American Society

Another story has emerged of police using excessive force, this time in Florida:

Former teacher Paul King says he used to be one of those people who said lock 'em up throw away the key.

However King has changed his mind since being arrested on public intoxication last July. A video shows deputies pushed him against a glass wall as he was being frisked, threw him to the ground for no apparent reason, held his neck back more than 2 minutes as he was being put into a restraint chair, put a hood over his face and then appeared to try to hide the action from cameras by moving paperwork to cover his head.

You can view the video of this act of brutality here.

So where is Congress or our presidential candidates on this issue? Stories like this are becoming as common as stories of kids killing kids. The worse part is no one seems to care. Congress isn't paying attention. None of the candidates running for President seem to care. What the fuck is wrong with this country when people don't get outraged about these kind of stories? It is turning America into the kind of country we use to despise. America is dying and no one gives a damn.

One in every 100 Americans is behind bars:

For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.

Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 - one out of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation.

Will any presidential candidate every address these growing problems our society is facing?

I just submitted the following to be asked at tomorrow night's Democratic debate:

We have an epidemic of school shootings plaguing our nation. Nine years ago, the Columbine shooting was all this nation could talk about. Now school shootings seem to have become such a common place that they are just a blurb on the crawl of the news networks.

The problems are not limited to school shootings either. We now hear more stories of police officers using excessive force against citizens. Here in Ohio a case is going on in Stark County where six police officers stripped a female prisoner naked and made her lay in her cell all night nude. Stories like this happen more often now and leave one with a sense that abu Gharib was not shut down, but rather moved closer to home.

There has been a deafening silence on the campaign trail about these issues. Society is what makes a nation and our society is facing peril if these kind of stories continue at the current rate. As President, how would you address the problems of increased school shootings, excessive police force and other like issues challenging our nation?

Let's hope they ask it.

It is getting ridiculous how much we hear stories like this:

A Philadelphia teenager celebrating his 16th birthday is fighting for his life after a shooting over a snowball fight.

Authorities said the Feltonville teen, identified as Tavin Rutledge, was shot in the head at point-blank range while playing with neighborhood friends in the 4800 block of D Street.

Witnesses say the shooting was sparked from a casual snowball fight amongst children.

"Everyone was playing and throwing snowballs and one little boy ran and got his dad. His dad came around with a gun and shot him," said Renay Reeves, Tavin's aunt.

Why in the hell don't any of the candidates talk about the social problems that are plaguing this nation? We have people blowing away schools left and right, parents shooting kids and cops beating the hell out of anyone.

As our economy continues a downward slide, you can expect to see crime rise even more.

The Republicans try to act like everything is fine and dandy, their typical
"head in the sand" approach, but I would hope the Democrats would bring
these issues front and center. Michelle Obama got heat for saying this is the first time in her "adult life" that she is "really proud of her country". I wish I could share that sentiment.