Kaepernick = ISIS

[zamyrabyrd]

If you think that the US only locks up black males because they are genuinely bad people so it's all okay because the "political" prisoner rate is really low... That's a tremendously naive view about how the justice system works. And it's placing a great weight on a subjective label that is code for saying that someone ought not to be in jail.
And in this case it doesn't help you. If in fact Cuba's rate of "real" non political prisoners is lower than the headline figure, that just makes the rate at which the US jails people even more abnormal. It's no credit to the US if the "true" rate of incarceration in Cuba ought to be 300 instead of 500, it just makes the US rate in the 600s even worse.

Hey matey, stop putting words into my mouth and making unjustified assumptions. I was referring to Cuban political prisoners. One brush stroke is not good enough to paint incarceration. It's different from country to country. In the Philippines there are vastly overcrowded jails with a very high percentage of drug offenders. In places like Indonesia these offenses can carry the death penalty.
Violent crime should account for (I may be wrong) the bulk of inmates in the US. Political prisoners probably form the majority in North Korea's prisons.  In places where there is repression and high police presence, garden variety mugging and violence may not be as high as in freer countries. This is only a guess but for sure there are differences in the breakdown of crimes committed varying from place to place.

[Karl Henning]

If you think that the US only locks up black males because they are genuinely bad people so it's all okay because the "political" prisoner rate is really low... That's a tremendously naive view about how the justice system works.

I was going to say, I should hesitate to gloss over injustices in our justice system, because Ve don't imprison the political opposition hier.

(Which, of course, was the point of my citing the chant which proved so popular in Cleveland:  there are Republicans who think that political prisoners in the US of A may not be such a bad deal, after all!)

[North Star]

Violent crime should account for (I may be wrong) the bulk of inmates in the US.

Between 1979 and 2009, the number of prisoners in state and federal facilities
increased almost 430 percent;
• Since 1980, the federal prison population has grown 721 percent;
• In the last 29 years, the state prison population has grown over 240 percent;
• One of every nine people in prison—159,000 people—is serving a life sentence;
• As of 2009, some 2,500 people were serving life without parole sentences for
crimes committed before age 18;
• In 2011, more than 95,000 youth under the age of 18 were held in adult prisons
and jails across the United States;
• Over half (53.4 percent) of prisoners in state prisons with a sentence of a year or
longer are serving time for a non-violent offense;
• For every 100,000 Americans in each race or gender group, there are 478 white
males, 3,023 black males, 51 white females, and 129 black females incarcerated
in state or federal prison;
• Almost one-third of those serving life sentences—49,081 as of 2012—have been
sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP);
• In 2010, 26,200 state and federal prisoners were 65 or older, up 63 percent from
16,100 in 2007;
• Today, immigration offenses account for over 40 percent of all federalcriminal
prosecutions and almost 30 percent of new admissions to the federal prison
system.

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2014_US_Nation_Behind_Bars_0.pdf

[zamyrabyrd]

...there are Republicans who think that political prisoners in the US of A may not be such a bad deal, after all!)

Who, pray tell? If you're talking about locking up HRC, that wouldn't be political except for the fact that she is political. Perjury, criminal negligence, graft, laundering money, evading taxes etc., those are bona fide crimes.

[zamyrabyrd]

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2014_US_Nation_Behind_Bars_0.pdf

Yikes, that is TERRIBLE!!!

[Karl Henning]

Who, pray tell? If you're talking about locking up HRC, that wouldn't be political except for the fact that she is political. Perjury, criminal negligence, graft, laundering money, evading taxes etc., those are bona fide crimes.

Again, if there is evidence, where is the conviction?

I agree, absolutely:  If she (or El Tupé) be actually guilty, let the conviction fall.  And again, it isn't as if the GOP have not tried.

But that chanting in Cleveland was all about "The hearsay is good enough for us! Lock her up!" And: politically motivated.

[Karl Henning]

Yikes, that is TERRIBLE!!!

Indeed.

[zamyrabyrd]

Again, if there is evidence, where is the conviction?
I agree, absolutely:  If she (or El Tupé) be actually guilty, let the conviction fall.  And again, it isn't as if the GOP have not tried. But that chanting in Cleveland was all about "The hearsay is good enough for us! Lock her up!" And: politically motivated.

Definition of "Capital Punishment":
"When you have Capital, you don't get Punishment."
(apropos of the above-mentioned already bloated incarceration system)

[Madiel]

I was referring to Cuban political prisoners.

I know you were. That's the entire basis of my response.

[Florestan]

In places where there is repression and high police presence, garden variety mugging and violence may not be as high as in freer countries.

Ummm, not quite. Garden variety is probably as high, or only slightly lower. What is indeed significantly lower is (1) extreme mugging and violence, and (2) firearms-related crimes.

[Florestan]

As for the US political prisoners, I cannot help recalling a widely-circulated joke from my youth.

An American and a Russian have a drink together in a bar. (This was the standard beginning of probably hundreds of such jokes).

The American says: We in the US have the most complete freedom. Look, if I stood in the front of the White House chanting "Down with Nixon!", nobody would arrest me.

The Russian replies: Well, in the USSR we have the same complete freedom, buddy. Look, if I stood in the Red Square chanting "Down with Nixon!", nobody would arrest me either.

[Daverz]

http://clashdaily.com/2016/08/kaepernick-not-hates-america-also-converted-religion/

"They are said to be planning a traditional Muslim marriage...Colin's girlfriend, DJ Nessa, introduced him to the teachings of Islam, and he's ready to embrace it fully."

Thank you for reminding us what a bigot you are.

[zamyrabyrd]

Thank you for reminding us what a bigot you are.

Thanks for nothing

[jochanaan]

It's a little hard to accuse Colin Kaepernick of lacking team spirit when the owner and many of his teammates support him, and some have joined him on their knees.

He has explained his actions, and at one point I read of his intention to donate $1M to charities.

I support both his protests and his right to do so.  As, or so I have read, do many veterans and some veterans' organizations.

[Ken B]

This may be the worst thread in GMG history. Kaepernick's protest is foolish but so what? Peaceful protests are not remotely like supporting ISIS. Everyone has the right to peacefully express their opinion without being called terrorists -- or bigots.  And now of course the usual suspects are calling those they disagree with bigots.

And then on another thread people ask "Why did he leave?"

[BasilValentine]

Kaepernick's protest should be applauded if only because the practice of playing the national anthem before sports events is so moronic, as is making little kids mumble the pledge of allegiance everyday. A waste of millions of hours of everyone's time.

[North Star]

Kaepernick's protest should be applauded if only because the practice of playing the national anthem before sports events is so moronic, as is making little kids mumble the pledge of allegiance everyday. A waste of millions of hours of everyone's time.

Right, unlike kicking a ball - or watching a ball being kicked.

[Ken B]

Right, unlike kicking a ball - or watching a ball being kicked.

The fascination of watching millionaires sweat.