Home > Thinking Right > Archives > 2007 > July > 19 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMichael Vick; subprime loans fiasco
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thinking Right’s free-for-all Friday. Pick a topic: • Gambling’s weekly highlights: Michael Vick is indicted in a dog-fighting/gambling enterprise. The Georgia Lottery reports our gambling enterprise raked in $3.4 billion in the 2007 fiscal year ending June 30, $244 million ahead of the previous year. There’s a major difference. We don’t shoot the losers. We simply try new marketing strategies.
• Quote of the week, this from Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, who will be 70 when his resignation is effective later this year: “I feel it is time for me to get back into business while I still can.”
• Regulation may be needed to force lenders to be more prudent in making subprime loans. But the market is doing a superb job of conveying that message. More than 30 subprime lenders have gone bankrupt. And subprime losses could reach $50 billion to $100 billion.
• Don’t call now. I can’t talk. I’m eating my prediction that former state Sen. Jim Whitehead of Evans was a shoo-in for the 10th Congressional District. Little did I know that physician Paul Broun of Athens, who may be more conservative than Charlie Norwood, and from the light side of the district — light in terms of voters — would win. Perdue. Cagle. And now Broun. Underdogs soar. Pundits perish.
• While commuting sentences, President Bush should heed the plea of U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and commute the sentences of two border patrol agents imprisoned for 11 and 12 years for shooting a fleeing Mexican drug smuggler. The two, Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, wounded smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks after he abandoned a van containing 743 pounds of marijuana.
• Yes, allow toll roads to be built by the private sector. But do it to fill the gap between genuine congestion-relief needs and available funding, not to free up money for transportation boondoggles.
• A news story confirms it: Turkeys live in Druid Hills. Their brethren in D.C. pull all-night stunts on the floor of the U.S. Senate, trying to force a withdrawal deadline for troops in Iraq. Notice, though, that two Georgia congressmen who came close to losing in 2006 — John Barrow of Savannah and Jim Marshall of Macon — were among just 10 House Democrats who voted against the House version of legislation to require troops to be out of Iraq by April. The Senate’s 52-47 vote was well shy of the 60 needed. Four Republicans deserted.
• Headline: “Rally urges racial justice.” Racial justice, as applied to the Genarlow Wilson case, means “let him go and imprison the DA.”
• My gosh. Illegal aliens awaiting deportation — some of whom have committed violent crimes here — are not happy to be incarcerated in rural Stewart County south of Columbus. And they’re really put out with the Georgia Legislature for passing a law requiring a valid Georgia driver’s license or ID card to register a car in Georgia. To get a license, they have to prove they’re in the country legally.
• The driver’s license requirement does reveal a loophole that should be closed in the next session of the General Assembly. Illegals who overstayed visas and may already have Georgia licenses can order tags online for themselves and others.
• The need always in assessing threats to our safety and security is to determine which pose immediate danger. The threat represented by a too-short commercial jet runway in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is so immediate and obvious that both the airlines using it and the government officials responsible should be indicted in the deaths of 189 people. The TAM plane crashed while trying to land in a rainstorm. In the United States, advocacy groups, combined with the 30-second sound bite, reduce all threats to the same level. We’re losing the ability to draw distinctions.
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By Mid-South Philosopher
July 20, 2007 8:25 AM | Link to this
Good morning, Jim,
My fanatical, fundamentalist conservative friends (as opposed to mainstream conservatives) are adamant that Genarlow Wilson should serve his ten year sentence imposed under a law that the people of Georgia via our General Assembly (God help us) have repudiated. After all they argue, it was the law at the time. I would remind those paragons of judicial specificity that…at the time (the 1930s)… it was perfectly legal in Germany to execute Jews for simply existing!
While Genarlow Wilson’s situation is nothing to compare with racial extermination, the notion that justice is tied to what the law may be at a given moment as opposed to what is right in the larger scheme of things is an idea that is completely beyond the limited mental capacities of Thurbert E. Baker.
The same pattern of thought, though steep in radical liberalism, infects the already weak minds of my ultra-progressive friends. Because Ramos and Campeon shot the illegal alien drug dealer in the butt as opposed to hastening him into a rehabilitation program, they should have 10-12 years too.
It would appear that our Corporatist President George Lost in Alabama during the Vietnam War Bush is just as inept as Thurbert in understanding the difference between doing the right thing and doing what is right.
By harold
July 20, 2007 8:27 AM | Link to this
teh only transportation boondoggles around here are the ones that make it take 90+ minutes to go 15 miles: I-75/575, I-85, 400, the PIB, I-20 etc
ban roads from being built by the government unless they plan on handing out free cars to go with them
By Redneck Convert
July 20, 2007 8:28 AM | Link to this
Well, I’m mighty glad the Mexicans can’t get tags. Like I said before, we need to round them all up and ship them back to Mexico. I figure if a couple million of us rednecks used our pickups we could haul them all back in one day. They want our jobs and they are Catholics besides. We will never get people to see that our’s is the True Religion if we keep letting atheists like them stay in this country.
I want them two agents out of prison. All they done was shoot a illegal in the butt. You can’t put a man in prison for being a bad shot.
And I want that Wilson guy to serve every day of that ten year sentence for what he done to that fine young white girl. You can’t have race mixing like that and keep going as a good Christian country.
Well, I’m off of this blog for the weekend. It won’t be long till jbmlaw gets on here to lick Wooten’s butt and Sister Dusty will wake up about 10 and have her beer and start being nasty to the libruls. And TFTT will start spitting at the people he hates like a old cobra. Anybody heard anything from Markus? Its been a couple weekends since we heard from him. Must be in jail again. Have a good weekend everybody.
By lenny
July 20, 2007 8:29 AM | Link to this
Did anyone hear Senator Byrd’s tyrade yesterday about Vick’s dog fighting? History was made. For the first time in Byrd’s entire political career the man actually stood up and said something coherent, short, and to the point!
