The American Conservative: Senator Mike Lee: 'The Conservative Case for Criminal Justice Reform'

Source:The American Conservative- U.S. Senator Mike Lee, R, Utah.

Source:The New Democrat

"I’ll never forget when I first began to appreciate the magnitude of this problem. It was 2004; I was working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah. In some cases I witnessed judges forced by federal law to impose punishments that did not fit the crime—first-time offenders sometimes being locked up for longer than murderers and rapists."

From The American Conservative

"I think a great demonstration of the old rules not applying anymore is look at the co-sponsors of The Smarter Sentencing Act," says Matt Kibbe, president of the libertarian activist group FreedomWorks. "It's guys like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and of course Rand Paul and Jeff Flake, also with Patrick Leahy and Sheldon Whitehouse.... They all agree there is an over-criminalization of American life and they all agree the government has overstepped its bounds."

Source:Reason Magazine- U.S. Senator's Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Jeff Flake: all in favor of criminal justice reform in Congress.

From Reason Magazine

I think the conservative case of criminal justice reform is very clear and comes from a couple of angles. One, the conservative principle of the punishment meeting the crime and personal responsibility and so-forth. Someone should explain to me why 3-5 years in prison is a just sentence for being in possession of pot, or even cocaine, when all they’re being charged with is illegal possession of an illegal narcotic. Then the other reason being from a fiscally conservative standpoint. Locking away millions of people in prison is very expensive. Especially when we don’t get much for that investment when you look at how violent our prisons are. The fact that we have so many people returning to prison after they get released. The poor health care, lack of opportunity for self-improvement, all the inmates that have serious mental health issues that don’t get treated and I could go on.

This is not about going soft, or hard on crime. We know the dangerous consequences when serious crimes are not taken seriously and when lighter crimes are treated harshly. You get a country where people don’t feel safe to leave their homes when you go too soft. And an overly expensive and wasteful criminal justice system when you go too hard on crimes where the offender could just have been in rehab, a halfway house, done their time in county jail, given probation, or a combination of all of these factors. This should not be about being tough or, soft, or even liberal, or conservative. Even though as a Liberal I believe we have the right approach here. This should be about being smart on crime and being just with our criminal justice system. The sanctions meeting the crimes and the sanctions coming with opportunity for self-improvement so the offender doesn’t end up back in the criminal justice system.

The reasons why you have Conservatives like Senator Mike Lee, coming together with Progressives like Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and why Conservatives like Newt Gingrich are coming together with Progressives and Liberals outside of Congress, is because the Center-Right and Center-Left both see the waste an injustice in the criminal justice system. And in an era with low economic and job growth and high debt and deficits, you have the two sides looking at ways to cut waste in government and get more bang from our taxpayer bucks. The criminal justice system is a great place to start. When you consider that we have two-million people in prison in America with so many non-violent offenders being sent away for long prison sentences. When everyone involved especially the public would have been better off with a lighter approach. And reserve our harsh sentences for our violent offenders

CBS News: 60 Minutes Presents John Gotti

Source:CBS News.

Source:The New Democrat

John Gotti, is not someone who I see as evil. At least not in the pure evil sense like an Adolph Hitler, or Saddam Hussein. Gotti was clearly a bad guy and I think anyone familiar with him knows that. But this not someone who didn’t have positive qualities. This is a man who loved his wife and kids and took care of them the best that they can and provided very well for them. Who raised his kids and his children have actually turned out pretty well. Especially considering their father is one of the top and most successful Italian gangsters of all-time. His daughter Victoria, is a very successful businesswomen and John Jr. has made a life for himself as well. And as far as John Jr. I hope he’s sincere in that he wants nothing to do with the gangster life and wants to live a productive life.

John Gotti Sr. went to prison for the last time in 1992 and was given a life sentence and died in prison about ten years later. He was in solitary confinement and yes there have been gangsters who have run their crime families from prison. Lucky Luciano, is a perfect example of that from the 1940s. When you’re in solitary you don’t have any outside contact from prison except for the occasional visits. So it would have been impossible for Gotti to run his crime family from his situation in prison. So someone on the outside had to do it for him. His son would have been a candidate for that. I think its clear that John Jr. ran that family at least for a time in the 1990s. What he did with it, I don’t think anyone will ever know. And its pretty obvious why he wouldn’t want to admit that he did. Because any crimes committed under his watch he could be held responsible for them.

