No, THOSE are the bad guys!

President Bush thinks it's a bad idea to say hello to bad guys:

Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raul Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him. He gains a lot from it by saying, look at me, I’m now recognized by the President of the United States.

This, of course, is in response to Barack Obama's continued statements that he would “never fear to negotiate” with anyone. Now, I'm not entirely convinced that Obama is correct on this. I would set down some pretty stringent conditions to meet with various dictators. My issue is what is the difference between the tyrant in Cuba and the tyrant in say... Saudi Arabia? This stark, black/white split between “with us” and “against us” doesn't serve us well, and it makes US foreign policy even more incoherent than usual.

The Saudis, Uzbekistan (they like to boil people alive) and Pakistan are the good guys. Iran and North Korea are the surviving members of the Axis of Evil. I dare you to figure it out.

The Unseen Issue

One out of every hundred adult Americans is in prison, according to a newly-released Pew Center report. The demographics are often horrifying. One out of every nine African-American males between the ages of 20-34 is incarcerated. While 1 out of every 355 women between the ages of 35-39 are in jail, for African-American women in that same age group the ratio is 1 out of every 100. Four states (Vermont, Oregon, Connecticut and Michigan) now spend more on prisons than they do on higher education. America leads the world in prison population, both by sheer numbers (2.3 million, compared to 1.5 million for the far more populous China) and per capita (750 per 100,000, compared to Russia and 628 per 100,000). America also ranks sixth in the number of executions per year, behind such luminaries as China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan. Judging from these numbers, you might think that America is in the grips of a terrifying crime wave.

Only, we aren't.

Over the past 20 years, when spending on prisons has increased from $11 billion per annum to the current $49 billion, the crime wave has stayed consistent. The issue is politically-motivated, “get tough on crime” initiatives like mandatory minimums and the bordering on-ridiculous War on Drugs. Now, faced with crushing budget shortfalls (California for instance, is $16 billion in the hole for 2008), states such as Kansas, Texas and Kentucky are taking clear-eyed looks at ways to decrease recidivism and lower incarceration rates. The Second Chance Act, currently in limbo in the Senate, is a small, but important step on the federal level.

Now, the question is what and how does this play in the election in November. Barack Obama and John McCain both fancy themselves as those who speak the hard truths. Will either of them talk about this one?

Fun With Double Standards, Part 1

The most publicized item from Tueday's Democratic debate? Tim Russert's gotcha moment about Louis Farrakhan for Barack Obama, his slightly nuanced answer and Hillary Clinton's oddball coda. In the end, Obama both “denounced and rejected” Farrakhan.

And this is for good reason, Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam is notoriously anti-Semetic and often lunatic.

Today, John McCain (St. John of Straight Talk, if you watch CNN or MSNBC too often) received and celebrated the endorsement of John Hagee, pastor of a 19,000 parishioner megachurch in San Antonio. He's also the head of Christians United for Israel, a somewhat mislabeled group that fully supports Israel only as long as it promises to begin the end-times. Now, we accept many definitions of “support” but usually draw the line at “convert or suffer eternal damnation”. How serious is this gentleman about triggering the Apocalypse? Try this on:

The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ

Huh, sounds like fun. Now, will Timmeh or The Completely Insane Chris Mathews mention this come the time for next debate.

Of course not.

More fun with religious nuts available: Here