By jbmlaw
July 20, 2007 8:33 AM | Link to this
Good morning all. For benefit of our friend Redneck, I disagree with three of Jim’s arguments today. Let’s reword the first, for illustration: “Regulation may be needed to force newspapers to be more prudent in making subprime arguments. But the market is doing a superb job of conveying that message. More than 30 subprime newspapers have gone bankrupt. And subprime circulation losses could reach 50 million to 100 million.” Of course, regulation is never necessary. Bankruptcy is an appropriate remedy for foolish lenders, and I urge you to not feel too sorry for them. Now if you want to dig a little deeper, we perhaps ought to talk about the corporate welfare provided by FNMA and FHLMC, where the taxpayer subsidizes the risks (in some cases.) For reasons that totally escape me, FNMA and FHLMC are democrat legislative charities, and are totally protected from oversight by democrat congressmen. Although I have no dealings in subprime mortgages, I do not blame the seller for the improvidence of the customer; the analogy to drug dealers is inescapable, thus my contrarian/libertarian view.
I guess I should also talk about the border agents who shot the drug dealer in the bottom. I think the prison sentences were appropriate. We don’t want peace officers shooting fleeing drug dealers, except here in ATL, where I suppose we could thin the herd pretty quickly that way. (The latter is sarcasm, people – I am still libertarian this morning.)
I have no objection to granting driver’s licenses to fence jumpers. I do object to granting voting rights to noncitizens. The line is easy for me to draw – the fence jumpers are hard working, so I want to facilitate their industry; I think that people without a commitment to the country should not select the leaders, however.
By harold
July 20, 2007 8:34 AM | Link to this
when calculating the boondoggledty of tranpsoration dont forget to include the cost of the vehciles and fuel!!
for soem reason when calculating the cost of public transit, the vhicles and fuel are remmebered
but when calculating the 4 billion dollar cost of i75/575 expansion, the vehicles and fuel do not get included. why is that?? oh yeah becuase then it would be like 15 billion eh wouldnt it oh yeah thats right.
pay no attention to the cars! the roads are a perfectly good tranportaiton system without cars! or sidewalks. or bike lanes. right? right? RIGHT!
By RCH
July 20, 2007 8:34 AM | Link to this
My gosh. Illegal aliens awaiting deportation — some of whom have committed violent crimes here — are not happy to be incarcerated in rural Stewart County south of Columbus.
Good maybe then they will not come back. Let the prison conditions here reflect what treatment they would recieve in a prison on their home country. What do they think prison in the U.S should be? A Holiday Inn with cable T.V., pool ,and room service?
And they’re really put out with the Georgia Legislature for passing a law requiring a valid Georgia driver’s license or ID card to register a car in Georgia. To get a license, they have to prove they’re in the country legally
Its about time. If this type of pressure is put on all aspects of life of the illegal aliens, many will return to their own country.
By harold
July 20, 2007 8:35 AM | Link to this
rednect, glad you got your beer truck back!
By ron
July 20, 2007 8:54 AM | Link to this
If Vick should get convicted,I don't have anything against Byrd's justice.Reid got to pull his publicity stunt and have the Senate debate all night.I'd have voted against anything the nut had wanted just for pulling that stunt.I won't be moving back to Georgia anytime soon.I can't figure out the licensing requirements.By jbmlaw
July 20, 2007 9:17 AM | Link to this
The WSJ knew my mood this morning even before I did, funny essay on the nanny state @ http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110010356.
By sharon
July 20, 2007 9:18 AM | Link to this
Redneck Convert, the victim in the Genarlow Wilson case is not white. I was going to ignore your comment but I couldn’t let that big fat lie slide.
By mo
July 20, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this
Quick question:
Did Senator Byrd ever cry and sniffle about what the Klan (in which he was a “former” member of) did to black, Latino, Jews, and Catholic people???
I just thought it was, uh, ironic to see a former Klan member talk about the inhumanity of fighting dogs while he was a member of a group that lynched people.
Oh, and the regulation that people are referring to is called “Tougher Predatory Lending” laws. Heck, many people would even like to see the end of ARMs. I don’t know what those regulations would be, so I can’t comment positively or negatively on that.
Oh, and was the girl that Genarlow Wilson and others had sex with white? I had no idea since no news organization said anything about her being white. And they didn’t show her face. Redneck Convert… the tape of Genarlow and that girl is called “Child Pornography.”
I just thought they should have gotten someone else, that’s all. Was Dennis Kucinich not available?
By Janine
July 20, 2007 9:26 AM | Link to this
When a teacher or a policeman is investigated for [ notice…I didn’t use INDICTED for ] a criminal act, THEY ARE SUSPENDED IMMEDIATELY…. He/she is not allowed to go to the job!!! No one waits for the OUTCOME of the investigation!!! So the Falcons statement regarding their ” need to respect the due process that Michael is entitled to ” , and the NFL’s current stance that he deserves the same right to due process that every other citizen gets….well, it just ain’t so!!!
By John
July 20, 2007 9:34 AM | Link to this
It should be noted that this morning it is being reported that one of the thrust reversers on the jet in Sao Paulo was deactivated, which increased the landing roll. This would make this incident similar to the Southwest overrun in Chicago. In both cases the fact that the runway was short was not the problem, it was poor information and poor decision-making. Hundreds, of flights are operated out of airports with runways of the same length as Sao Paulo daily without incident. A short runway can be operated on just as safely as one twice its length if the correct conditions are met, just as the roads in Atlanta can be used in rain, snow or ice if the proper equipment and caution are used.
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this
Wooten has no idea how dangerous airline travel is. The problem is the controllers. They use obsolete systems to inform them of a plane’s vector.
The vector of any plane depends on three things. One, the earth’s geo-centric juxtaposition. Two, the vortex of the previous plane’s airflow wash over the radar incident. Three, the Venus Effect.
Yes, the Venus Effect. That’s the effect of the stewardess’s legs on the pilot while she’s leaning over him trying to recover her elastically strewn underthings that he unsnapped while trying to take off.
I know more than any of you. Cause I was a pilot. I flew. I landed. I taxied. I did everything a pilot does without a license. I know what can go wrong.
The Brazil Tragedy was avoidable. It’s numbers. Numbers I calculate all day long: How long is the runway? How fast is the plane going?
My recurring nightmare always ends with me startled in bed shouting, ” Pull up, Frank. Frank, PULL UP!”
By Rod
July 20, 2007 9:39 AM | Link to this
Redneck Convert - the girl in question was black (not white - otherwise Al Sharpton and Jess would really be screaming racism).