NFL Films: NFL 1983- The Story of The 1983 Los Angeles Raiders

Source:NFL Films.

Source:The Daily Review

I believe the 1983 Los Angeles Raiders represent everything that their creator Al Davis dreamed of on both sides of the ball. His football philosophy was all about pressure and toughness on both sides of the ball. He believed that you literally beat the hell out of your opponents on both sides of the ball to beat them. I mean you look at that defense with Howie Long and Lyle Alzado as your defensive ends. Howie Long, arguably being the best all around defensive end and perhaps defensive lineman of the 1980s.

And then you have Bill Pickel and Reggie Kinlaw inside. Who were both stout against the run and rush the quarterback as well. And then the linebackers, you're talking Ted Hendricks, perhaps the best all around outside linebacker of all-time. Pro Bowler Matt Millen inside, Rod Martin on the other side, who perhaps should be in the Hall of Fame as well. They had two cover corner in Lester Hays and Mike Haynes. Most teams are lucky to have one.

Man for man, I believe the Raiders were better in 83 than the Chicago Bears were in 85. You argue about the numbers and stats, but I believe the 83 Raiders and the versatility of their linebackers were better than the Bears linebackers who were primarily blitzers and run stuffers. But teams don't win the Super Bowl just with a great defense. You need at least to have a good offense that moves the ball and puts up points and doesn't turn the ball over on a regular basis and makes the job of your defense even harder.

And the Raiders in 83 had more than that led by quarterback Jim Plunkett and the great tailback Marcus Allen. One of the top 5-10 all around running backs of all-time. And they had tight end Todd Christiansen  and the great Cliff Branch on the outside as a receiver. A big strong offensive line with Bruce Davis, Charley Hannah, Mickey Marvin, Dave Dalby, who was part of all three Raiders Super Bowl championships and Henry Lawrence. Big strong mobile offensive line that was great in the running and passing games.

To me at least the 1983 Los Angeles Raiders represent what the Raiders of the 1980s should have been. They were poised and ready to replace the Pittsburgh Steelers from the 1970s as the dominant team in the NFL and I believe were in better shape and had better personal than the 1980s San Francisco 49ers who became the team of the 1980s in the NFL. And you can't call the 1980s Raiders a failure since they did win two Super Bowls and made the AFC Playoffs five times and won three division championships. A great decade for most clubs in the NFL, but the Raiders actually underachieved.

Al Davis, almost ruined Marcus Allen's career and not allowing his coaches to use him in the way they should which was as their premier player on offense. And they were never able to replace an aging Jim Plunkett at QB. I mean the reason why the NFC won thirteen straight Super Bowls in the 1980s and 90s, was because post-83 the Raiders slipped and became a team that was just fighting to make the playoffs every year. With the Denver Broncos taking the lead in the AFC West over the Raiders. But for one season in 83 we got to see how great the 1980s Raiders could have been.

The Weekly Standard: Benjamin Katzef Sliberstein: Sorry Leftist Americans, Your Swedish Utopia Does Not Exist

Source:The Weekly Standard.

Source:The New Democrat

Imagine a county about the size of Turkey in land, but with only about nine-million people, that is not just energy independent, but exports a lot of their natural resources, that is also social democratic in nature when it comes to their politics. You have a country like that and you’ll have a very socialist country in the sense that you’ll have a lot of welfare state benefits that are funded through your large energy sector and private enterprise economy. Sweden, is a social democracy, because they tend to be social democratic when it comes to their politics and they can afford to be socialist. Especially compared with even Germany to their south that has a lot more people and imports a lot of their energy. Not because there’s some magic to the welfare state and government giving people a lot of social services.

