What Is Up With Politics Today?

I saw a CNN story today that made me proud of our president. He said that he will take responsibility for the fubar situation of AIG and… hold on, you need the quote because it was that good:

“For everybody in Washington who is busy scrambling trying to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it’s my job to make sure that we fix these messes even if I don’t make them,” ~ President Obama

Let me tell you what I love about this. Today at lunch someone was telling me how this wasn’t so and so’s fault and blah blah and I’m like dude someone just needs to take responsibility and quit trying to pass the blame to everyone else. That let’s blame anyone but me bullshit just drives me nuts. Obama did that, he didn’t try to blame this politician, that banker, this CEO. He said there were mistakes now we’ll fix them. He goes on to talk about the need to change the culture of the financial districts and that’s all good too.

Mostly though, him just saying yeah…we let them have bonuses and ultimately I’m (him) in charge of the we so blame me makes him awesome in my book. Rock on Mr. Responsibility with your good role model self.

We will begin with words one should be familiar with prior to reading my blog or attempting to have some form of discourse with me, ever.

Sarcasm

Irony

As I repeatedly said in my last post, along with my helpful examples, I am not fascist. Anything said indicating should be read through the lens of either sarcasm or irony.  Now we’ll focus on words that have been used in regards to me, as they are obviously misunderstood. A common understanding of the vocabulary being used is necessary to continue any form of meaningful conversation, therefore:

Fascism 

Authoritarianism

Now, I’m going to clarify a few points the delightful gentleman brought up.

First, I did not say being in jail put one in the same league as a murderer, rapist, or thief; I said prison. Rather specifically, too. I think that if you are in prison after having a fair trial and representation (which I said was necessary for a civilized society) then you ought to be punished. I do, in fact, understand the judicial system is not perfect and would be more than happy to entertain any solutions to increasing the accuracy of the system should the gentleman wish to put forth same. That, however, is not my focus.  

Second, as to the effectiveness of my ‘homework’. I do not care if some of the prisons are growing some of their own food. I was outlining a way to make all prisons self sufficient. As in completely independent from any need to rely on the general population for their survival. As for the ER remark, when I said ‘take ‘em out of the ER’ I was referring to the interns and not the prisoners. As in the rotations interns put in at the ER or other areas of a hospital. I do apologize for not making that clear enough. I see nothing wrong with people who are considered good enough to be treating civilians to practice, instead, on inmates.

Third, if incarceration in and of itself were in fact punitive enough then the rates at which the prison population is rising would not be so dramatic. Further, it isn’t as if I suggested some form of hideous torture, I only suggested hard work. I tend to think that many people in prison would benefit from work and in fact might find a sense of pride and accomplishment in seeing their work bring forth some form of immediate result such as food, clothing, and shelter. One might even think that such an experience would make reintegration into society easier.

Finally, I don’t believe I stated my views about drug laws one way or the other. What I said was that many drug offenses do result in violent crimes and, as using and distributing drugs is illegal in this country that those found guilty should be punished for their crime. It does not matter whether you, or I, like a law. Laws can be changed if they are not suitable. The rule of law, however, must be followed or else chaos will ensue.

As for the final clichéd remarks as to labeling a person as one chooses and commenting on their choice of footwear, that is of course, the gentleman’s right.

I’d like to address again the underlying point of the first post. Prisoners should have to work. I know, in a sarcastic rant it might have been difficult for those unfamiliar with me to come away with the main idea so I’ll repeat it:

Prisoners should have to work hard and should not have time to play. I didn’t say kill them, maim them, or beat them bloody. So instead of trying to label my political fidelity how about telling me why hard work is such a horrible idea?

Obviously some people like to toss phrases around they don’t understand in application to people they’ve not taken the time to get to know. A delightful gentleman has decided not only that our current government has fascist leanings (not saying he is wrong or right on that) but that I am perpetrating unbiased fascism by putting forth the opinion that prisons are soft and need to be reformed to actually be punitive. Of course this means that said individual has not taken the time to read any of my other posts or he would undoubtedly realize that I am a fairly reasonable and rational person who is in favor of less government intervention or, if that isn’t possible, responsible government. That’s ok though, if it makes someone feel better to call me a fascist I don’t really mind.  I’m here to let all sides be heard, after all, even those that are so completely wrong ():o)

Now to clear up an obvious misconception some have about moi. I think all people are born equal (not a fascist) however, if a person should *choose* to give up those rights by breaking a law and are sent to prison through means of a fair trial that person should be punished. I am not advocating a different set of rules for a privileged class nor am I arbitrarily saying that certain demographic groups should be punished; and I don’t mind if you criticize me, the government, or you Uncle James. As a matter of fact, my previous post is a criticism of the government’s ability to effectively run a penal institution and I am rather fond of logical dissension. Again… me = not fascist.

Further, just because I am indeed pissed off that prisoners are getting hoop time doesn’t mean I think our government is all sunshine and roses. Unfortunately, a single blog post is not the venue for a full dissertation on all the ways in which our government fucks up on a regular basis but rather serves as venue for snippets of items that piss me off, make me happy, or are simply interesting.

I’m just going to go ahead and thank my K-bear for that title because she popped that out today when I was bitching about all of the prisoners at the state pen outside playing. Really, playing as in running races, basketball and other assorted playground activities. Yeah…for some reason that right pissed me off today as I was driving past the little spectacle again.

So here is why it pissed me off. Why do people who broke the law get play time? And I don’t mean one speeding ticket and they got overnight in jail I’m talking ‘hard time’. Because it would be cruel and unusual for them to not get play time? Gee. I guess I don’t really care if the baby killer or the robber or the rapist doesn’t get to spend some time playing with their little friends. I’m such a bitch that way. As a matter of fact I’m not terribly fond of free education, public defenders wasting my money on appeals, free room and board or a soft bed; but I know some things are necessary for a ‘civilized’ society even for the members of the society that aren’t all that civilized.

Where the hell are you going with this Birdie? I’m getting there. Here’s the thing. While we are reforming the hell out of everything why not do the prisons too? Cut spending on food. How? Make the prisoners work outside growing their own crops and livestock (in the sun and fresh air because I am such a softie). They can then can/freeze food for the winter. Poof goes a huge amount of money from the state and federal budgets. Healthcare…interns. They need the practice, take ‘em out of the ER and put ‘em in the prison. They work for practically nothing and inmates get healthcare. Win win and a lower budget.

There could be a barter system for items like cotton that can only be grown in certain areas. Let’s say a prison in Mississippi grows the cotton and the inmates there tend the fields pick it (by hand because why waste money on machines and gas).  Then they could send it to another prison that gets the seeds out or processes it or whatever. Then it could go to another prison that weaves it into cloth. Then another that makes it into clothing. Everything could be made by the prisoners. The prisons that would essentially be turned into factories could be run on hydroelectric, wind, or solar power to further cut costs. Heck take ‘em all of the grid.

Right. So prison reform. Make prisoners work and prisons self sustaining and cut the fucking recess.