The Tea Party Movement objects to big government.
The newly-launched Coffee Party declares itself free of either party’s ideologies but to be guided by reason. (I’ll drink coffee to that.)
But, as Doug Berman points out at Sentencing, Law & Policy, neither drink-related party seems to be interested in taking on one of the biggest government growth industries of all:
I continue to wonder if (and hope that) the new tea party movement will take on the growth of government and government inefficiencies in the operation of massive modern criminal justice systems. …And… Unfortunately, it seems that so far the so-called Coffee Party is also decaffinated when it comes to engaging with criminal justice issues, which comprise among the most consequential forms of government interaction with citizens and also is among the most massive forms of government control and expense.
Of course, the vast majority of persons who have the luxury of the extra time and energy to get involved with the new Coffee or Tea Parties are not likely to have significant experience with state or federal criminal justice systems. Still, any and all politically savvy persons must recognize that an extraordinary amount of taxpayer money is spent on modern criminal justice systems. Moreover, any new party that is concerned about government spending on programs with uncertain returns ought to be asking hard questions about the costs and benefits of mass incarceration and marijuana prohibitions and a host of other related criminal justice issues.
Meanwhile, in the Democrat-controlled congress we hear the similar sound of….nothing.
A year ago, Senator Jim Webb introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, which would form a commission that would study our criminal justice system from top to bottom. But despite bipartisan support, lots of press, and lots of enthusiasm, the House of Representatives has yet to introduce a companion bill.
Last Tuesday, Webb renewed his push.
“We start with two pieces of reality,” Webb said in Washington on Tuesday. “The first is that we are a country that’s got 5 percent of the world’s population and approximately 25 percent of the world’s prison population. We are doing something different than other countries and something not necessarily correct.”
Yes. And whatever one’s political beverage of choice, it’s time to face that fact.—and to do something about it.
Coffee Party – An appropriate name for a bunch of latte’ sippin’ pseudo-intellectuals, unable to find meaningful employment, who sit around tables at Starbucks and in faculty lounges smoking their pipes and conceptualizing short-term, high-and-mighty ways to make the rest of us pay for their “noble ideas” to take care of them.
I had never heard of the Coffee Party until today, so let’s see what it is that Celeste agrees about it.
THE “COFFEE PARTY” DEMOCRATS BY ANOTHER NAME
It’s almost enough to make me switch to Coca-Cola in the morning.
That’s a pretty stupid statement, and I doubt its accuracy. If the statistics are close to being correct, then maybe we’re doing something right – like catching criminals.
If Somalia has a low prison population in comparison to it’s total population, is that reason for praise?
Woody, in answer to your question, I agree with the idea of being pro-logic. Otherwise, I have yet to observe enough about these coffee folks to agree or not agree with them.
However, I’m glad that you and I agree how essential it is to the health of our nation that the rights of the minority be protected. Thus you are behind Ted Olson and David Boies’ constitutional challenge to Prop. 8.
BTW, yes, Webb’s stats are correct about the incarceration numbers.
Mexico has a much lower incarceration rate and they don’t have our crime problems, we should follow Mexico’s example.
Our Nazi/LAPD should also be more like the Tijuana police department, I hear they solve most crimes and are honest and hard working.
Olson and Boies are not supporting a “right” – at least not one intended by our founders. Unalienable rights of minorities should be protected — not created out of thin air or by threats.
Celeste, I still don’t believe those incarceration rates compared to the world. When you extrapolate those numbers, they become ridiculous. You can’t trust liberals to give you accurate numbers on any cause which they support and need to exaggerate for funding.
However, even if slightly accuate, they might indicate one important factor. In some countries, the price of crime is so great that it acts as a deterrence to crime. For instance, you wouldn’t carry drugs in Singapore or be openly homosexual in Iran. Do you know the penalties for those? Mandatory death sentences. Do you want such laws and enforcement here to reduce our incarceration rate, simply to be in line with other nations?
Another important factor is that other nations don’t care about certain crimes or can’t enforce them – like opium selling in Afghanistan or cocaine in Columbia and prostitution in Copenhagen. Should we ignore drug pushers here and let prostitutes take over Washington? It would help statistics, but would not be in our best interests.
Like most statistics presented by self-serving left-wing organizations, these should be questioned and analyzed without giving into the “obvious” conclusions and failing to consider reasonable factors.
Finally, don’t fall into the trap of comparing the U.S. to other nations. Who cares how “they” do it, if we’re doing it right and what’s best for us? Anyway, we do a lot more right than other nations, and people trying everything to get into this country bear that out.
P.S. We also have real rights against unreasonable search. We have the right to remain silent. We have the right to habeas corpus. We have rights of appeals. Because we have these rights, then criminals are willing to take more chances here than they do in other nations.
Do you want to give up those basic rights and other rights not found in countries that use strong police powers to catch criminals by increasing risks of being caught?
You can’t compare the U.S. to other nations on this without considering everything…I mean everything. We should only be concerned with how we can do better — not how we can be more like others.
Celestes, as a mother, did you compare your son to all kids or to his potential?
I guess you think that this is a move in the right direction?
Obama Supports DNA Sampling Upon Arrest
Okay, that’s all. I actually have work to do that pays me.
LOL. But we should only take “everything” into consideration when comparing law and order in America with other countries, not health care, right Woody?
Rob, you didn’t read very carefully. I’m not comparing “law and order” with other nations. I’m not comparing anything. In fact, I told Celeste that I don’t care what other nations do, including jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge.
I simply enumerated some Constitutional rights of citizens that we hold which would be forfeited to have a government with enough power to significantly reduce crime, which includes the power of intimidation, the power of death sentences with no appeal, and strong police forces that would even drive tanks over citizens standing in the square.
Also, I don’t care what other countries do with health care, either. I want what is right for us, which is an open market system — something that Barack Alinsky doesn’t understand.
Way to back pedal out of it, Woody. Smart guy.
I didn’t backpedal. See comment #7:
But wow! Look at this!
British pair faces jail time in Dubai over kiss
Can you imagine the penalty if they were homosexuals?
“You can’t compare the U.S. to other nations on this without considering everything…I mean everything.”
Your words, Woody. So I ask again, is law enforcement the only topic where we consider everything when comparing the US to other nations? How about health care? Government entitlements? Public transportation? As far as your gay remarks, your republicans are averaging about one homophobe a week being outed. Will you be the next>?
When a liberal can’t win a simple arguement they retreat to Robbie Land. Robbie Land is just past Never Never Land on your map. It’s where you get to make up crazy lies about what others say or pull your arguements out of the Twilight Zone, the capital of Robbie Land.
As Woody said but Robbie skips by is… “We should only be concerned with how we can do better — not how we can be more like others”.
Woody was saying who cares about what other nations are like, let’s do better here within our own system.
That too hard for you to understand? Now go ahead and change what I meant in this post Robbie since it’s the only way you ever try to make a point.
Celeste, in my exciting life, I’ve been watching the parole marathon on the bio network. It is insightful.
Sure Fire, when a crooked cop, who’s on record disliking snitches, can’t win an argument, he cries like a baby and accuses everyone of being anti-cop.
Woody, assuming George W. Bush was telling the truth about Iraq, isn’t he a liberal, too? Wanting to spread freedom and democracy to countries that don’t have it? Of course, he was full of shit anyway, and just using that as an excuse to rush to war. But just saying…
Well you and your message board date Reg are cop haters but I haven’t seen you win anything here but poster most likely to say nothing worth a shit.
I’m crooked? If you only knew Robbie. I’m a saint.