Victims of crime; victims of despotism
Tea Party Patriots will be discussing an article by
crime novelist Dean Garrison, “If they come for your guns, do you have a
responsibility to fight?” Westside Grange, 6 PM.
The ultimate culpability in any crime, particularly a
horrendous murder such as we just witnessed near the high school campus, rests
with the killer or perpetrator. We’ve seen the reported rap sheet for the
suspect; it suggests a pattern of criminal mischief, including violence, that
points to a larger issue. True rehabilitation is a rare occurrence, proving the
rule that the only real assurance we law-abiding folks have against
victimization is for the criminals to remain locked up.
The suspect’s past crimes, even dismissals since they
don’t prove innocence, might show how much longer he would have been
incarcerated had maximum sentences been handed down for each crime. The larger
issue here is that, for most criminals, the only time they’re guaranteed to not
re-offend is the time they are locked up. Would harsher, longer sentences have
left a young girl alive today because her killer wouldn’t have been out preying
on the innocent?
If the police have their man, will we have our own
version of the horrific Polly Klaas killing from the 1990s? Then, a habitual
scourge of a criminal, Richard Allen Davis, had a life long string of crimes
against property and people, each of which seemed not to earn longer sentences,
but rather a virtual revolving door of minimum or reduced terms. In particular,
he served only half of a 16 year sentence for kidnapping, released only months
before the kidnap, assault and murder of young miss Klaas from her own bedroom,
with little slumber party friends gagged and threatened. Public outrage brought
about numerous tough-sentencing “three strikes laws.”
The country song, “We’re all victims of the system,”
makes me wonder who, in the criminal justice system, has responsibility or
culpability. Defense lawyers are not blameless for their role in getting
criminals off; they often make it so problematic for prosecutors and juries to
seek and hand down appropriately harsh sentences, that shortened terms, parole,
probation and reduced charges become the norm. It has already been stated by DA
Cohen that he won’t seek the death penalty for miss Nichols’ killer; he will be
out to kill again.
I don’t, however, hold prosecutors blameless; the
soft-on-crime, soft-headed-and-hearted defense/judiciary cabal could be
challenged. Then there are politicians like Gov. Brown and President Obama that
appoint ACLU and criminal defense bar types to the bench, facilitating all of
these travesties. Finally, we have the outrage of a judge taking over our
entire prison system over prisoners’ health care, resulting in our current
crime wave known as “realignment” due to AB 109. Shame on all of them!
Another irritation was the glowing lionization by our
liberal news media over the demise of Venezuelan leftist dictator Hugo Chavez.
More accurately, the Miami Herald editorialized: “His skillful rhetoric, which
filled supporters with utopian dreams, was used to justify the methodical
destruction of Venezuela’s democratic institutions and the free market. Shortly
after coming to office, he rewrote the constitution to his liking and
aggressively set out to rig elections and stifle adversaries in the legislative
branch and the courts. Unable to brook criticism, he turned his fire on the
independent news media, eventually silencing most voices of opposition by bully
tactics and economic intimidation. His Bolivarian regime rewarded supporters
and punished opponents, giving rise to enormous corruption and the creation of
a new class of greedy oligarchs with political connections. Unfortunately for
Venezuela and for all his political skills, the president was both an
incompetent executive and a worse economist.
“In an energy-rich country that once knew no
blackouts, electrical shortages are frequent, the result of Mr. Chavez’s
plundering of the country’s public oil company. In a country that once enjoyed
a thriving free market, prices are controlled and food items often scarce.”
Multiple devaluations of its currency resulted from “a series of disastrous
economic decisions that included nationalizing the telephone company and other
utilities, which scared off foreign investors and spurred capital flight.” As
is typical in downward-spiraling socialist cesspools, crime and homicides
soared, and “Venezuela has become one of the most violent countries in the
world.”
“As a result of all this, Venezuela today is a
polarized society divided between the intolerant supporters of Mr. Chavez’s
Bolivarian Revolution and a democratic opposition that, against all odds, has
waged a courageous fight for a democratic alternative.” Substitute “Obama” for
Chavez, “Democrat” for Bolivarian and “America” for Venezuela and each sentence
could contain elements of real or potential truth. (“Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez
and his legacy of plunder” 3/05/13)
Obama was photographed giving Chavez a warm “yo’
brother” handshake, and received an anti-American screed-of-a-book, “The Open
Veins of Latin America” at an April 2009 global economic conference. Obama has
often expressed near-regret over having to accept limitations on his power. His
“I am not a dictator …” supposedly explained why he couldn’t use the Secret
Service to confine Congressional Republicans in a room and force cooperation.
He said not being “emperor” was a “problem” that he has “struggled with
throughout my presidency.” Given other such sentiments, we may see levels of
despotic collectivism unheard of in a free, liberty-blessed America over the
next 4 years, the way I see it.
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