Off the reservation

When I was growing up I wanted to be a lawyer because I wanted to end all injustices and basically "fix" the world. My mom kindly (and wisely) told me I should probably avoid that field altogether because I would live a tirelessly frustrating existance. My goal was impossible.

Still today, I find myself pouring over the editorial pages shouting out loud, "idiots!" and watching blips of the news and screaming, "morons!" It's easy to criticize in the comfort of your own home.

But there is still something inside me that yearns to make everyone see what I see so clearly. It's not always partisan but my most recent outrage boiled from that source.

I'm currently reading SUPERFreakonomics and there is an interesting section on the rise in crime that erupted in the 60s. There were several facctors but mainly it was the advent of television that proved to be the prime culprit. That's a whole separate blog entry. What caught my attention in this chapter was that the ACLU has been suing jails for years and winning. They win nearly everytime. And what are they suing for? Why for the release of criminals. And why are they suing for that? Well because it's too crowded in those facilities. Heaven forbid that CRIMINALS are uncomfortable.

Is this what we've come to? Everyone gets a break once in a while, but criminals? We're talking about people who have taken the liberty to deprive others of their rights. So we reward them by releasing them early because their rights (why do they have rights again?) are imposed upon by a tight jail cell? Give me a break. Seriously.

So the real kicker is that in areas where the ACLU won and the criminals were released, violent crimes SPIKED as a result. You think? Really? It took a Nobel-worthy economist to figure this out? Helena could've surmised as much.

I'm going to go ahead and posit that all of the ACLU lawyers live in some cush little spot FAR FAR away from the nearest overcrowded prison.

What a bunch of idiots. I'm sorry I had to go down this road but the ACLU had it coming for them. This is my new favorite website.