Yesterday I watched DUers justify and advocate for the torture of a living being.

[guillaumeb]

71. A truly excellent post

I voted for life, with possibility of parole, but did not leave a comment. I feel that many in the Democratic Party are not much different from the GOP when it comes to issues such as capital punishment, the idea of a just war, and the fiction of the "right" to own a gun. That should be obvious from the posts here. Ralph Nader talks about the 2 major parties as being merely 2 sides of the same coin.

But on this issue, and your excellent working in of the issue of prison conditions, the vicious responses ARE disgusting. Many posts are "violence porn" disguised as commentary. The US is a violent nation. It has always been at war. A war gave birth to the country. Even before that war, the First Peoples were subjected to a campaign of genocide that started in the 1600s and continued until the late 19th century. And do not forget that chattel slavery was also one of the building blocks of the country, with all the attendant violence.

The violence is evidenced also by the gun lust that so many US citizens show. The greatest level of gun ownership in the world accompanied with the highest number of gun related deaths.

As to the Boston Bombing, it was the occasion of much outrage by the US press about the savage behavior exhibited by the perpetrators. The media was filled with stories and images of the victims. But where is the outrage when innocent Pakistani, Yemeni, Afghani, and US citizens are slaughtered by drone strikes? Terror is terror no matter who practices it.

Rehabilitation does not satisfy the blood lust, the primitive NEED for revenge. That explains capital punishment and the savagery of solitary confinement.

Again, an incredible commentary. Thank you