When a politician, or political candidate tells you that they want to give you a lot of free government services, ask them if they are also going to give you a free beach house in North Dakota with a great ocean view. Also ask them how much are they going to have pay for their free government services. Which I know is sort of like asking a four-hundred pound gluten who can barely walk, because they’re so fat, how skinny are you. Or asking a blind person how well can they see. But that’s just it, because there’s no such thing as free government services. Even people on Welfare and public assistance who aren’t working, or going to end up at least paying back some of the money they received when they weren’t working assuming they go back to work. Everything that government does for people comes with a price. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, or free government services.

If America was energy independent and we had kept our infrastructure system up to date and our entire country was full developed and we didn’t have a Bible Belt that was so poor compared with the Midwest, Northeast and West Coast, then maybe I would consider thinking about considering democratic socialism as the economic model for America. Not exactly going out on a limb I know, but I’m not impressed with democratic socialism as a political ideology. But the simple fact is we can’t afford democratic socialism as an economic model. What we need to be doing instead is encouraging more people to work with better education’s and getting good jobs and becoming as economically independent as possible. While still leaving in place a safety net for people who truly need it.

POLITICO Magazine: Jonathan M. Katz- Roger Milliken- 'The Man Who Launched The GOP's Civil War'

Politico Magazine-

Source:The New Democrat

I’ve always seen the Republican Party as a conservative at least in the classical sense of a party that was made of classical Conservatives, or Conservative Libertarians, small l libertarians even like Barry Goldwater. Moderate more pragmatic Conservatives like Bob Dole and a progressive wing that is all, but gone in the GOP now with people like Nelson Rockefeller. And then add the Christian-Right that started coming over to the GOP in the late 1960s and has stayed ever since, as well as Neoconservatives who are beyond hawkish when it comes to foreign policy and national security and along with the Christian-Right they haven’t gotten the message that it’s no longer 1955 and America is sixty-years older now. The Robert Taft/Barry Goldwater wing of the Republican Party has always been there.

The Republican Party just now has a hyper-partisan Far-Right that doesn’t believe in governing and perhaps even government if it means working with Democrats especially a man that they hate in Barack Obama. As partisan as the 1990s was you still had Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott leading the House and Senate Republicans in Congress, who both had a very good working relationship with Democratic President Bill Clinton. And Senate Leader Lott’s case, he had a good working relationship and even personal relationship with then Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. That is all but gone now in the GOP, other than maybe Senate Leader Mitch McConnell who I believe wants to govern and get things done, just as long as his caucus will allow him to.

Other than the emergence of the Christian-Right and the Neoconservatives, I don’t believe the GOP has changed a lot ideologically. What has changed has been their approach to politics and how they work in Congress. Where people who would backbenchers thirty-years ago like Representative Steve King and Senator Ted Cruz, are now seen as leaders in the Republican Party with real influence. Senator Cruz’s influence seems to be dying now where Mitch McConnell no longer seems concern with him and what he might do. But you still have about sixty, or more Republicans in the House that can be the difference in whether or not bills get passed over there. Which is why Speaker John Boehner has gone over to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to pick up votes on bills that have to be passed. Like government funding bills and the debt ceiling.

I believe what has really changed about the Republican Party is that they’re a lot more partisan. And because of the New Right they’ve moved further right, where fighting big government is no longer alway their biggest issue. But using government to influence even through force how Americans live their own lives. That sees personal freedom and even individualism as dangerous things now. Once you move away from Christianity, the 2nd Amendment and political advertising. And these changes are bad enough when you have a divided country politically with divided government, but you still have issues that need to be worked on and agreements that have to be made between the Republican Leadership and Democratic Leadership for the government to get its work done and do the things that we need it to do.

NFL Films: NFL 1983- The Story of The 1983 NFL Season

Source:The Daily Review

I believe the story of 1983 when it comes to the NFL is the explosion of the passing age and revolution in the NFL. The NFL was moving away from ball control power football where you run the ball 3-5 times or more even when defenses are looking for that and pass only to keep the defense somewhat honest and give them something else to think about. (And perhaps give your running backs a break) To an era where if teams didn’t throw more than they ran, they were balanced at least and had both a good running game and a passing game. The 1980s was a great decade for the quarterback. It was a time when they weren’t just the most important player on the team, but now they were stars putting up all sorts of great stats.