Mid-South Philosopher - do you know anything about the Wilson case? You’re riding Baker because you think he’s fighting the belief that the General Assembly law change should be retroactive for this case. HELLO? That’s absolutely not what Baker is fighting. He’s fighting the Court’s abuse of power in doing something it’s absolutely not allowed to do. THAT’S HIS JOB. If he had kept quiet and let Wilson go, you’d be screaming that he did it cause it’s another black. Learn the law or shut up on the issue.
By RCH
July 20, 2007 9:41 AM | Link to this
Janine Even though I agree with you that MV should not play, your reasoning is flawed. Teachers and policeman are employed by the public sector(many are put on leave with pay) whereas the Falcons are a private entity. If the Falcons and the NFL suspend MV and he is then found not guilty, you have opened a can of worms of lawsuits neither entity could afford.
By Rod
July 20, 2007 9:47 AM | Link to this
Janine - what a stupid argument. As this topic was discussed in a Falcon’s blog yesterday (no doubt where you copied your opinion), the situation is different.
When a Teacher or Policeman is accused of a crime they are taken off the job because it’s a matter of public safety. If a cop is accused of beating someone, then it’s not considered safe to have him still carrying out his duty. If a teacher is accused of molesting a child, it’s not considered safe to have him still teaching kids.
Having a football player charged with fighting dogs - it’s not going to be unsafe for him to play football. The public’s safety is not in jeopardy if Vick is on the football field.
Get real.
By Anonymous
July 20, 2007 10:18 AM | Link to this
On the border patrol agents: Exactly how does the amount of pot he was transporting affect the rightness or wrongness of the officer’s actions?
By Mid-South Philosopher
July 20, 2007 10:22 AM | Link to this
Rod @ 9:47
With regard to my remarks @ 8:25, I was trying to do two things.
First, I was trying to point out that the law under which Genarlow Wilson was convicted is an example of a poorly drafted piece of legislation (albeit its intention was in a noble cause)…so poorly drafted that the limited intellects in the General Assembly realized that it needed revision and revised the da*n thing!
Secondly, I am trying to encourage our judicial practioners (district attorney’s, state attorney generals, judges, etc.) to DO JUSTICE…a task they have become woefully incompetent at over the last 40 years.
That Genarlow Wilson is black makes no difference to me. The fact that, at the time of the offense, he was a 17 year old, horny, kid in a state where the General Assembly is too stupid or too cowardly to even define what the age of adulthood is, carries much more weigh with me.
Maybe some of these district attorneys, state attorney generals, etc. are too da*n old to remember the foolishness behavior of youth…especially with willing accomplices (underage or otherwise).
Was it wrong?
Of course.
Was it worth ten years?
Only to a stupid and sexually repressed ultra, fundamentalist.
By deegee
July 20, 2007 10:32 AM | Link to this
Compean and Ramos got what they deserve. They were convicted by a jury of obstruction of justice, discharge of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, and making false statements (in this case, quite intentional omissions from official government reports.) The trial lasted two weeks. They defendants also declined a generous plea agreement, they were betting that the witness wouldn’t show up for the trial.
There were other border patrol agents on the scene that felt that the suspect was not a threat. The suspect was wrestled to the ground by Compean. Instead of trying to arrest him as he should have he instead attempted to beat him with the butt of his rifle. Compean lost his balance and the suspect fled. After Compean missed him with 14 shots, Ramos caught him in the buttocks. Instead of tending to the wounded suspect, Compean and Ramos then went about the business of covering up what they knew was a crime. The jury didn’t buy their story and they got the minimum sentence for discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Law enforcement personnel convicted of crimes in the line of duty are not excluded from the law. The public’s rancor for the victim doesn’t exonerate bad cops.
By Rod
July 20, 2007 10:54 AM | Link to this
Mid-South Philosopher - point is: you’re taking your anger out on the wrong person. It’s not Baker’s fault at all. So, does it make you feel more like a man to insult someone who had nothing at all to do with the problem? He’s to be commended: he’s the only one actually doing his job. You screwed up and acted like a kid. Now be a man and admit it.
By Renee
July 20, 2007 10:59 AM | Link to this
Anyone notice that Janine shut up with her stupid opinions? Yeah!
By RCH
July 20, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this
Renee
Janine must be a dog lover. Emotions must have impacted her blog. We all have bad days.
By harold
July 20, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this
mike vict is like school on sunday…
By RCH
July 20, 2007 11:15 AM | Link to this
Renee
Janine must be a dog lover. Emotions must have impacted her blog. We all have bad days.
By harold
July 20, 2007 11:16 AM | Link to this
every time anybody says they want to build a new road or expand an existing road, what they are saying is “i want to increase motor vehicle traffic”
how does increasing motor vehicle traffic make any kind of sense to anybody?
we should be decreasing motor vehicle traffic but everybody insists on increasing it while claiming they are reducing it. more roads/lanes means more cars which means more traffic.
the only way to reduce traffic is to eliminate cars from the road. expanding the road system only brings more and more cars.
stop increasing motor vehcile traffic!
no cars on peachtree by july 4, 2012
By Just My Opinion
July 20, 2007 11:18 AM | Link to this
Michael Vick should be suspended….he is no good to the Falcon’s anyway. Have they won a superbowl since he has been there….no. Look at them last season….A good QB should be known for being able to THROW the ball….not being able to RUSH with it!!
By harold
July 20, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this
the downtown connector sure would make a nice park!
atlanta could be fantastic, but instead we surrender our city to the cars
By jm
July 20, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this
I wonder how many of those sub-prime bankruptcies are like the Delta bankruptcy. Last I checked, the ones most responsible for the mess (corporate executives) still got their money.
By Mid-South Philosopher
July 20, 2007 11:21 AM | Link to this
Rod @10:54
You are correct that there is error galore in this matter:
An honorably intentioned, yet politically motivated General Assembly, the preponderance of whose members are in need of a good, comprehensive, ninth grade civics class.
A horny, 17 year old male at an out-of-control party which never should have been allowed to happen.
A willing, yet chronologically disqualified, female.
Conspicuously absent parents.
A more politically motivated district attorney in Douglas County.
An even more politically motivated attorney general.
A state that cannot decide just when adulthood begins.
A society struggling to come to some sort of balance between natural urges (physical or otherwise)and morality in a socially immoral world.
