Right-winger + hard time = compassion?

[proud2BlibKansan]

Last week, disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham wrote a letter to several media outlets from the federal penitentiary where he has resided since 2006. In it, Cunningham, a conservative Republican who pleaded guilty in a public corruption case in 2005, waxed eloquent about an unlikely topic: prison reform.

"The United States has more more men & women in prison than any other nation including Russia and China," he wrote. "The largest growing number of prisoners, women -- 1-34 Americans are either on probation or in prison. The 95% conviction rate reached by threats of long sentences, intimidation, lies and prosecutorial abuse has got to be reckoned with now, not later." Cunningham also promised he would dedicate his life to prison reform.

We've seen transformations like this before. Cunningham is the latest in a string of conservative political figures to see the light on prison reform following a stint behind bars.

Right-wing media mogul Conrad Black, for example, did two years' hard time after being convicted in a 2007 fraud case. Following his release in 2010, Black has written passionately about prison reform.

more . . . http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/04/09/right_wing_prison_reform&source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily%20Newsletter%20%28Not%20Premium%29_7_30_110

[buddysmellgood]

1. So the solution is to put more Republicans in prison.

[scarletwoman]

2. Brilliant!

:thumbsup:

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Seems to be

:)

[Turbineguy]

5. Great!

It's so simple, even a teabagger would understand it.

[DBoon]

6. and maybe have a few on welfare

or try to support themselves working at Walmart

Al that matters to them is "me me me". So when "poor me" suffers they suddenly decide to support reform

[bobbolink]

15. Absolutely! Let them be homeless for a couple of years.

Let THEM receive the prejudice they have been so willing to heap on others.

Let THEM live with being accused of being "mentally ill" and an addict, and having to take a piss test just to spend a night in an overcrowded and unsanitary shelter, with 2 or 3 hours of broken sleep.

Let THEM understand what it is like to be on the receiving end of the lies they have willingly told.

Unfortunately, it never happens that way.

[MH1]

4. it's sad but it seems for some people they have to experience the injustice personally

before it will matter to them.

I am all for prison reform but I bet his 'transformation' is limited to those issues where he has personally suffered. I doubt he has developed a broader compassionate mindset. But if so, great.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Avant Guardian]

8. They only have 'compassion' where it effects them personally

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. I've Often Found That The Only Way To Reach A Republican..............

..........is to FORCE him/her to live the life he/she wants to force on others.

Unfortunately, that only ever happens in rare circumstances, so it's hardly a solution. And then you've got people like my friend, who continue to spew the Republican Party line, even when it when it hurts him and his family DIRECTLY.............and he KNOWS it. You may remember a while back that I told a story of my friend who was a teacher that voted against his own school's levy because his "taxes are high enough," even though the levy's failure would probably mean his job would be harder, at best, and at worst, he would be fired. Well, now this guy has gone back to school to get a PhD, and has dragged his wife and children off to another State in order to do it. Because the PhD program is so hard, he can't work, and his wife doesn't work either (stays home raising their 2 children, and now they're pregnant with a third). So how do they make ends meet? Well, I just found out. THEY'RE ON THE FRICKIN' DOLE!!! They receive government assistance checks and food stamps. You'd think that he would have changed his tune about the "lazy poor," right? WRONG!!! He recently went on a tear on his Facebook page about all the "entitlement babies" in Wisconsin complaining about tightening their belts. The way he sees it, he is the "one righteous man" on the dole, and everyone else is exactly what he believed them to be all along. Really, there's just no reaching some people. I can honestly picture him listening to Rush Limbaugh rail about all the lazy people living off of the government and him shouting out, "Yeah!!!" for every talking point, then pulling up to his mailbox and getting his government assistance check out and striding happily into the house.

Oh, and to add just a little bit of "flavor" to the story, I just found out that he's also one of these wackos that is convinced the American financial system is on the brink of collapse, and he's been going out and spending every dime he has on silver. I can smell a sucker who watched that stupid "End of America" video they're advertising on right-wing radio like a fart in the car.

[walldude]

10. So the question is how do we get them back in public school?

Let em' go through the 6th grade again and see what they think about teachers then.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended for personal enlightenment.

Some people; just can't walk in other peoples' shoes without having to first literally put them on, if they could, The Holocaust would never taken off.

Thanks for the thread, proud2BlibKansan.

[alterfurz]

12. "When it happens to you, you'll know it's true" -- Russian proverb

Some few learn empathy by observation and reflection ("There but for the grace of God go I"), but personal experience is by far the more common route, and almost the only way for the self-centered Republican.

[Honeycombe8]

13. No. My dad had hard times growing up and in his early years.

It made him harder. I've seen this in others. I have a touch of it myself, but to a much lesser degree. Some people, faced with hardship, are able through perseverence and other qualities (and luck), make it through out the other end, with little or no help. They sometimes expect others to be able to do the same. They can actually be harder on those facing hard times than some who have never faced hard times. Sometimes people who haven't encountered serious long-term troubles to work through imagine they must be insurmountable, harder than they are, and the people must need help in order to survive. That's not necessarily true, as others who've made it through on their own know.

I try to recognize, however, that just because I made it through hard times, it wasn't because I wanted to. I had no choice. It would've been helpful, and I would be scarred less I think, if I'd had more help along the way. I try to recognize that maybe I had some luck that others don't...and not everyone is blessed with the sheer perseverence that I apparently was born with (or had to learn to nurture...not sure).

The flip side are those who have always had mummy or daddy to take care of them in a pinch, and who have no clue how hard life can be for some.

[JoeyT]

14. Nope!

Pitching a fit about how horrible the situation you've been hurled into isn't compassion. Compassion is demanding prison reform when you're pretty sure you'll never be in one. When you're in one and you're demanding prison reform after spending your life screaming for tougher prisons it's just unenlightened self interest. This is just one more thing that wasn't a tragedy until it happened to some rich white guys. Fuck Duke Cunningham and everyone like Duke Cunningham.