8.16.2007
8.15.2007
CATO: Equal Justice?
Ugh.
AKA: Winning the war on drugs while losing the war on murder.
Mary Winkler is out of jail. She served 67 days after her conviction for shooting her husband in the back as he lay in bed and killing him. Now she’ll go back to work at the dry cleaners in McMinnville, Tennessee, and seek to regain custody of her children.
Meanwhile, Will Foster was sentenced to 93 years for using marijuana to relieve the pain of his acute rheumatoid arthritis. An appeals court reduced the sentence to 20 years, and Gov. Frank Keating made him serve more than four years before granting him parole.
AKA: Winning the war on drugs while losing the war on murder.
8.14.2007
My brain just exploded
I guess that is what I get for trying to watch Hardball again. To discuss the necessity of new military draft Tweety had on two Iraq veterans, one who graduated the GOP school of being on message on talk shows, and another who, despite his good politics, is horrible on Television. The hawk was pretty much allowed to make this argument unhindered:
We need a military draft because the "elite" (never defined or elaborated upon, but in conservative circles, synonymous with Liberal) in this country don't want America to win in Iraq. If their kids had to fight in Iraq, we would get "good" equipment because these "elite" are somehow blocking untapped sources of military funding (with magical powers, I suppose) because they like watching poor people's children die. The draft would solve this problem by making the "elite" face the possibility of their own children dying (for nothing) and at this point they would certainly turn over to the military all the nice hum-vees, rifles, body armor, and cold hard cash they have been hiding from the "poor" soldiers in their "eliite" New England bunkers.
Forget the logical leaps and simply focus on the branding. The ELITE want America to lose in Iraq. Everything else isn't working, lets mahis is populist war. Both are complete shams. The Elite are running this war, but they aren't the ones Soldier 1 wants you to be angry with. Last time I checked GWB, Dick Cheney, and the folks and the State Department aren't heading down to the corner bar after work for a domestic beer and a cigarette. They are elite in every sense of the word.
Now, this soldier was not taking shots at the president, and the congress passes every supplemental that they see, so I don't see how he can talk about funding being withheld in any way. A draft would not increase the money going into the war, nor the soldiers on the ground, saving a change in strategy as well. All it would do is reduce the multiple tours many soldiers have been on Iraq.
To watch Tweety and Soldier 1 discuss the draft in such false and superficial terms, and to see the "left wing" voice on the show regurgitate the same lines about "George Bush's War" was painful. How about calling the GOP shill on his shit? I have a feeling this guy was chosen particularly for his timid demeanor. Aggressive liberals don't seem to last long on the talk TV circuit.
We need a military draft because the "elite" (never defined or elaborated upon, but in conservative circles, synonymous with Liberal) in this country don't want America to win in Iraq. If their kids had to fight in Iraq, we would get "good" equipment because these "elite" are somehow blocking untapped sources of military funding (with magical powers, I suppose) because they like watching poor people's children die. The draft would solve this problem by making the "elite" face the possibility of their own children dying (for nothing) and at this point they would certainly turn over to the military all the nice hum-vees, rifles, body armor, and cold hard cash they have been hiding from the "poor" soldiers in their "eliite" New England bunkers.
Forget the logical leaps and simply focus on the branding. The ELITE want America to lose in Iraq. Everything else isn't working, lets mahis is populist war. Both are complete shams. The Elite are running this war, but they aren't the ones Soldier 1 wants you to be angry with. Last time I checked GWB, Dick Cheney, and the folks and the State Department aren't heading down to the corner bar after work for a domestic beer and a cigarette. They are elite in every sense of the word.
Now, this soldier was not taking shots at the president, and the congress passes every supplemental that they see, so I don't see how he can talk about funding being withheld in any way. A draft would not increase the money going into the war, nor the soldiers on the ground, saving a change in strategy as well. All it would do is reduce the multiple tours many soldiers have been on Iraq.
To watch Tweety and Soldier 1 discuss the draft in such false and superficial terms, and to see the "left wing" voice on the show regurgitate the same lines about "George Bush's War" was painful. How about calling the GOP shill on his shit? I have a feeling this guy was chosen particularly for his timid demeanor. Aggressive liberals don't seem to last long on the talk TV circuit.
8.13.2007
The Baltimore Hating Continues at Red Maryland
The new hater over at backwoods Maryland is yet another concerned citizen, Chet Dembeck. He is terribly upset that "gentrified" areas of Baltimore, like (get this) Locust Point and Hampden will be "hurt" by the election of Mayor Dixon.
First, Hampden is GENTRIFIED? Ok then, I suppose I will continue, though I once again doubt whether this critic of Baltimore has actually entered the city.
Of course there is the not so subtle endorsement of Keiffer Mitchell because he has uttered the words "zero tolerance." Crime policy that leads to the illegal arrest of thousands of (black) citizens is like candy to GOP'ers. Despite the policy barely affecting murder stats in the city, and the faced with a police department that is known for fudging numbers, I have less faith in zero tolerance than our unknown critic, Last Reporter. It might also be good to point out, that despite his support of zero-tolerance policing and the civil rights violations it causes, Last Reporter DESPISES it's Maryland architect, Martin O'Malley, as well as his surveillance plans. Seems to me that citywide surveillance is all part of the police state Last Reporter so gleefully advocates.
Really though, how can you tear down the idea of "strong government" in on paragraph and advocate authoritarian police strategies in the next? I would posit that it is because Last Reporter cares nothing about Baltimore City beyond making political points about Democratic policy in general.
Finally, as my previous post shows, there is absolutely nothing that will stop the violence caused by drug prohibition besides legalization in some form. The people who advocate zero tolerance policing are the farthest from affecting any real change in Baltimore. They are much more concerned about protecting "gentrified" (white) Baltimore, than actually saving the whole city.
First, Hampden is GENTRIFIED? Ok then, I suppose I will continue, though I once again doubt whether this critic of Baltimore has actually entered the city.
Of course there is the not so subtle endorsement of Keiffer Mitchell because he has uttered the words "zero tolerance." Crime policy that leads to the illegal arrest of thousands of (black) citizens is like candy to GOP'ers. Despite the policy barely affecting murder stats in the city, and the faced with a police department that is known for fudging numbers, I have less faith in zero tolerance than our unknown critic, Last Reporter. It might also be good to point out, that despite his support of zero-tolerance policing and the civil rights violations it causes, Last Reporter DESPISES it's Maryland architect, Martin O'Malley, as well as his surveillance plans. Seems to me that citywide surveillance is all part of the police state Last Reporter so gleefully advocates.
Really though, how can you tear down the idea of "strong government" in on paragraph and advocate authoritarian police strategies in the next? I would posit that it is because Last Reporter cares nothing about Baltimore City beyond making political points about Democratic policy in general.
Finally, as my previous post shows, there is absolutely nothing that will stop the violence caused by drug prohibition besides legalization in some form. The people who advocate zero tolerance policing are the farthest from affecting any real change in Baltimore. They are much more concerned about protecting "gentrified" (white) Baltimore, than actually saving the whole city.
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