As to Thurbert E. Baker, he may have been doing his job; however, methinks, when we all appear at the final adjudication, the plea:
“I was just doing my job.”
will not suffice as a defense against the charge of
failing to do what is right!
By BS Aplenty
July 20, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
Jim, it’s a beautiful Friday in Atlanta, GA and my commute downtown was smooth - I feel good !!
The Subprime/Alt-A mortgages gave opportunity to lower credit quality borrowers and related credit problems should have been expected - no regulation necessary. Consumers were given a great opportunity so now let the free market clear the corporate detritis.
I’m amazed that the drug using, porn making, horndog Genarlow is still on the radar. I didn’t have anything against him taking the DA’s generous plea deal except he refused. The rest of his tale of woe (cue to old black spiritual song) is his own doing…
Truly, we must trade Mikey V. to Philadelphia where his enormous talent can be truly appreciated by the Eagles rabid-as-a-mad-dog fans.
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 11:26 AM | Link to this
Michael Vick is the greatest player in the history of football. He marks a new era in quarterbacking: the quadruple threat. (He can sit, roll-over, play dead, or run).
By ITPer
July 20, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this
Jim, I’m reading today’s column over a bottle of Thunderbird out on the curb in front of my Druid Hills home…thinking “wait a minute, I was drawn into Lewis’ district in 05, so I didn’t even get the chance to vote against McKinney in 06.” This just occurred to me - your generalizations are getting old. Oh well, guess I’ve got the rest of the day to get drunk, p** myself and forget about it…
By AmVet
July 20, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this
Good morning, all.
Excuse me for temporarily interrupting the “you and everything about you sucks, but I’m great, even though the entire world is going to hell in a handbasket love fest” going on here this morning. But I thought I would add something positive that is WAY off topic.
Happy birthday to Carlos Santana, who turns 60 today. The leader of rock band Santana catapulted into the limelight when he appeared at Woodstock in August 1969. In 2000, he was the first Hispanic to win a Record of the Year Grammy for the song “Smooth.” Santana and his wife, Deborah King, founded the Milagro Foundation, to help underprivileged youths worldwide.
“I’m laughing because I know the secret of life. And the secret of life is that I have validated my existence. I know that I am worth more than my house, my bank account, or any physical thing.” — Carlos Santana
Also many happy returns to another hero of mine, though this one is non-musical.
Sir Edmund Hillary is 88 years young today. The New Zealander was the first man, along with Tenzing Norgay, who scaled Mt. Everest.
AND finally, today is the 38th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s still amazing first venture out onto the surface of another heavenly body. No, you sex maniacs, I mean the moon! Two more examples of modern American heroes. I salute them all.
By Heck of a Job, Georgie
July 20, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
As if FEMA hadn’t done enough to Hurricane Katrina’s victims when the storm hit, the agency knowingly put families in trailers despite evidence that they would get sick.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency since early 2006 has suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in government-provided trailers with levels of a toxic chemical 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers, congressional lawmakers said yesterday.
A trail of e-mails obtained by investigators shows that the agency’s lawyers rejected a proposal for systematic testing of the levels of potentially cancer-causing formaldehyde gas in the trailers, out of concern that the agency would be legally liable for any hazards or health problems. As many as 120,000 families displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita lived in the suspect trailers, and hundreds have complained of ill effects.”
Three months after reports of the hazards surfaced — and a month after someone living in a trailer filed a lawsuit against FEMA — a logistics expert with the agency said FEMA’s legal department advised officials not to do testing for hazardous materials, because it would “imply FEMA’s ownership of this issue.” This came after early testing of the trailers found formaldehyde levels at 75 times the U.S.-recommended workplace safety threshold.
“One man in Slidell, La., was found dead in his trailer on June 27, 2006, after complaining about the formaldehyde fumes. In a conference call about the death, 28 officials from six agencies recommended that the circumstances be investigated and trailer air quality be subjected to independent testing. But FEMA lawyers rejected the suggestions, with one, Adrian Sevier, cautioning that further investigation not approved by lawyers “could seriously undermine the Agency’s position” in litigation.”
You occasionally hear stories about litigation involving a polluter poisoning a community in order to save a buck, but in this case, the Bush administration put people in government trailers with toxic gas, despite warnings, and stopped health tests to avoid trouble in court — all after the administration neglected the same people in the midst of a natural disaster.
It’s a level of callousness that’s almost hard to believe, were it not for Bush’s track record.
By Shar
July 20, 2007 12:27 PM | Link to this
Good Day to all, from the cool and breezy precincts of Connecticut. The Vick fiasco is the prime Atlanta-based story in Northeast papers today, and as repellent as the details in the indictment are, as vicious and appalling are the alleged actions, they are still alleged. Mr. Vick is due his day in court as well as the astonishingly expensive mouthpieces (sorry, jbmlaw) who will no doubt attend him. He should not be subject to any criminal or civil penalties until guilt has been established.
Those are the rights of every American, and we should hold them no less dear for Mr. Vick than for ourselves.
He also has contractual rights in his agreement with our sad-sack football team. Those rights - and the attendant obligations - were negotiated and agreed to, and will be in force until and unless he has to trade in #7 for something in stripes.
That said, he does not have any right to play football or to represent Atlanta. If Mr. Blank is persuaded by the sources of income dear to an owner’s heart - broadcasters, sponsors, corporate box holders, license holders - that they do not wish to be associated with Mr. Vick’s taint, he will become a very wealthy housesitter. No evidence or jury is needed, and no appeal can be made.
Cruel but quick. Just like the end for those dogs.
By jbmlaw
July 20, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this
Dear jm @ 11:19, I think you are on target. Follow the money.
Dear analchord @ 11:26, funny line, my compliments.
I did not comment earlier on the Wilson business; I think I am insufficiently informed to talk too deeply. The law changed, to make penalties less onerous. In my mind, when the legislature makes such a change, without regard to the wisdom of the change, all prior convictions ought to be adjusted down. (I do not accept the converse as an appropriate principle.) A governor has the capacity to reduce a sentence without outside assistance, and ought to.
By BS Aplenty (Ouch!!)
July 20, 2007 12:30 PM | Link to this
Sorry, Missy, I’ve already got a wife. My comments stand.
By JB
July 20, 2007 12:34 PM | Link to this
Looks like BS Aplenty is talking to himself again. Apparently, his make-believe wife isn’t giving him the attention he deserves.
