Archives for February 2014

I went on a short rant about this on Twitter recently, but I wanted to expand on it more here. Last week, Keith Humphrey’s at The Reality-Based Community wrote a post entitled “The Link Between Overcrowded Prisons and a Certain Drug“, where he claimed that alcohol is largely responsible for our prison overcrowding problems, rather than the war on (certain) drugs.

That’s simply not correct, and it’s very easy to debunk. If the effects of alcohol use were responsible for the criminal behavior that swells our prison ranks, you’d see at least some correlation between alcohol use and prison populations among the different countries of the world. But you don’t. It’s not even close. According to this World Health Organization report from 2011, these are the countries that lead the world in alcohol consumption (total in liters per capita per year):

1. Moldova (18.22)
2. Czech Republic (16.45)
3. Hungary (16.27)
4. Russia (15.76)
5. Ukraine (15.6)
6. Estonia (15.57)
7. Andorra (15.48)
8. Romania (15.30)
9. Belarus (15.13)
10. Croatia (15.11)
11. South Korea (14.8)
12. Portugal (14.55)
13. Ireland (14.41)
14. France (13.66)
15. UK (13.37)

The United States consumes only 9.44 liters per capita per year, far behind these other nations. Yet we imprison a whopping 716 out of every 100,000 people. How does that compare to those countries that consume more alcohol? Here’s the same figure for each of the countries listed above:

1. Moldova (185)
2. Czech Republic (154)
3. Hungary (173)
4. Russia (484)
5. Ukraine (311)
6. Estonia (245)
7. Andorra (49)
8. Romania (156)
9. Belarus (335)
10. Croatia (115)
11. South Korea (92)
12. Portugal (134)
13. Ireland (94)
14. France (101)
15. UK (148*)

* Just England and Wales, Scotland is 146 and Northern Ireland is 99

It’s not even close. So is this because all of those other countries don’t put people in jail for homicide, rape, simple assault, aggravated assault and robbery…the types of crimes that Humphries called out as being tied to alcohol use? Of course not. Is it because Americans are somehow more predisposed to commit crimes when drunk? That’s pretty far-fetched as well. One potential difference comes from drunk driving laws, but both Australia and Canada drink more than us, have a similarly car-dependent culture, and still lock up far fewer people than we do.

As much as Humphries and his colleagues seem eager to obscure this fact, it’s the overaggressive way that America wages its war on drugs that leaves us with such a huge amount of people behind bars. Looking solely at the number of people locked up for marijuana offenses and not finding very many is a terrible way to draw conclusions about its impact.

The way that our drug war inflates our prison population is more complicated than just sending people to jail for pot. It’s about the effect that a pot arrest can have for a person down the road. In far too many cases, a pot arrest early in life becomes a wall against future opportunity for many people (mostly minorities). A felony drug conviction (often through a plea deal that allows the person to avoid going to prison initially) makes future educational endeavors and various types of employment nearly impossible. The end result is that significant numbers of people in that situation find that becoming a career criminal is their only path towards survival.

So to really understand the impact of the war on pot, you can’t just look at what percentage of the people in our prison system are there because of a pot conviction. You have to look at what percentage of the people in our prison system had their first contact with the criminal justice system because of a pot arrest. Mix that with massively punitive mandatory minimums for various drug offenses, and you have the recipe for prisons bursting at the seams with people who largely end up there by design.

None of this is to say that the violence and criminality resulting from alcohol isn’t a problem. It certainly is, but it’s very easy to look at the heaviest drinking countries in the world and see that it’s not the reason we have 25% of the world’s prison population, but only 5% of its people.

The State House passed the Reproductive Parity Act. So now it looks like it will probably go on to not get a vote in the State Senate.

I am honestly trying to not be cynical about the law’s chances in the state Senate. I was just in Olympia lobbying for it on Monday. I believe in the power of people to push the Senate to act. So, please call or write your Senator. If you live in East King County, or somewhere else where there are Republicans in swing districts, that can be important. But even if you’re represented by a Democrat in Seattle, Tacoma, or somewhere else safe, it’s important to let them know you’ve got their back on this one. Or if you live in a red district, your Senator might see what pressure the other members are getting and at least allow a vote.

I don’t think it’ll pass, but it’s possible. In any event, it’s worth trying.

Erica C. Barnett at Publicola has the info on what the Seattle Pre-K proposal might look like:

Burgess predicts paying for preschool for all (or at least many—the program will be voluntary) of the city’s 12,000-plus three- and four-year-olds, only about two-thirds of whom are currently in preschool, will require a ballot initiative (Seattle’s preferred way of paying for critical needs like parks, libraries, early-childhood education, and now, possibly, preschool).

“It is a significant amount of money,” Burgess says, although he adds that he doesn’t know exactly how much. “One question is, could we start in year one or year two with just general fund money?”

[…]

Most of the kids who aren’t enrolled in preschool now, unsurprisingly, are lower-income or foreign-born.

Burgess says the city will “most likely start with mixed delivery from the beginning”—that is, some public preschools, some private, and some home-based—while the program ramps up.

This and the minimum wage will be the two biggest fights in the city. I suspect both will pass, but it will be interesting to see what forms they take. If they’re the least that can happen, well, that’s still an improvement, and still worth something. But these things can be so much more.

– Sorry this is so late. I was out probably too late on Sunday and had to get up early to head down to Olympia on Monday (for this, no report on it since I went as an activist not as a writer). And then I overslept and forgot my computer this morning. Basically, what I’m saying is boo, Carl.

