Monday Rant...Bush and China

[headscratcher4]

So, when the President of China was here the other day, how does he have any credibility on the human rights issue considering we're detaining hundreds without any charges, hope of trial or release, or gaurantees of their human rights because we've determined them to be terrorists, and we've essentially prosecuted the lowest level servicepeople we could find for Abu Grabe, while the people who perpetrated the policy essentially have never had to own up to it...

We used to talk seriously about human rights. Our own failing in the area were often as not sins of ommission and hubris, now they are policy.

Rant done.

 

[Bikewer]

There are more than a few that agree. Although in general the justice system in America is vastly better than that of "developing" countries, abuses as noted are well-played by the leaders of such places for maximum political effect.

And our justice system is nothing to write home about, IMO. There is a nasty tendency towards "justice for the rich", and the fate of indigent defendants is frequently rather poor.
Further, our "corrections" system is at present essentially punitive, with most states featuring very little if anything in the line of rehabilitation, therapy, or training. Such things tend to be seen as "coddling" criminals, who are thus condemned to be institutionalized for much of their lives (at taxpayer expense), or live marginal lives in minimum-wage jobs, with the strong temptation to return to crime.
I would say that 90% of the arrests our department makes involve employees working for the various contracted food and janitorial systems, committing petty thefts to augment their scanty incomes.
Most of the persons arrested are found to have criminal histories, and this sort of marginal employment is what's available to them.