By Jim's a Cherry Picker
July 20, 2007 12:35 PM | Link to this
Hi Jim,
Some more solid Cherry Picking today.
Don’t forget about that quagmire in Iraq that GW started…you know, the one that he decided to go it alone on that is completely his fault.
The one that he ignored all common sense advice on and as a result 3,600 Americans have died.
Don’t forget about that.
By RWH
July 20, 2007 12:39 PM | Link to this
The bottom line to our issues that face us is…we are in terrible trouble! We are not ready for what’s to come. We have a low degree of professionalism about this very City and State. What’s wrong has always been at the forefront; we hate the truth and we do thing half-way. First, the Wilson case, the law did not bring its decison forward. Otherwise, if it did, Mr. Wilson would be out of confinement. Now, we are fussing over this and taking pot-shots at the system or individuals. Michael Vicks, owning property in Virginia and should be accountable for it as long as it was in his name. He cannot lie for what is written in black and white, and the shoes he wear, no one else is wearing them. To say little about our transportation system here, well …we are in deep trouble. Like everything else, we watch and wait!
By Margaret
July 20, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this
If I were running for U.S. president, in every debate I’d crib a question from the Ronald Reagan playbook: Are you safer today than you were six years ago?
About 80 percent of Republicans would answer yes. But this week, the nation heard otherwise and from a source that might make even President George W. Bush’s base sit up and take notice.
It didn’t come from those “defeatist” Democrats living in their “pre-9/11 world.” This time, it was Bush’s own administration undercutting what has long been his most politically potent rationale for waging war in Iraq — that we have to fight al-Qaeda over there to keep from having to fight them here; that we’ve put the “enemy on the run” and “decimated their leadership.”
Not so fast. The latest National Intelligence Estimate concludes that al-Qaeda and its leader have only grown stronger since the inception of Bush’s war.
While the president diverted the military to Iraq, the real terrorist threat in Afghanistan and Pakistan intensified. If he reads the Estimate (he probably won’t), he will weep for the more than 3,000 lives lost and billions of dollars spent in a war that’s only heightened the hatred of Americans in the Islamic world and increased their desire to kill us — here.
However grim this NIE is, it paints not the worst-case scenario — but the best — put out not by an independent body but by an administration where editors and redactors with black Sharpies work a double-shift to control everyone and every word said.
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 12:52 PM | Link to this
At least our football teams are tough. Over in the Canadian Football League, a quarterback has just been indicted for hosting pillowfights. Rowr! (put my money on the goth chick)
By Aquagirl
July 20, 2007 12:53 PM | Link to this
Mid-South, Genarlow Wilson has been offered opportunities to get out of jail or avoid such severe punishment at almost every legal turn; he has stubbornly demanded that no outside punishment be imposed on his faultless person. Thus, Genarlow sitting in jail is the fault of Genarlow, not Thurbert Baker or whoever else you would like to blame.
Ironic people here want to roast Mike Vick and then dismiss the a 17 year old football star who is refusing to believe rules apply to him too.
Little thugs grow up to be big thugs.
By I'm for a Carbon Tax
July 20, 2007 12:54 PM | Link to this
A few weeks ago Rep. John Dingell said in an interview that he plans to introduce a carbon tax bill, “to see how people really feel about this.” He expressed doubt that the American people are willing to pay what it will cost.
Reaction from Democrats was swift and vicious. Many assumed Dingell would deliberately design a horrible bill, fail to support it, watch it go down in flames, and thereby poison the debate.
Now there’s a little bit of information about the bill emerging. Seems the Detroit Free Press got Dingell on the phone. Here’s what they heard:
“Dingell said by phone Wednesday that a gas tax would likely be phased in, and carbon tax revenue would be distributed among Medicare, Social Security and various conservation funds. “Truthfully, I believe this is the way to go, and I’m willing to lose some skin over it,” he said. But he expects fierce opposition.”
I think it’s fair to say that this is not the best way to design a carbon tax bill. The phase-in is good, but most carbon tax advocates agree that the tax should be “revenue neutral”: it should return the revenue via cuts in other taxes, either payroll or income. Not only does this make the effect more or less economically neutral, it helps build support, since average people see tangible benefits in every paycheck.
For the revenue to disappear into entitlement programs without a trace guarantees that most consumers will encounter only costs and no benefits, at least in the short term. Not a recipe for broad support.
Still, Dingell says he believes in the tax qua policy, and is willing to fight for it. Maybe he’s BSing, but if he’s serious — if he’s really going to get behind this thing — he could sure use some backup.
I’d like to see a carbon tax offset with cuts in the payroll tax. Then the economic incentives would match desired outcomes: pollute less and get a job.
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 12:58 PM | Link to this
and aquagirls stay wet
By RCH
July 20, 2007 1:09 PM | Link to this
Margaret
What came first? The invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq or 911.
“heightened the hatred of Americans in the Islamic world and increased their desire to kill us — here. ” Since they already have the desire to kill us what difference does “heightened” really have?
“Not so fast. The latest National Intelligence Estimate concludes that al-Qaeda and its leader have only grown stronger since the inception of Bush’s war.” Is this because we now know how large a foe that we are really fighting. You cannot argue that we have not destroyed a large portion of their infrastructure, but I agree we have a long way to go.
By AmVet
July 20, 2007 1:12 PM | Link to this
On a topic near to my own heart, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson leaves behind a mixed legacy.
There were several bungles during his tenure, including an episode of losing veterans data and delays in being told about it. And embarrassing revelations of poor health care at Walter Reed for veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
My only real complaint about him was being an apologist and being forced to defend the Bush administration’s failure to plan for the many thousands of wounded veterans returning form the war/occupation/quagmire in Iraq.
Yet another example of the almost total mismanagement of this entire affair by our President and his administration.
But the guy was a highly decorated Viet Nam combat veteran and I’ll give him a pass even though he was National Republican Committee chairman from 1997 through the 2000 elections, a fact that might otherwise cause me to dismiss him as yet another example of GOP cronyism.
Within months of taking office at the VA, he had to deal with a $1 billion (Yep, with a B!) shortfall at the agency, requiring the Bush administration to appeal to Congress for emergency spending.
Republicans blamed the shortfall on unexpected health care demands from veterans. But Democrats said it was an example of what they said was the administration’s inadequate planning for the war in Iraq.
