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No question Thom. Our "justice" system is as corrupt and broken beyond any serious chance of "reform" as our political system. Today, we are no longer a democratic republic. We are---officially---an oligarchy and a neo-police state. It's not surprising that our justice system should reflect this change. The only real question here is what are we prepared to do about? Picking from the choices allowed us by Washington isn't goign to change anything. The corporate news isn't goign to tell us what's really going on, and I'm not sure Americans even seriously want to know or have the spine to do anything about it as long as they have their video games, sports, cable TV, and can still order take-out pizza and pick up their beer at the store. The corporate media tells us what is important, what to think, what's in fashion, and the weather. I think we really want to believe their lies as long as they don't interupt our little worlds.
Reply to #8: Chuck, that's too horrible a thought to dwell on.
As a disabled veteran (I enlisted a few months after the Vietnam War ended), there is no question that John McCain was a hero; like him or not. Notwithstanding his long military hertitage, he was a highly skilled Navy fighter pilot (which in itself made him one of the best of the best). He could have taken a desk job given his connections, but didn't. He flew and he did his job. He was downed and captured by NVA and spent several years in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" where we was regularly brutalized. When he finally came home, he didn't bad mouth his country, or the military, nor did he throw his medals away (like John Kerry). Later, he didn't lie and inflate his military service (again, like Kerry). He didn't have to. Personally, I don't care much for McCain's politics, but there's no doubt this man and those like him, are heros in anyone's book. Trump was being Trump with his remarks. He spoke without thinking. He was bad at being interrupted and having to share the spotlight.
LOL. hey Thom, to be a "poll" there should be an actual "choice" here. This looks more like a political election where the voting is a mere formality and the choice has already been pre-determined.
Anyway, to the question. No, we've done nowhere near enough. The Dodd-Frank Act should have been just an opening salvo---and in all seriousness, it was a weak one at that. Just like we need real campaign finance reform, term limits, repelling "Citizens United" and ending gerrymandering, we need to make some serious changes in how we regulate Wallstreet, and corporations in general for that matter. Just saying.
flyguy8650 -- Social Democracy worked quite well in the USA from 1930 to 1980. It worked so well it scared the billionaires sh#$%ess.
What we need is some self-control from corporations like BP. For example, giving sex and drugs to govt workers, so they didn't have to protect the "safety and health" of their employees.
And put the crooks,and bankers in jail.
Dr Econ -- Are those polls national or in Iowa? Currently, the walker money is being spent in Iowa.
AIW -- You realize Scott may force you to vote for Hillary, the corporatist.
I wore my Bernie shirt to lunch today. The key comment was who are you going to vote for that has a chance to win. My response was they said the same thing about Obama. Of course, Obama never became president, so you must be right.
Walker is falling in the polls to Trump, who wants a 20% tarriff.
If republicans can cheat, or buy Walker's election for him it is time to revolt. What would we have to lose? Walker will leave nothing for the working class so we'd have nothing to lose except Walker. And good riddance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-zsMiCZOmU
Excellent comments, stecoop and Christopher! Thom too.
I’d just like to add, this is going to be a very scary election.
Actually, based on the damage he has already done to Wisconsin residents, Scott Walker would become a "poster child" for illustrating why it is a really bad idea to vote for Republicans to run your government.
If Walker is elected, the inmates have truly taken over the asylum.
I hope that you are freakin' kidding! (This comment is directed to flyguy8650 and previous poster).
It is about time that the nation woke up to the waste of money and the ruination of the lives of people because of the prison system being too draconian.
I applaud President Obama for speaking up and attempt to fix things. The injustice to young minorities and their families has been a travesty. When young people don't have proper guidance and avenues to grow up healthy and secure, they have to find ways of survival that are not good or society.
The lack of support once they are out of jail is also a big problem. Not being employable, not having a roof over their heads, not being able to eat properly, what is one going to do but return back to jail.
Thank you President Obama or waking people up on this issue.
If Walker is elected maybe the North should secede.
Obama's comments are not likely to make any changes.
Just words....He's waited this long to address this shameful issue. Just add it to the list of other bold, concerned promises.
I knew I'd heard this sentiment somewhere before. Compare:
Trump: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Stalin: "There are no Soviet prisoners of war. The Soviet soldier fights on till death. If he chooses to become a prisoner, he is automatically excluded from the Russian community."
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v14/Teplyakov.html
ChicagoMatt, co-opting the phraseology of the opposition is actually a good rhetorical tactic.
The use of cell phone cameras by the populace to defeat the terror tactics of the authorities is what comedian Rick Overton calls Little Brother, in contrast to Big Brother.
Urgent
. . . .
It’s increasingly among our urgencies, -
- increasingly among our emergencies, -
- that we quell the Repugnantans’ insurgencies.
================
Legal pot would solve so many problems.
Great comment. What ever happend to self management. Nanny state is here....greece is us. Social Democracy will not work for a population as diverse as USA. Break up USA into multiple countries and you can have your European Social Justice Democracy. Just move all the hispanics to one area, whites to another, blacks to another, and "other to another". Then split up the debt and assets. Urphoria.....
If you take Obama's name from that quote, it almost sounds like something a white supremicist/black nationalist/any other extremist would say. They're CONSTANTLY talking about "eyes being opened to the truth" and "statistics that cannot be ignored anymore".
Anyway...
What I see is a continuation of the trend of the last 20 or so years in the US: Changing laws because too many people are breaking them. I believe that's a form of capitulation to a complete lack of self control among adults.
"Fuck it... we can't stop people from smoking weed, so change the law...." "Homosexual couples aren't going away, so change the law...." "People took out students loans they can't afford, so change the law...."
I was listening to Stephanie Miller one morning last week, and they were talking about birth control. Specifically, they were talking about how expensive the different options were, and how people who had multiple partners needed it but couldn't afford it, so states should just pay for it.
Not once in their entire conversation did anyone say anything about the possibility of just not having sex until you were in a committed relationship and could afford your own birth control. It's like the thought of having a little bit of self control was beyond their grasp.
I work with young teens. I understand a lack of impulse control. It's common with my students. But it used to be something people grew out of. But now it seems common in adults as well.