The 1980s was a decade for the NFL where you saw a lot of great quarterbacks including three that were all drafted in 1983 that are now in the Hall of Fame. Of course Dan Marino, John Elway and Jim Kelly. But you had other great quarterbacks that were drafted pre-83 that are also in the Hall of Fame. Dan Fouts and the quarterback of the 1980s Joe Montana. Eric Dickerson, one of the top 3-5 running backs of all-time and I believe the best running back in the 1980s at least far as running the ball was drafted in 1983 by the Anaheim Rams (as I call them). Running back Curt Warner, was also drafted in 1983 and without the injuries he’s probably in the Hall of Fame as well. And great receivers like Mark Clayton, Mark Duper, both from the Miami Dolphins, Art Monk the best receiver other than Jerry Rice in that era, was a big part of the 1980s as well.

The NFL was moving away from power run ball control possession passing with the occasional threat of a deep pass, to an era that threw the ball everywhere. Short, middle and deep and threw the ball a lot. It was a passing decade with at least two different types of passing games that were prominent in that decade. The possession passing game of the San Francisco 49ers, perhaps better known as the West Coast Offense. And what I call at least the Vertical Spread Offense. Where you’re always looking deep on every pass play, but you work the whole field with multiple receivers and force the defense to cover the whole field against you. Which was run by the Los Angeles Raiders that won the Super Bowl in 1983 and the San Diego Chargers.

But this is all before you get to the two great teams of 1983 that played in the Super Bowl. By far the two most consistent teams in 1983 that of course being the Los Angeles Raiders and Washington Redskins. Both teams had great offenses that scored a lot of points both through the air and on the ground. But the Raiders were dominant on defense and simply punished teams on defense with their two press corners Lester Hays and Mike Haines, plus they could get to the quarterback with just their DL. And they could add in outside linebacker Ted Hendricks. (Arguably the best all around OLB of all-time) And the Redskins simply struggled on offense most of that game and had a hard time dealing with the Raiders speed on defense.

Not that defense was non-existent in the NFL in 1983, (Roger Goodell wasn’t Commissioner yet) but the story of the 1983 NFL season was all the new offense in the league. The great passing games, all the points, every good team in the NFL that year every good team seemed to have at least one great running back and a great wide receiver and at least a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. You had several great offensive minds leading their teams and still leading their teams. Like Don Coryell with the Chargers, Tom Flores with the Raiders, Joe Gibbs with the Redskins, Bill Walsh with the 49ers and several others. I believe 1983 is where we really see the influence of the American Football League on the NFL and it made it a great all around season for the league.

Goldie Hawn: Housesitter (1992)

Source:TBS- Goldie Hawn is laid back.

Source:The Daily Review

I’ll be one of the first to admit that Housesitter is not a great movie and perhaps not a very good movie. It was pretty funny though at least Goldie Hawn was pretty funny it, but I guess she’s funny in anything because she’s Goldie Hawn. One of the best comedians and comedic actress’s of all-time. But Housesitter is also one of those movies that guys such as myself will watch even if it’s not a very good movie, if it has a beautiful sexy women in it. And in Goldie Hawn’s case a hot sexy women in it. This scene with Goldie going up to rural Massachusetts to check out a house that she knew of because of a guy she slept with the night before that she met for the first time (played by Steve Martin) told her about this place. Which sort of shows the quality of this movie, is a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

Checking out Goldie in those Levis and the suede boots as well with the tank and the coverage of her in that outfit, with her body, the cute butt and the beautiful legs and everything, sort of reminds me of The Dukes of Hazzard where you don’t have to be a fan of that show to be a fan of Daisy Duke (played by Catherine Bach) on that show. Just seeing her in it and seeing her like that is really all the motivation to see that movie. Goldie Hawn is a true Hollywood Goddess. Very funny, a hell of an actress, gorgeous, baby-faced adorable, beautiful body, who wears Levis about as well as any women can. And if you get through lets say the first ten-minutes or so of Housesitter before Goldie appears, I believe she might keep you in the movie the rest of the way.
Source:TBS