Unexpected?!!! This pi-sses me off to no end and is totally unacceptable. Heads in the White House should roll.
BTW, I went to the VAMC here in Atlanta this morning and, as always, the care is frikkin’ phenomenal.
But I fear for everyone like me, there may be someone else with a very different story.
By Adam
July 20, 2007 1:15 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl @12:53 - Genarlow Wilson has been offered opportunities to get out of jail or avoid such severe punishment at almost every legal turn.
Bingo! In spite of all the public posturing by Wilson “supporters” there has been a strange resistance to anything less than complete exoneration, as if nothing happened. He supposedly wants to make sure his name is not on a sex offender list, although I have read that has also been offered as part of a plea deal. Does he think by not having his name on a list no one will remember the name Genarlo Wilson? The publicity crusade conducted in his behalf will ensure everyone will not soon forget him.
It seems there are other causes and political posturing in play here and that the advice he is receiving is based upon factors other than his best interests.
By deegee
July 20, 2007 1:16 PM | Link to this
Once again, Britain dumps its trash at our border.
http://www.courant.com/sports/other/hc-beckham0720.artjul20,0,542862.story
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
Margeret: Dont listen to any nonsense from RCH. He has no data whatsoever about the size or strength of al queda or any rebel forces in Iraq, or our own troops ability to do any more than occupy a warzone in perpetuity.
You people need to google the Kurds. Read for two minutes, and catch up with the Iraqis who are living this.
The key to predicting Iraq’s outcome is the history of the Kurds. It lets you know who these middle easterners are, and why they have been fighting each other for 10K years.
Sure, we can solve the ancient human enmities in a short five year occupation war.
Also, google the biblical story of Esther. Why? Because even though she had nothing to do with the persians, or the mesopotamians, she had really nice teets.
By RCH
July 20, 2007 1:31 PM | Link to this
Margaret
Nobody really knows the size and complexity of Al-Qaeda. That does not mean that they cannot be defeated, especially by their own populace.
Analchord
Please put your nude magazine away. Your a little to old for that.
By Aquagirl
July 20, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
Be grateful—at least Analchord isn’t taping himself getting a hummer from a 15 year old. That seems to be a non-issue with this crowd.
By kkk
July 20, 2007 1:52 PM | Link to this
I think Bush needs to send some troops to Darfur,Congo and Somalia as well.People are killing each other over there as well. Who is this football player u all talking about. I know David Becham is in the states now to play football. Mike Vick plays hands ball, not football. And those border guards need to stay in jail. The law is the law, regardless of who u break the law against!!A drug traficker is a human being, not a dog(the ones u are protecting in MV case) U cant shoot somebody in the buttocks and claim self defence!Dont yu people have something resembling some brain cells in your thing atop ur neck? And they need to change those dog laws in Virginia.Dog fighting must be made legal in retrospect, in light of the MV situation. We cannot afford to have people being sacrificed for dogs. That dont make sense. What is the world coming to?Man is fighting man to save DOG!!Goodness.
By jbmlaw
July 20, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Dear Shar @ 12:27, well-argued, with one reservation. I have not seen Mr. Vick’s contractual agreement to play football, but other players in other sports usually have a “good behavior” clause, that allows the team to terminate his services. Such a clause does not necessarily require a conviction to be enforced.
By RCH
July 20, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl What amazes me that this “punk” thinks he is in a position to demand anything. The law, right or wrong was the law at that time. He needs to spend more time in jail and grow up a little more. Then maybe he will be humble enough to beg for clemency.
Please don’t forget, this is not just about him. This opens another whole can of worms.
By It's dark in there
July 20, 2007 2:12 PM | Link to this
“President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, and will transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure, expected to take about two and a half hours, the chief White House spokesman said.”
On Sunday, doctor’s at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda were completely at a loss to explain how the heads of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, Neil Boortz and Ann Coulter could all fit inside of the President’s anal cavity.
It also appears that virtually every Republican member of congress was also inside, but further tests will be required.
By A Parent
July 20, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this
I am thoroughly appalled by the actions that landed Mr. Wilson in prison. What those teenagers did was disgusting, disrespectful, and just wrong. That being said, Mr. Wilson, at 17 was not old enough to vote, nor purchase a beer, nor did he have the rights of an adult. The line between how we treat juvenile offenders and adult offenders has blurred to being completely arbitrary. Often the determining factor in whether to try someone as an adult is, “How horrified are we?” What is the point then, of the distinction between rights if it is not equally applied? The 15-year-old was indeed violated by legal and moral standards, even if she was “willing.” But she was not violated by an adult. The law was changed to take that difference into account. It should have been applied to existing prisoners at that time, and by not doing so, the legislature was derelict in their duty to enact laws that are fair to everyone.
By Blind Homer
July 20, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this
RCH - That would be Iraq by about 10 1/2 years, January 17, 1991.
By RCH
July 20, 2007 2:40 PM | Link to this
Blind Homer
Desert Storm I, we pushed the Iraq army out of Kuwait with the aid of numerous countries including Muslim nations. We never occupied that country at that time. Or should we have left Saddam to occupy Kuwait and possibly have invaded Saudi Arabia?
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 2:51 PM | Link to this
It would be a shame to lose Vick, the world’s first true triple-threat quarterback. He can run, pass, and fetch!
By Ms. Writer
July 20, 2007 2:52 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl: You have your facts wrong…Genarlow was actually a 3.0 student…furthermore, being horny does not make you a thug…I am upset that our tax dollars are going to keeping someone who got orally copulated and not all of these illegal aliens walking around freely…
By Mid-South Philosopher
July 20, 2007 2:55 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl and RCH,
I am not trying to make a hero out of Genarlow Wilson. From all the facts surrounding the case, at least as reported in the media, he may very well be a thug or a punk.
Assuming that is true it does not give this snot of a system the right to deal with him in the manner that it has. Neither does it give the national system the right to deal with Ramos and Campeon as they have been handled.
Of course what most Americans forget is the the court systems in this country (local, state, or national)are NOT concerned with JUSTICE. Rather, the court systems are concerned with the ADMINISTRATION of the law…all too often the product of such feeble minded, life-long politicians who could not get a job flipping burgers at the local fast-food establishments, if they had to do so. When JUSTICE is accomplished in our court systems, it is just a fortunate by-product…nothing that anyone in the system really set out to achieve!
