We (the US) are above international law

Bush / Cheney and administration will never be charged with war crimes. It's a hard pill to swallow, but our country is above international law. Droning on and on with outrage about PBO's recent comments isn't productive and smacks of naïveté or ignorance.

This message is not intended to support our position of being above international law, quite the opposite -- but we need to acknowledge reality.

Snowden: Traitor, Hero, or Just Another Schlub?

Seems like DU is fairly divided on this guy.

Jury awards white Police Lieutenant 1.35m in racial discrimination lawsuit

Why Is It So Hard For People to Get That Rodger, Elliot Hated Sexually Active Men?

He hated a lot of people. He killed twice as many men as he killed women. He planned to kill a house full of women and planned to lure random men and women to his house to murder. He planned to murder many, many more random people but was luckily stopped by Police and then took his own life before he had the opportunity to do so.

Yes, Rodger, Elliot hated women. He hated men too. He was a bitter, vile little person and the world is better off without him.

Stop trying to hijack this tragedy to further your pet political ideological purposes. He was a nutcase with a knife and with a gun and that's it.

What else can we blame Rodger, Elliot's actions on?

So far, the most common culprits I've seen blamed on DU are:

NRA
Misogyny
Mental Illness
White Privilege
Affluenza
Law Enforcement
Elliot's Family
*closet Homosexuality (yes people really blamed his actions on this)

I think Elliot is responsible himself; to blame anyone or anything else is wrong. Clearly he had extreme, dangerous mental illness issues but Elliot still made the choice to stab three people to death and shoot three more to death.

As a society we too often blame everyone and everything BUT the person responsible.

We need to have a discussion about a difficult topic: What to do with the mentally ill

Our system right now isn't working. There aren't adequate facilities for the mentally ill to seek treatment and there are no safeguards to ensure that those who need medication take the medication. We see it time after time: a mentally ill person commits a violent crime and is sent to the state hospital for a short period of time, just long enough for the doctors there to medicate the person, document a positive response to the medication, and then that person is released. Once released, there are no safeguards to ensure that person sticks to the prescribed medication. Often there is a violent outburst / arrest / medicate / release / fall off medication / repeat cycle.

Of course we will not be able to detect or identify every mentally ill spree killer before they strike. But we need a way to ensure that people like Rodger Elliot are not a danger to society once it becomes apparent that they're suffering from dangerous mental illness. The police contacted Elliot several times. He very publicly posted his disturbing messages. His parents warned law enforcement and mental health professionals to attempt to get resolution.

The system failed because it is designed to fail.

What do we do? Should bring back the insane asylum, albeit a modern, more humanitarian version, designed to protect the wellbeing of those committed and prevent their abuse?

The anti-democrat censorship by the extreme left on DU is why so many are enjoying discussionist.

Sometimes the truth hurts. This is supposed to be a Democrat forum and yet center-left DEMOCRATS frequently have their opinions censored by activist far-left juries.

The difference between good regulation and bad regulation

I've seen a lot of alarmingly pro big brother, pro nanny-state proponent posts lately. This is concerning. Here are some examples:


Laws that ensure we all have equal rights in all aspects of our lives, and laws that ensure those rights are not infringed (good regulation!)

Laws that prohibit adults from doing things because the State has decided it knows better than you: examples would be the large soda ban, the e-cig puritans, and the marijuana prohibitionists (bad regulation!)

Feel free to add your own examples.

Lock him up and throw away the key

This is a candidate for life without, if I've ever seen one. He has been arrested at least 60 (sixty!!!!!) times, is wandering the streets and punches an 8 year old on the face in order to rob him of his iPad? Career criminals like this should NEVER see the light of day. He has had his chances.


MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Police say cell phones and other mobile devices are being stolen more often, but a violent robbery involving an 8-year-old boy had some people shaking their heads and a Minneapolis man leaping to action. Last Thursday, a boy was punched and the iPad in his hands was stolen outside a Minneapolis restaurant. Aaron Stillday, 32, was arrested and charged with first-degree aggravated robbery. Police caught him after a good Samaritan chased him down.

“This is the scum of the earth,” he said. “You cannot hit a child like that. Don’t hit him for his iPad, or for anything.” Armeli, who works at a Greek restaurant nearby, heard the commotion and went after the robber. While talking to 911 on his cell phone, he chased Stillday for more than a half-mile. Police say they’ve seen Stillday before. “As I was told, he’s been arrested 60 times,” Armeli said. “I can’t believe they let him out.”

Police have also seen this kind of crime before. While there isn’t much left of the iPad – it was smashed on the sidewalk — its original value is what made it a target in the first place.


http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/03/12/good-samaritan-chased-down-scum-of-the-earth-who-punched-boy-stole-his-ipad/

Industries that should NOT be for profit. I'll start:

Healthcare / insurance
Prisons