America has traditionally had an unusually negative fixation on criminals. We saw this phenomenon spike with Richard Nixon’s declaration of the “War on Drugs” and in the 1990s, when news broadcasts convinced us that gangs were literally going break down all of our front doors. This is not to say that criminals are not deserving of punishment and wariness, just that we as a nation must realize that not all criminals are death row inmates. They are people, people who have made mistakes that shouldn’t disqualify them from a life void of respect and equality.

One of the biggest flaws with modern America’s approach to the democratic model is in its handling of convicts and voting. Almost every state in the union has laws preventing felons from voting. Some states even keep ex-felons from voting. Only Maine and Vermont stand by their citizens’ inherent right to representation. When one considers the high percentage of incarcerated African Americans and Latinos, the repealing of voting rights can become an issue of disenfranchising ethnic minorities, which has the potential of perpetuating a vicious and repressive cycle. Revoking that right is a severe abuse of fundamental human rights and should only be considered for severe circumstances, such as treason.

Our legal system is increasingly concerned with punishing rather than rehabilitating. As a nation, we must strive for a system that is less punitive and more civil and democratic. The campaign on drugs doesn’t help in this process. Rather, it turns millions of ordinary Americans into criminals. Criminals are human beings, despite the acts they commit. Oftentimes it is easier for them to reconnect with that humanity, which can be severely inhibited in prison, if they are treated with the respect due to any person. By allowing criminals the right to vote, we let them to feel reconnected to society, which can only hasten the rehabilitative process.

There is also something wrong with the criminal statistics associated with our justice system. America locks up more people than any other nation on earth, with a prison population rate of 756 out of 100,000 according to the World Prison Population List. Either this means that we have a law-enforcement structure that is vastly superior to even authoritarian states, like China which also has a much larger population, or we are approaching justice is a skewed manner. The latter seems much more likely.

It is easier to lock people up rather than help them. We like to make ourselves feel safe by simply pooling all of the ‘undesirables’ of society in dehumanizing prison systems. It is easier to be vengeful than loving of one’s neighbor. Again, this is not a slight to those who have suffered at the hands of criminals. Everything that can be reasonably done to prevent and punish crimes should be done. It must be understood, though, that we are a community as well as a nation and we should be reticent to give up on another citizen, let alone permanently soil his reputation in the ‘Scarlet Letter’ fashion with which we approach justice today.

For further reading on this issue, I recommend checking out the links below. These respectively include an article on criminals voting, the World Prison Population List and an attachment from the CPIC on the ‘prison industrial complex’.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0226-05.htm

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/downloads/wppl-8th_41.pdf

http://cpic.binghamton.edu/resisting.html

http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/jim-frederick-newsroom

A bizarre and tragic incident being described as one of the worst violent crimes of the Iraqi War is chronicled in a new book, Black Hearts, by Jim Frederick. The story follows the deployment of a platoon of soldiers in the so-called Triangle of Death in 2005-2006. The stress of being in the most violent area of a war zone during the worst period of the conflict drove many of these men to depression, substance abuse, and ultimately murder.

The human rights abuses that are mentioned in the interview in the link above are hard for many Americans to come to terms with. As a nation, we are tired of hearing bad news from the Middle East and after seven years of war, we are ready to forget the whole ugly business. However, the story of Pvt. Steven Green, and the other men of his platoon who were accused of raping a 14-year-old girl and murdering and then immolating her family, should not be forgotten. It is important to realize the destruction that comes with war, both to the psyches of soldiers and the lives of civilians.

Frederick’s book has been described by one reviewer as a mix between, “‘In Cold Blood’, ‘Black Hawk Down’, with a bit of ‘Apocalypse Now’.” A platoon’s harrowing fall into insanity and depravity is a fitting example of some of the darker and more realistic results of the Iraqi War.

This interesting Thomas Friedman op-ed analyzes some of the issues America is facing in terms of international competition. With nations like India, Brazil and especially China rapidly growing into mature global economic and political powers, the United States must strive to remain competitive- lest we be left behind the power curve.

Mr. Friedman suggests that we learn from East Asia. He argues that if we approach their success objectively and try to incorporate the better aspects of their impressively efficient system, we will undoubtedly improve ourselves. The argument is also made that complacency in today’s day and age is a sure way to be reduced to a footnote of the history books.

Do you agree with Mr. Friedman? What do you think America must do to remain on top?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/opinion/22friedman.html

This question has been asked for as long as our country has existed. It still doesn’t have a clear answer. The peculiar situation and amazing story of Mebrahtom Keflezighi highlights some of the particulars of this ongoing debate.