– One thing that I did pick up is that Rodney Tom is a coward. Also, yay there’s someone running against him (Seattle Times link).

– The SNAP cuts, the pathetic minimum wage increase…these are the primary result of over half a century of race-baiting by a small group of well-funded, paranoid, white bigots, hellbent on destroying the one thing that stands in the way of their ability to trample all over the rights of whomever they damned well please: the American government.

– Apparently the Superbowl transit was a mess, and quite avoidable.

– Always nice when a local place gets recognition in a national magazine. Well done Central Cinema (they also had some other NW theaters for food lovers, but CC was the only one I’ve been to).

– I’m not sure exactly what a city needs to buy to have Amazon classify it as romantic, but I’m pretty sure this list is flawed.

The Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally had a standing-room-only turn-out for the State of the Union (Bar) event last week. This week we continue our traveling Drinking Liberally tour, in search of a new home.

So please join Tuesday evening at the Wedgwood Ale House and Grill, 8515 35th Ave NE, Seattle for an evening of political pontification over a pint. We meet at 8:00 pm, but show up earlier for peaceful dinner if you wish.

Can’t make it tonight? Check out another Washington state DL over the next week.

The Tri-Cities chapter also meets this and every Tuesday night. The Lakewood chapter meets this Wednesday. For Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet. And on Friday, the Enumclaw chapter meets.

With 213 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting somewhere near you.

– Well, that was a W.

– Why the crap does Bill Kristol still get work?

– Time for Oregon’s Democrats to come out of the cannabis closet

– Kissing the ass of the 1% all day is maybe not a way to be a great human.

– Congrats, someone, for being State Dem Chair.

– About Woody Allen and innocent until proven guilty.

– I don’t care one whit about Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber, but this is the greatest opening sentence in history.

– This may be the only post from me today.

Last week’s contest was still unsolved as of Wednesday night. It was in Boone County, WV, at the location where this photo of a milky-white Pond Fork River was taken.

This week’s contest is a random location somewhere on earth, good luck! And Go Seahawks!!

1 Corinthians 9:24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

Discuss.

Darryl forgot to add this one to the Extravaganza below, here’s courtroom footage of the Amanda Knox trial in Italy.

Jon: Georgia’s Ice age zombie apocalypse.

Bill Maher’s remarkable new congressional campaign.

State of the Union:

• Thom’s State of the Union
• Young Turks: The two dumbest reactions to the SOTU.
• SOTU remix
• David Pakman: Glenn Beck, “Obama has declared that he is America’s 1st dictator.”
• Young Turks: Takedown of the Teabagger response to the SOTU
• Jon: SOTU and Jewish mothers.
• Thom: Bold progressives speak out.
• David Pakman: The SOTU.
• Young Turks: Rep. McMorris-Rodgers response summarized in a minute.
• Chris Hayes: A Handy Guide To Republican 2014 ‘SOTU Insults’, Part I
• Sam Seder and Ryan Grim: The why of the State of the Union
• Young Turks: Obama sets bear trap…Republicans walk right in.
• David Pakman: Republicans furious over Obama using executive orders that they force him to use.

Maddow: Minimum wage, Part I.

Maddow: Minimum wage, Part II.

Liberal Viewer: FAUX News says God’s hand caught skydiver.

Roy Zimmerman: This Machine:

Galaxy full of planets…luckily we’re on the one God cares about.

Mark Fiore: Goodbye net neutrality, hello guilded age internet.

Porky Politics and the Christie Crisis:

• Sam Seder: How long until Chris Christie goes to jail?
• Tweety: New report shows Chris Christie’s bullying
• Sharpton: Inside Gov. Chris Christie’s inner circle
• Ed: The fall of the ‘Mighty-mafioso’ Chris Christie of New Jersey
• Sam Seder: Scandals grow as Sandy relief distribution scrutinized
• Sharpton: Rudy bails on Christie
• Maddow: How bizarre is N.J. politics?:
• Sam Seder: Chris Christie’s brother rakes in cash following Port Authority deal.
• Chris Hayes: How Gov. Christie mis-used hurricane Sandy billions, Part I
• Chris Hayes: How Gov. Christie mis-used hurricane Sandy billions, Part II
• Ari Melber: Gov. Chris Christie’s ‘binders full of corrupt NJ mayors’.
• Sam Seder: Chris Christie knew about lane closures!

Thom: Time for big oil to pay for its pollution.

Sharpton: Rand Paul blows it on women.

Pap: The dumbing down of America for political gain.

David Pakman: Nutcase Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) brilliant economic idea…raise taxes on the very poor.

Ann Telnaes: The never ending march.

Lewis Black: Nothing about the Sochi winter Olympics makes sense.

Unhinged Congressman—A Grimm Story:

• TPM uncovers another disturbing video of the Grimm confrontation.
• Young Turks: America’s angriest politician?
• Sam Seder: Thug Congressman threatens to break reporter in half
• Sharpton: Grimm thug.
• Maddow: Another journalist threatened by Grimm?!?
• Nutjob Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY) threatens to throw reporter off balcony…on camera!.
• Chris Hayes: A Handy Guide To Republican 2014 ‘SOTU Insults’, Part II

Mental Floss: 50 more facts about 50 states.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on: The Anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:

David Pakman: More creationism in publicly-funded science classrooms.

White House: West Wing Week.

Thom: A declaration of the end of the Reagan era.

Stephen: Medici-NFL.

ONN: The Onion Week in Review.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.