Iglesias gets the OJ treatment, American decline, and broken "justice"...

former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico David Iglesias held a press conference recently to complain about the "pressure" he felt to get a certain political corruption case indicted (it just happens to involve some big-time democrats in this state...as Chicago has proved again and again, blue folk corrupt just as nicely as red folk) and that he was kicked out because he didn't get it done before the elections (amusing since one guy making the call - Pete Domenici - was never in any trouble of losing, even if he is one of the all-time great schmucks that brings out the right-wing in democrats and the other - Heather Wilson - had to know that her opponent was a useless moron who would sink herself, which, of course, happened). so Iglesias has now gone before congress and cried his little story about how he got a call at home from Domenici (entirely inappropriate and should be punished) and some outside pressure from Wilson, and then wound up fired.

here's the thing...Iglesias got fired for political reasons...but the man should have been fired for failing at his job anyways. so what are we to think? he was too slow on getting that case indicted (even when other federal officials were begging him for extra help to get it done - help that did not come until the impending resignation was coming). he was also too slow on a lot of things and hired a lot of hacks with borderline ethics and weak skills. so do I feel sorry for him? no...he was a political hack that, in the end, got treated like a political hack. am I appalled that politics so blatantly interfered with the criminal justice system? of course. am I surprised? not in the least.

the death of Captain America is prescient at this time...afterall, the death of "America" has been slowly (and now more quickly) occuring for some time. talking heads like to go on and on about how we are the most powerful country the world has ever scene, and the neocon numbnuts like to tell us that our military is second to none and can be used to dictate world affairs. but that makes me wonder...why is it that we haven't been able to pull of an impressive military victory since WWII? korean "rollback" became chinese ass-kicking and barely holding half. vietnam was a bloodbath that got us nowhere and never even close to victory. the first phase of the Iraq war maybe...except that Bush and his boys like to tell us how Iraq remained a threat, which lead to the second phase...which will likely end in a splintering of a faux-nation and us again shamed by "lesser" military might. even the Taliban is still kicking. face it folks...this ain't your grandfather's terrorism using, fascist ass-kicking, atomic bomb dropping, world strong-man anymore. just another has been. and it looks like our leadership (and I saw leadership not to imply that they are leaders, just the monied elite that controls politics in this country) has decided that if we are going down in flames, the rest of the world can burn with us. so enjoy the fireworks.

with the recent conviction of couey and john walsh riding with swat teams to arrest flashers who weren't home by 10 the night before undoubtedly some jackass will tell us that we are not tough enough on crime (again). and so, despite having an imprisonment rate that rivals the third world, being the only "civilized" nation with capital punishment, and a prison system that would make the likes of pinochet proud...we will call for more supermax prisons to house more "dangerous" criminals. and we will put them away without contact from other human beings, maybe an hour of natural light a day, and no stimulation but for the phantoms that begin to visit them. and we will say things like "they forfeited their rights when they did X" and "prison shouldn't be a nice place" and "it is time criminals had tougher times than their victims." and they will sit in these concrete boxes, alone, for a decade or two. and then their sentence will be up. and they will be out on the streets. and they will be completely mad. and we will all be less safe because of it. and the crime rate will rise even more. and we will put even more people into solitary. and the cycle will continue.

I recently talked to a federal prisoner about this mess of our "justice" system. bright kid. we talked about approaches in other nations that focus on rehabilitation and retribution (monetary). we talked about how he hates to be a drain on society and would love to be able to work and, if nothing else, pay some of the $30,000 a year we spend keeping him behind bars because he was born into the wrong neighborhood in Albuquerque. and I felt sad, because I knew this kid got it, and I knew nobody would listen to him.

I'm scared of the new pair of eyes you have...