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Saturday, December 15. 2007
It’s the War Stupid!
What’s new? New Jersey has just banned the death penalty! Now that’s forward thinking. Their rationale being that it is more expensive to sentence someone to die than it is to sentence someone to life without possibility for parole. The New Jersey commission that studied the death penalty also found that it didn’t deter any crime and that they inevitably killed innocent people. As in Illinois, there apparently is a large number of people sentenced in capital crimes erroneously. Even a half of one per cent is too many to be sentenced to death erroneously. In any other circumstance, that would be murder.
Of course the decision has its critics. One thing we like to do as a society is kill. We love killing and if we can find some bad guys (or gals) to kill, all the better. And if a couple innocent ones get whacked in the process, what’s an omelet without a few broken eggs?
With the growing number of people doing time on death rows across America being exonerated, makes one wonder how many innocent men and women have been executed? Reminds me of the Rosenbergs. Ethel in particular. According to the evidence her only crime was being married to Julius Rosenberg. Espionage … what a joke! We send people to prison for life or to the gallows, yet we engage in espionage daily! That’s not a dichotomy, that’s a hypocrisy!
Good for New Jersey. Maybe the other 36 states that have the death penalty and the federal government will do the right thing and abolish it altogether. We are the only Western civilized nation that engages in killing people by legal edict.
The other item I read in the news was that Congress was sending a budget bill to the White House for the president (such as he is) to sign and President Bush said he wouldn’t sign it because it had too much money for veterans. Now that’s standing up for the troops Mr. President! Fuck you too! But, since the Democrat-controlled Congress caved into the president on the 993 billion dollar spending bill, it’s likely they will cave in on the veterans’ benefits as well.
If you’re a veteran dependent on the V.A. medical system for health care, then you already know just how bad things have got since the large number of Iraq and Afghan war vets have returned home. Kudos to them by the way. The reduction in services, the increased wait times for care and being told such things as “you are not a priority” are not the fault of the younger veterans returning for care, it’s due to our government screwing us over on the promise that we would be taken care of for our service to this country.Wish the Democrats would grow a backbone. Senator and presidential hopeful Joe Biden is a veteran as is fellow candidate Senator Chris Dodd. Dodd, in fact, served two years in the Peace Corps before joining the Army National Guard and the Army Reserves. Now, back in the day, all three were avenues for avoiding a trip to Southeast Asia, but since he’s been a senator, Dodd probably has the best record of anybody when it comes to veterans and service personnel issues. His campaign website is touting his efforts for veterans. Okay Senator, get the 3.9 billion approved and signed for the veterans.
The biggest news though comes from Major League Baseball. Every team in baseball is represented on the list of players suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs, the biggest name being the greatest pitcher of his generation, Roger Clemens. He has denied using steroids through his attorney, but the Mitchell Report, named for former Democratic senator George Mitchell who led the commission, apparently has eight pages devoted to The Rocket.
That’s too bad. Steroid use has tainted sports. It will be interesting to see how the voting goes for the Hall of Fame when Clemens becomes eligible for induction. Just this year the election committee snubbed Mark McGwire, the man who broke Roger Maris’s single season home run record on September 8, 1998 by hitting his 62nd homerun of the season.Sammy Sosa, McGwire’s principle rival in that homerun race was also named in the Mitchell Report. No surprise there. Then of course we know Barry Bonds is under indictment for lying about his steroid use before a grand jury.
Former San Diego Padre, Ken Caminiti, died a few years ago, reportedly from a heart attack induced by “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates,” according to the coroner’s report. He was 41 when he died in a Bronx hospital.
Caminiti was named in the Mitchell Report as well, but he is probably best known for being the first major league player to admit using steroids, confessing he had used them during his MVP season of 1996. Jose Canseco also admitted his steroid use, naming several other players who juiced up with him. He doesn’t have too many friends left in baseball. He snitched. His 2005 best seller, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Bigger probably ensured his inclusion in the report.
Funny, Canseco said several of his Oakland Athletics teammates used steroids with him — Canseco even said he injected the juice — two of those being Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmeiro. Both denied Canseco’s allegations … but now Giambi has admitted to using steroids and Palmeiro has tested positive several times. Question is, when will Mark McGwire come clean? He was also named in Canseco’s book. McGwire, apparently mindful of the penalties for perjury before a congressional committee, refused to answer direct questions about his steroid use when subpoenaed before House Committee chaired by Republican Thomas Davis III and Democrat Henry Waxman, using these replies: “I’m not here to discuss the past," and "I’m here to be positive about this subject.” Well, we’re positive you were juiced when you broke Maris’s record.
The big story though, despite its disappearance from the news, is the war in Iraq. It drags on and our lawmakers are doing nothing to end it. There are reports that things are getting better! But, in reality, they are not. On December 13 2007, three American servicemen were killed in Iraq: Sgt. Samuel E. Kelsey and Spc. Brynn J. Naylor of the U.S. Army, and Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Mark T. Carter; three families that will have a grief-filled holiday season. Since President Bush started his war, 3,891 service members have been killed in Iraq. Not to mention the other coalition forces suffering casualties and the number of Iraqis being killed on a daily basis.
It’s getting better for whom? The politicians who aren’t under the daily microscope for this war? Oh yeah, the arms contractors who will be the principle beneficiaries of the 900 billion plus budget bill that the president won’t sign if it includes the 3.9 billion for veterans.
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