http://www.openeducation.net/2008/03/06/americas-misplaced-priorities-our-frightening-prison-numbers/

Perhaps the post would be of interest to your readers.

Tom Hanson
Editor
OpenEducation.net

Yes, that should give them a “warm and fuzzy” feeling all over, shouldn’t it. They should also manufacture some foam citing us as one of the leading torture nations while they’re at it. I’m just not sure if we’re number one on THAT list or #2 or #3.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07227/809461-109.stm

Think of it for a second: take 2 million bodies out of reliably Democratic areas and transfer them to reliably Republican areas and you get a net 4 million pick up in the redistricting battles. Not bad, and on top of that, they can’t vote! It really doesn’t get any better than this if you are a Rove type.

In politics, nothing is as it simply appears: we are incarcerating more people in America really means we are increasing GOP power. And not so coincidently, the current GOP-appointed judiciary is on a binge of get-tough jurisprudence!

Redistricting: yes, the prisoners cannot vote, but they do effect the census of the district they “reside” in and there have been accusations (you will have to google this stuff) that the Republicans (who else) have gamed the system to add bodies to districts to increase the net GOP count. I have no idea if this is true…I am dredging my unreliable memory here. I think Texas and Oklahoma were mentioned….

THe second issue is that there is increasing privatization of the prison system with all the wonderful side-effects that we have come to expect from that.

And I hope they issue some of those things to Mukasey, Addington, Cheney, Bradbury, et al. when their time comes to serve time!

It touches me to see such patriotism and pride. Indeed, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is planning to distribute foam We’re Number One fingers for the public to celebrate.

America Number One!!

We can’t even manufacture a toaster anymore, but we can sure build prisons!

Don’t even get me STARTED on the case of Don Siegelman! Who as we all know by now, is now sitting in a federal prison, whose only “crime” appears to be the fact that he’s a Democratic opponent, who stood in his Republican opponent’s way, whose case was given a bright spotlight on THE ABRAMS REPORT last night during the “Bush League Justice” segment. And Siegelman was convicted of….WHAT, exactly? I was watching and listening carefully, but I didn’t hear that mentioned even once. So I have no idea what the original charges even were.

So, given that a high number of these so-called “criminals” were guilty of nothing more than ticking off the wrong people, which alone is NOT a felony offense, I really fail to see what American lawmakers have to brag about. In fact, they really should be hanging their heads in SHAME!