Land of the Free?? Part II

In the first entry of Land of the Free I discussed the absolute assault on our civil liberties that is happening today under George Bush & Dick Cheney. Now i would like to discuss something that has gone on for FAR too long in this country.The "War on drugs" has gone on for decades, irregardless of whether Democrats or Republicans were in power in Congress, and irregardless of whether the president was liberal, moderate, or conservative. This seems to be one of the few things that almost ALL of our politicians go along with, either because they believe in it or are worried about the political consequences of being on the side of the "druggies" and even worse the dealers. Ever since the First Lady Nancy Reagan started telling people how easy it is to "just say no" this country has imprisoned millions for drug use and sales. Don't get me wrong, I am not a proponent of using drugs. On the contrary, I'm in recovery myself and I understand MUCH BETTER than Nancy Reagan the problems associated w/ using drugs. It's just that I recognize that the contempt that the American people and our leaders have for addicts is due to people like her saying that it's as easy as 1-2-3 to stay off drugs. This attitude causes many to see drug addicted people as people w/ lack of moral willpower. They see them as weak, thieves, dirty, disease infected, and beyond our help. That's just the opposite of the truth. The worse off an addict gets, the more likely it is that help is exactly what he needs and wants. As addicts hit bottom, their drug use tends to come into perspective, and w/ the right treatment they can find freedom from the deadly grip.
Instead, what do we do with our fellow brethren who are addicted to drugs? We lock them the hell up. They sit in a cell, becoming more and more isolated, depressed, suicidal, alone, and beyond help. Why shouldn't they feel like they are beyond help? That's exactly the message that is sent to them in 90% of the jails in this country. Now, many addicts commit serious crimes to feed their habit, such as grand larceny, armed robbery, and even murder. I'm not including them in the category of people I'm talkin about. I'm talking about the addicts that are in jail for being addicts, one way or another. Whether it is being caught for possesion or doing a ridiculous 2 year mandatory sentence for dealing to support your habit.
We need to realize that America;s prisons today only create more and better criminals. There is no rehabilitation. Upon entering most prisons in the U.S. inmates have to join a gang to stay alive. This forces them to commit crimes for the gang, and they get more and more cold hearted due to the ghastly environment around them. Then, they are released to the world after however many years, and told to behave. They lose their driver's licenses (at least in Mass. they do) for drug convictions, and they now have a record. Would you hire them for a job? No, absolutely not. The American Justice system continues to work against these people, instead of working to make them better individuals and productive members of society. Wasn't the original intention to rehabilitate these people? It looks like this is one more situation in which America has lost it's way and strayed from the plan.

Land of the Free??

It's been a while since my last post. I've been on vacation and enjoying the nice weather. I am watching a show on Court TV called: The ACLU freedom files. It is reminding me just how badly the neo-conservatives in power are destroying our civil liberties. Library books, emails, web sites, customers info, etc etc. They are systematically raping America. It is sickening what is happening in Washington D.C. these days. The worst part is, most Americans have NO CLUE how bad the bill of rights has been trampled. I blame that on the democrats and legitimate conservatives in congress. People are being whisked away in the middle of the night and illegally deported for having had aquaintances in Pakistan years ago, before they even moved to America, who are SUPPOSEDLY "connected" to terrorism. The word connected is being used to arrest anyone of Arab descent. This is unbelievable that the country is allowing this to happen. Shady men in black coats can now legally creep into your house when you're not home and search the place, read your computer files and check your internet usage, read emails, snail mail, and anything else they can find. Not only can they do this, but they can leave just as quietly as they came in, and never tell you about it. They can legally steal fromn you w/out telling you who took your belongings. I wonder how many families out there are scared to death because their house was broken into by a "burglar" when it was really our wonderful government. The FBI and the CIA can now pretty much do whatever they want in the name of "fighting terror". They are allowed to do all this investigating w/out even checking w/ anyone outside of their own agency. That is scary!! If we let the police and investigators always decide who they can go after w/ no limitations, this country would be a VERY different place. It's not that they're bad people who wanna go after innocent people, but they would end up doing that. Why not? If they're wrong, they can go after the next guy. It could end up being a country where suspects are chosen using process of elimination. That's a scary thought. WE NEED TO WAKE UP. This country is headed somewhere where I know we don't wanna go.