Meb, as he is better known, escaped war-torn Eritrea with his family at 12. The Keflezighis moved to California where Meb soon raised eyebrows as a standout track and field athlete. Specifically, he became one of the state’s best high school distance runners. He developed as an athlete under the tutelage of American coaches and lawfully obtained American citizenship. He spoke English fluently and was awarded a full sports scholarship to UCLA. He continued to excel and today he trains as a professional runner for Nike. His best time in the marathon (26.2 miles) is 2 hours 9 minutes and 15 second, which is 4:55/mile or a little over 12 mph.

His career, though marred at times by injury and disappointing performances, can objectively be considered one of the most brilliant by any American distance runner. He achieved a pinnacle of any athletic career in the Athens Olympic Marathon in 2004 when he won a silver medal, and in 2009 he won the New York City Marathon. Both of these milestones, so to speak, have not been accomplished by an American runner since 1976 and 1982, respectively.

Although it is inarguable that Meb is a naturalized American citizen, some in the sport of distance running claim that his accomplishments cannot be counted toward “true” American records, as he is originally from East Africa, an area of the world that has dominated the sport over the past 20-30 yeas. Supporters of Meb, who always proudly races in his USA singlet, claim that his nationality switch was done very differently than other runners, like Bernard Lagat, who became an American citizen later in life in order to advance their careers. Meb spent a good deal of his childhood in San Diego.

Should we penalize Meb with an asterisk just because American-born runners haven’t stepped up to the plate? If anything, Meb’s success should serve as a motivator for distance runners in the states to get back into competing on the international level. Two of the “homegrown” stars of American running today are Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein, although they shouldn’t be considered any more American than Mr. Keflezighi simply because their skin is white.

Hopefully we will have more native champions in every walk of life, not just athletics, who will be motivated by the great victories of Meb and other immigrants who so exemplify the spirit of what it means to be truly “American”. They bring greatness to this country, and we should emulate their tenacity and desire for success in order to do our part in keeping America number one.

A Wall Street Journal feature on Meb addressing this issue is linked below…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704361504575552311611374060.html?mod=USHomePage_14

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39419543/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/39383369

Although this story is a few weeks old, it is still worthy of comment as its focus remains ever pertinent in all of our lives.

As many of you are surely now aware, a Rutgers university student, Tyler Clementi, recently killed himself by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge. He was driven to this after his roommate videotaped him in an intimate moment with another male and streamed it online. This tragedy hits home for more people than just the freshman student’s family and friends- their loss is of course immeasurable. Tyler’s death is just one more example of how modern American culture, while touting itself as a ‘accepting’, really hasn’t come to terms with its strained relationship with the homosexual community, which is one of the last major groups to still be stigmatized both in de facto and de jure scenarios.

The word ‘hatred’ is something that we as a culture generally try to avoid, as most Americans view modern society as more liberal in its approach toward accepting different groups than past generations were. However, it is the perfect description for how too many individuals today view homosexuality. It is a moral crime of our generation that disdain for those who choose to love whomever they wish, irrespective of gender, is so ubiquitous. It is also shameful to the laws that define this republic that legislatures have kept homosexuals in a second order of society by preventing them the right to marry. Human beings should be able to fairly commit themselves to whomever they wish, without scorn or prejudice. Hopefully the precedent of freedom of marriage set out in Loving vs. Virginia (1967), will help serve to define a new and just legal precedent for gays in this country.

The similarities between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the current struggle for gay rights is eerie. Many experts are confident though that the tide is changing. Cases like Loving vs. Virginia will hopefully come into play when gay marriage hits the Supreme Court. Also, the military appears to be close to disbanding its archaic “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. These advancements will only help strengthen the position of gays in the this country. We can only hope that cultural and social stigma and perception will change for the better as well.

Time will tell whether or not this has potential to solve the world’s current environmental and economic issues with carbon-based fuel, but it is an interesting invention nonetheless. A true example of American ingenuity.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/07/new.jersey.tunnel.project/index.html?hpt=T1

Governor Christie recently shut down what would be the largest public works project to ever be undertaken in the United States. It was a plan for a railroad system to be built underneath the Hudson River and would cost at least $5 Billion. Christie, for all he is, at least has stuck to his guns when he promised NJ voters that he would not weigh them down with bills and expenses that cannot be repaid. We need more steadfast political nerve from more politicians in order to control the debt and refocus on what the country actually needs, not bridges and tunnels “to no where.”