By Marie
July 20, 2007 2:59 PM | Link to this
This may surprise those who have spent hours stranded at airports or idling in a hot line for a ride at an amusement park. But 25 percent of American workers get no paid vacation or paid holidays. And on average, those private-sector workers who do get paid time off are granted only nine vacation days and six paid holidays each year, according to government statistics analyzed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The think tank analyzed paid vacation and holiday leave policies among the U.S. and nations with comparably developed economies—the European Union, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The predictable portrait is one of the United States as a nation of overworked employees.
In the rest of the industrialized world, a month or more of paid vacation is typical, and often required. Many Americans know that. And there are can-you-top-this supplements to this surfeit of paid time off. Such as: In Austria, workers who labor at “heavy night work” get two or three extra days off.
In France, workers get extra paid time off if they take some of their vacation days outside of the summer season. In Norway, those 60 and older get extra time off. And of course, your vacation could be ruined if you get sick while you’re away. So Sweden guarantees that if a worker becomes sick while on leave, the days of the illness don’t count against vacation time.
Stingy leave policies in the United States go hand and hand with weekly work hours that exceed those in many industrialized countries. And they parallel skimpy sick leave and family leave policies that give millions of Americans no effective safety net when illness or emergencies strike. Nearly half of private-sector workers—57 million people—have no paid sick days, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a chief sponsor of a measure to require at least some sick days for employees who work more than 30 hours per week. The problem is particularly acute for low-wage workers, more than three-fourths of whom get no paid leave when they are ill.
In theory, all this hard work is supposed to spark a more robust economy that is, in turn, an engine of greater upward mobility than what is found in the supposedly coddled precincts of, say, the European Union. But lately, it hasn’t. An ongoing, bipartisan study of intergenerational economic mobility conducted jointly by conservative and liberal-leaning researchers for the Pew Charitable Trusts has found the myth of superior American mobility to be—a myth.
Researchers for the Economic Mobility Project studied the relationship of adult children’s incomes to those of their parents and found that the United States now lags behind France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark in this measure of upward mobility. “There is little available evidence that the United States has more relative mobility than other advanced nations,” the group reported in May. “If anything, the data seem to suggest the opposite.”
Comparing the incomes of American men who were in their 30s in 2004 with males who were in their 30s in 1974, the researchers found that today’s men actually earn about 12 percent less, after inflation, than their fathers’ generation did. “There has been no progress at all for the youngest generation,” the group reported. The American family stays afloat because its total income has been swelled by women’s paychecks.
The sober statistics should lead toward saner economic policies. Europe, Canada and the rest of the industrialized world are doing just fine with guaranteed health insurance, pensions, maternity leave and sick time—not to mention a month at the beach. Here at home, nothing threatens the American dream so much as political disinclination to cast off old thinking and demand change for new and harsher economic times.
By jm
July 20, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this
shar@12:27 & jbmlaw@2:03 - Mr. Blank, for the moment, has financial reasons to not immediately terminate Michael Vick’s contract. Vick’s contract had a rather large signing bonus (the only part of the contract that is guaranteed). For salary cap purposes, that bonus is pro-rated over the life of the contract. If Mr. Blank were to release Vick, instead of pro-rating, the remaining amount of the signing bonus would be applied to next year’s cap. As a result, several players would need to be cut next year to get back under the cap (causing more potential cap problems) placing the Falcons in what is known as “salary cap hell”.
By Analchord
July 20, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this
It looks like the Falcons will have to abandon hopes for a Statue of Liberty play……
contest: Who can finish this joke? Contest winners announced Next Friday.
By jm
July 20, 2007 3:15 PM | Link to this
well, while we are talking about commuting sentences and pardons, etc., one thing W the incompetent can do is pardon the Camp Pendleton 8. While I do not support the Iraq War, these marines were placed in an untenable situation do not deserve the treatment they are receiving. Even more so when the architects of this fiasco will be able to keep their cushy jobs and salaries.
By deegee
July 20, 2007 3:16 PM | Link to this
The question that comes to my mind with respect to the Compean and Ramos case is, “why did they want that suspect dead?” At the time of the incident all they supposedly knew about him is that he was driving a van erratically. They supposedly had no idea what was in the van. The Border Patrol is not chartered to chase fleeing suspects. Why did they jeopardize their jobs and ultimately their freedom in order to silence the suspect? Why is congress involved in trying to commute their sentences? I would bet there is a lot more to this than what Lou Dobbs knows or cares about.
By Blind Homer
July 20, 2007 3:17 PM | Link to this
RCH - No we didn’t occupy then but killing thousands mostly with bombs and tanks didn’t endear us to their surviving friends, relatives and countrymen either. And no, we needed to protect the oil. My point is 911 wasn’t Pearl Harbor. While the current occupation is partly a response to 911, 911 was partly a response to 1991 and also to the US support of Israel, the Shah of Iran, etc. Having a long history of meddling in the area for our own interests has made us more enemies than friends. And pursuing a pipe dream of a stable democracy in Iraq is lunacy. Didn’t we have a stable dictatorship in Iran under the Shah? How long did that last? If Iraq had the military superiority, bombed, invaded, and occupied us what would you do? Personally, I’d be underground making IED’s!
By RCH
July 20, 2007 3:31 PM | Link to this
Blind Homer
I don’t think the Kuwaitse enjoyed their country being invaded, looted, set on fire, and most importantly people being killed. Remember, it was Saudi Arabia that requested our presence.
We are now trying to allow the Iraq to make their own decisions on what type of govt. to instill. I think they should have that opportunity to do so without outside interference.
Even when we leave the middle eastern theater, violence against us will continue. Of the over 100 conflicts in the world 95% involve Muslim’s. They will never be satisfied untill you and I live under Shia law.
By BS Aplenty
July 20, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this
For any of you who need the Cliff Notes for Marie’s 2:59 post
Thanks, Marie. Americans are a hard-working group of people!!
