I watched the debates, ashamed. What has happened to our country? Have we lost it? Our minds, that is. Temperament, yes temperament, was an actual topic of a National debate between two presidential candidates at a time where there are protests and riots going on around the country because of injustice. There were so many petty and stupid things going on no one really talked about the things that mattered. Things like:
Our out of control prison system. We are #1 in the entire world for putting our citizens in prison. #1! We put more of our own population in jail and prison more than ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! ON THE PLANET!!! No one has talked about that like they should. The center for economic and police research broke down some scary statistics about prison in our country. “In 2008, over 2.3 million Americans were in prison or jail, with one in 48 working age men behind bars.” That basically means that out of 100 grown men in this country, more than two are behind bars. Those are catastrophic numbers.
What about the topic of private prisons and jobs? Private prisons have taken over those factory type jobs that so many people are looking for and need. All we hear about is jobs and bringing back jobs. Through the prison industry many companies are getting their labor (factory) work done for pennies in prison compared to paying dollars to people outside of prison.
Or how about a discussion where we address that there are elderly people out there who can no longer afford their basic needs? They can't pay for medicine and food at the same time because big pharma is having its way with medicine prices.
How about the North Dakota Pipeline…nothing…NOT ONE MENTION! The largest Native American protest in our lifetime, with the ancestors of indigenous people coming together from all over this country, and Canada coming together to stop an oil pipeline. Nothing!
They briefly did mention criminal justice reform, but not how badly we need transparency and accountability when dealing with police, judges, and the entire criminal justice system.
Instead, trump brought up how great stop and frisk was…. YES, STOP and FRISK… you know the unconstitutional practice that the NYPD was behind that traumatized millions of middle and high school aged teenagers going to and from school. SMH. It’s sad, really, how we paint this nice picture of what stop and frisk was…cops friendly and nicely patting down “suspects” and then letting them go on their way. That is not at all what happened.
Here is a glimpse into what Stop and Frisk really was….
I, like many others, are tired of politics as usual because arguing about temperament is beyond frivolous. People are out here losing their lives on the streets by police, getting locked up for drug addictions and mental illness, cannot find work, cannot afford to eat and get their medicine. There are so many serious things going on… so can we cut the bull, and actually get things done in Washington for people other than big corporations with millions to spend on lobbyist. Can we get back to fighting for the people of this country????
