they want another Pinochet, fixing prisons, and conservative "freedom"...

Augusto Pinochet is no more...not that it makes the high ranking conservative leadership happy. Pinochet was a disgusting, horrible tyrant that brutally murdered just about anybody that had the audacity to oppose his rule in any way, shape of form. In the process...the Americans and the British thanked him for "saving" Chile from communism (because murdering thousands and torturing countless others is cause for a pat on the back if it is done in the name of the "free market" rather than "worker's rights"). The conservative blowhards who seized power in this country yet again were particularly fond of Pinochet and his efforts at turning Chile into a nation that stomped on the poor and vulnerable in favor of handing over increasing wealth to the already disgustingly rich international corporations they tended to find themselves on the boards of...it is little secret that the (and, being from Chicago, I am embarrassed to say this) "Chicago Boys" of the neo-con upper-echelon were in love with the man (platonically speaking of course...because homos are bad for the economy). Hell, they even drafted a plan to use Pinochet's Chile as a model for a post-invasion Iraq...turn over everything to their Big Business friends and watch how "prosperous" the nation becomes. Of course they never took note of the growing wealth gap in Chile under Pinochet, or the rampant poverty and lack of any safety net to feed those that got trampled...and so they implemented a lot of their Pinochean dream in Iraq. The result...a staggering 60 percent unemployment rate and the absolute destruction of any industry Iraq had left after a decade of sanctions...people starving and out of work (not to mention far suprassing the embarrassingly low number of folks killed and tortured under Pinochet...hooray for advancement). And we wonder why the rose pedals never came out for us.

California is acknowledging the prison system is a nightmare that is serving only to make the problems incarceration is meant to solve worse. Overcrowding of jails and no flexibility to offer options while abandoning any hope of rehabilitation is simply forcing people into a life of crime while building a system that will inevitably explode in horrific violence (as prison riots have again and again shown us). But at least they may be recognizing that longer sentences and lumping all offenders together was a moronic and counterproductive move. Here's hoping they get it right this time and offer things like job training, treatment for addictions, educational opportunities and the like for those offenders with a chance at succeeding. I won't be holding my breath though...not as long as hypocritical right-wing assholes still have a say in the matter.

Dennis Prager...a non-descript middle aged grey haired white man doubling as a conservative blowhard and self-appointed "moral compass" gave the world another taste of what the modern conservative "freedom" looks like. Minnesota recently elected a Muslim to Congress, and Keith Ellison plans to take the oath of office (or at least the photo op afterwards) by swearing upon the Koran. To logical folks like you and I, this makes perfect sense. Afterall, what good is an oath taken on the Bible if the oath taker does not believe in the Bible? You would think the efforts of Mr. Ellison to swear upon his holy book that he will carry out his duties would be applauded because it would ensure his sincerity (besides...given the conservatives' record of upholding their oaths - cough cough bush is a tyrant cough cough - by swearing upon the Bible, perhaps it is time to rethink the effectiveness of that route). But not to Mr. Prager (who, ironically is obsessed with attacks on religious groups if they happen to be of the judeaochristian variety). He claims any oath to serve America must be based upon one book and one book only...the christian Bible (again...seeing how effective that has been...). Because if you can't swear upon the Bible you obviously are not suitable to serve office in a nation that holds freedom of religion dear and has clear mandates that nothing near an established religion should take hold...that would just be blasphemous. So there you have it...the conservative "freedom" for elected leaders..."freedom" to be christian and nothing else.

We're all in this together.

New Whigs. We Are You.
www.myspace.com/thenewwhigmovement
www.newwhig.blogspot.com