By Blind Homer
July 20, 2007 3:53 PM | Link to this
Oh, they’re making their own decisions while we’re occupying them with 150,000 troops. Now I get it. Here I was thinking the wrist slap of 1991 didn’t result in the desired level of long-term stability in the area so we’re going for the WWII model, defeat and occupy, that worked so well in Japan and Germany. I think Bush’s colossal mistake was ignoring both Rumsfeld’s and the general’s suggestions, go small or go really big, by deciding to go medium. If they weren’t a clear and present danger to us (or the oil), we could have taken out Saddam and friends, made a reasonable search for WMD, found none, and gone home. If they did represent a clear and present danger we needed the general’s suggestion, flatten the place and start over. What I can see as results of the Bush strategy is 3600 lives and $400B thrown down a rathole that isn’t even stable while we’re occupying it, that’s much less stable than it was undeer Sadam and will remain so, with or without us, for some time. I’ve long suspected what the recent report suggests, that we’re creating new terrorists faster than we’re killing the old ones. Responding to the Islamic extremist threat wasn’t the mistake, it’s the way we went about it. Eventually we’re going to have to kill all of them and let Allah sort ‘em out anyway.
By Just on Observation
July 20, 2007 3:56 PM | Link to this
Earlier in a post discussing the Genarlow Wilson issue, somebody used spelled out the slang phrase represented by the acronym: BJ. That post was removed by the AJC.
On the other hand, the person who usually posts as “time for the truth” spent a few days posting as “kill all liberals” (or something to that effect).
So — we can’t spell out the slang for BJ when addressing a current event, but we can post under the moniker “kill all liberals”.
Hey AJC guy — how about applying some common sense?
By Marie
July 20, 2007 4:01 PM | Link to this
For further information on the problems and solutions I outlined @2:59 plus other innovative ideas, please refer to:
http://www.workersoftheworldunite.org/
By LB
July 20, 2007 5:09 PM | Link to this
Just because the senate didn’t get the votes to end debate on illegal immigration doesn’t mean the public should go back to sleep. American citizens need to step up to the plate and quit hiring these people. No jobs means they will leave on their own.
By Redneck Convert
July 20, 2007 5:15 PM | Link to this
Well, TFTT can use “kill all libruls” because its alright to kill libruls down here in the South. We been doing it for years. First as the KKK and later as the electric chair, etc. He might of been censored if he used “kill all conservatives.” That would of been obscene to us good Southren people.
Sorry to make the mistake about the color of the woman in the Wilson kid case. Since she wasn’t a good white Southren woman I guess we can just let him go right now. See, Those People don’t matter down here.
By Fred Thompson, Busted
July 20, 2007 6:05 PM | Link to this
A post about Fred Thompson’s lobbying work for the pro-choice National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Assn. Here’s a quick rundown:
The Los Angeles Times discovered that Thompson worked as a lobbyist for the group, pushing a pro-choice position to the H.W. Bush White House.
Thompson aides adamantly denied the accuracy of the story. “Fred Thompson did not lobby for this group, period,” Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo said.
Four days later, Thompson started to equivocate, telling right-wing personality Sean Hannity, “You need to separate a lawyer who is advocating a position from the position itself.”
Though Thompson’s staff insisted that there are “no billing records” to connect him to lobbying for the group, the NYT reports on billing records that connect Thompson to lobbying for the group.
Late yesterday, a close Thompson insider offered a new defense to David Brody, correspondent for TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network.
“For what it’s worth, Thompson’s denial was to the allegation the LAT made - that Thompson lobbied Sununu for this group. Period. That was what the LAT claimed they had proof of, and that was what we thought was being denied.”
Good heavens. Is Thompson surrounded by crazy people? Or just people who think we’re morons?
By GaLiberal
July 20, 2007 6:20 PM | Link to this
Moron Jim says: … lenders to be more prudent in making subprime loans. But the market is doing a superb job of conveying that message. More than 30 subprime lenders have gone bankrupt. And subprime losses could reach $50 billion to $100 billion.
Moron Jim doesn’t bother to tell you that subprime loans are the biggest reason for home foreclosures. That’s families being tossed into the street. That’s kids having to live in shelters or unsafe apartments. Kids that may not get enough to eat or have problems in school. But, that’s ok to Moron Jim. Hell with them families and their kids. That’s what charties are for.
Another thing that Moron Jim doesn’t tell you about is thoes losses will be made up by - guess who - you and me. See the banks that backed these loans can’t collect from the lender since they are out of business. So the banks get to write them off their taxes. The banks will also require stricter financial requirements for future loans which will make it harder for everyone to get a home loan. The banks could also ask the government for a bailout just like the S&L failure in the 1990s which cost taxpayers 100’s of billions. But that’s ok to Moron Jim. Hell with them taxpayers and so what if it’s harder to get a home loan. Moron Jim’s already got his.
It’s too bad Moron Jim can’t tell the truth. I guess that’s because Moron Jim has something to hide. Like maybe the ‘free market’ ain’t all that free.
By ELLE
July 20, 2007 6:24 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl I don’t blame Genarlow Wilson for rejecting the plea deals.
He was guilty of having sex with ANOTHER minor (aka teen sex).
He should NOT be on a sex registry! He was NEVER in trouble before!
If you watched the video… that makes you GUILTY of a CRIME. Your comments imply that you watched the video.
Given that YOU should be punished to the FULL extent of the law. Once a “pedophile” ALWAYS a “pedophile”.
Now I am certain that you think that is ridiculous. Well… so is your concept of once a “thug” always a “thug”.
Did you call him a “thug” because of his ethnicity?
Do you know him?
I will bet you don’t know him. He was an athlete, in fact he was a scholar athlete. He was quite a smart young man. This is going on ALL published accounts.
He is “GUILTY” of drinking while under age, and engaging in sex with a minor. And acting like a stupid teen.
A HUGE number of young men and young women do this and still do!
By the way it is COMMON practice for parents to provide a hotel room on prom nights. I sure as H*LL will not… but it is COMMON practice.
What took place in that room, COMMONLY takes place after proms. Unfortunate… but true in this day and age.
What about the ADULTS who provided the liquor?
What about the ADULTS who secured the hotel room?
Thurbert Baker can PICK and CHOOSE which battle to fight. He CHOSE the wrong case.
Why not fight the “pedophiles” that the law was designed to jail! In fact the District Attorney of Douglasville, GA. is now under fire FEDERALLY for giving out copies of tapes so AQUAGIRL the “pedophile” (if she watched the tape) and other pedophiles could tune in.
That is pretty ironic!