What is funny in an ironic way is that you cons proved a basic Republican tenet: change for the sake of change is not always a good thing. Too bad you had to all but destroy the country to do it.
The spike in 2006 is not the focus. The spiral downward to todays abysmal numbers is the focus.
We Conservatives got two things VERY wrong : 1) we should have gone into Iraq with an overwhelming force (say, 750,000 or so) and cleaned this job up quickly. If we'd done that, it wouldn't have given the insurgency a chance, and it wouldn't have given the anti-war crowd a chance to get organized.
2) "It isn't that we're taxed too little, its that we spend too much" - Ronald Reagan
That was true in the mid-80's, and its even more true today. We need to spend less. Period. It doesn't matter who's in the White House, we need to get our outrageous spending under control.
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Comments: 18
The worst part is that it's been documented that the drug lords are major shareholders of these "private" prisons so the drug business now includes running the prisons to hold largely clueless people for unimaginably long terms.
Private prisons = systemic fraud
Read my piece "Juvenile Justice: An Oxymoron" to see how we are starting children down this path. The government (at least the neocons) apparently feel that it is cheaper than education.
To borrow a phrase : "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation whose felons are locked up tight, where these vermin will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the nastiness of their crime."
Excellent question, Lyndon.
Unfortunately, any recognition of nuance, subtlety, or self-contradiction entirely escapes "hero-boy".
Perhaps the way the State deals with its citizens needs to evolve into a more mature type of relationship in which convicted criminals themselves can participate in choosing the best way to purge a "target sentence" while still contributing to society, when that's possible.
The way we deal with crime, prisons and the overcrowded detainee population hardly provides the kind of rehabilitation outcome that's sought, initially.
"What are they doing in the White House, hero boy?"
This article is about 25% of the world's prisoners being in the United States. Are you hijacking the thread?
Besides, you Libs have been in power now for 2 years, and still no charges. So, technically, you're just howling at the moon. Your Lefties have done nothing while in power - and that is why their poll numbers are the lowest ever recorded.
We Conservatives changed the Clinton agenda from Day One.
Congress today has the lowest numbers ever recorded, not because of Conservative leadership...................but because of the Liberal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. In 2003 & 2004, Congress had about average poll numbers. These numbers spiked in 2006 after the Democratic win, but they've been spiraling downward ever since. This is a 'do-nothing' Congress guided by a weak leadership - and everybody sees that now.
What is funny in an ironic way is that you cons proved a basic Republican tenet: change for the sake of change is not always a good thing. Too bad you had to all but destroy the country to do it.
The spike in 2006 is not the focus. The spiral downward to todays abysmal numbers is the focus.
We Conservatives got two things VERY wrong : 1) we should have gone into Iraq with an overwhelming force (say, 750,000 or so) and cleaned this job up quickly. If we'd done that, it wouldn't have given the insurgency a chance, and it wouldn't have given the anti-war crowd a chance to get organized.
2) "It isn't that we're taxed too little, its that we spend too much" - Ronald Reagan
That was true in the mid-80's, and its even more true today. We need to spend less. Period. It doesn't matter who's in the White House, we need to get our outrageous spending under control.