The Many Faces of US Politics...

[seafoid]

If only jobs were the real indicator of how the economy is doing . . .


https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2019-01/54918-Outlook.pdf

Low unemployment is meaningless when there are no payrises and
most new jobs are crap. England has low unemployment but no payrises and 1% growth.
France has low unemployment and a growing insurrection based around purchasing power.

[Dolph1]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

The GOP seems that their policy was to create ISIS by going into Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place.

Democrats are hell bent on importing it and incubating it.

[Therealdonald]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

The GOP seems that their policy was to create ISIS by going into Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place.

Democrats are hell bent on importing it and incubating it.

Lol Dolph. Just actually got around to watching Pelosi and Trump duking it out. He's so out of his depth its unbelievable. To think any intelligent person voted for him never mind still supports him is incredible. Claiming a victory when Pelosi pulled his pants down and spanked him is unbelievable.

[Eamonnca1]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

[whitey]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

[Therealdonald]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

What if the leaders of the Republican party refused to call these right wing killers ''Domestic terrorists''....oh wait a minute thats exactly what happens every time.

[whitey]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

What if the leaders of the Republican party refused to call these right wing killers ''Domestic terrorists''....oh wait a minute thats exactly what happens every time.

Completely different topic, but nice attempt at changing the subject.

[Therealdonald]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

What if the leaders of the Republican party refused to call these right wing killers ''Domestic terrorists''....oh wait a minute thats exactly what happens every time.

Completely different topic, but nice attempt at changing the subject.

Right wing extremists were mentioned in the thread? Or is it only Islamic extremists that should be condemned?

[sid waddell]

This is what fascism is. You create an environment where people are afraid to do normal, decent things for fear they might be imprisoned, and you reward ruthless killers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/convicted-for-leaving-water-for-migrants-in-the-desert--this-is-trumps-justice/2019/01/27/9d4b3104-2013-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.456cc46a731e

Convicted for leaving water for migrants in the desert: This is Trump's justice

By Editorial Board
January 27

A FEW weeks ago, federal prosecutors in Arizona secured a conviction against four humanitarian aid workers who left water in the desert for migrants who might otherwise die of heat exposure and thirst. Separately, they dropped manslaughter charges against a U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired 16 times across the border, killing a teenage Mexican boy. The aid workers face a fine and up to six months in jail. The Border Patrol officer faces no further legal consequences.

That is a snapshot of twisted frontier justice in the age of Trump. Save a migrant's life, and you risk becoming a political prisoner. Kill a Mexican teenager, and you walk free.

The four aid workers, all women, were volunteers in service to an organization, No More Deaths, whose religious views inform its mission to prevent undocumented migrants from dying during their perilous northward trek. They drove into the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, about 100 miles southwest of Phoenix, to leave water jugs along with some canned beans.

The women — Natalie Hoffman, Oona Holcomb, Madeline Huse and Zaachila Orozco-McCormick — made no effort to conceal their work. Confronted by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer, they said they believed everyone deserved access to basic survival needs. One of them, Ms. Orozco-McCormick, compared the wildlife refuge to a graveyard, such is the ubiquity of human remains there.

Since the turn of the century, more than 2,100 undocumented migrants have died in that sun-scorched region of southern Arizona, according to Humane Borders, a nonprofit group that keeps track of the numbers. Last year, according to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office, the remains of 127 dead migrants were recovered there.

In the past, prosecutors declined to press charges against the volunteers who try to help by leaving water and canned food in the desert. But the four women, arrested in August 2017, were tried for the misdemeanor offenses of entering a refuge without a permit, abandoning personal property and, in the case of Ms. Hoffman, driving in a restricted area. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco, who presided over the bench trial, said their actions ran afoul of the "national decision to maintain the Reserve in its pristine nature."

In fact, prosecutors have broad discretion in deciding whether to press such minor charges — just as they do in more consequential cases such as the manslaughter charge against Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent who killed 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez in October 2012. According to Mr. Swartz, he opened fire on the boy, shooting 16 times in what the agent said was self-defense, through the fence that divides the city of Nogales along the Arizona-Mexico border. He said the boy had been throwing stones at him across the frontier.

Mr. Swartz was acquitted on second-degree murder charges last spring, but the jury deadlocked on manslaughter charges. In a second trial, last fall, the jury also failed to reach a verdict on manslaughter. Last month, prosecutors declined to seek a third trial.

While the aid workers seek to avoid prison time, Americans may well wonder about a system in which justice is rendered so perversely.

[whitey]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

What if the leaders of the Republican party refused to call these right wing killers ''Domestic terrorists''....oh wait a minute thats exactly what happens every time.

Completely different topic, but nice attempt at changing the subject.

Right wing extremists were mentioned in the thread? Or is it only Islamic extremists that should be condemned?

Not by me they werent.

I condemn all terrorists

[J70]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

She said they were "misunderstood" and "victims"?

[Dolph1]

This is what fascism is. You create an environment where people are afraid to do normal, decent things for fear they might be imprisoned, and you reward ruthless killers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/convicted-for-leaving-water-for-migrants-in-the-desert--this-is-trumps-justice/2019/01/27/9d4b3104-2013-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.456cc46a731e

Convicted for leaving water for migrants in the desert: This is Trump's justice

By Editorial Board
January 27

A FEW weeks ago, federal prosecutors in Arizona secured a conviction against four humanitarian aid workers who left water in the desert for migrants who might otherwise die of heat exposure and thirst. Separately, they dropped manslaughter charges against a U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired 16 times across the border, killing a teenage Mexican boy. The aid workers face a fine and up to six months in jail. The Border Patrol officer faces no further legal consequences.

That is a snapshot of twisted frontier justice in the age of Trump. Save a migrant's life, and you risk becoming a political prisoner. Kill a Mexican teenager, and you walk free.

The four aid workers, all women, were volunteers in service to an organization, No More Deaths, whose religious views inform its mission to prevent undocumented migrants from dying during their perilous northward trek. They drove into the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, about 100 miles southwest of Phoenix, to leave water jugs along with some canned beans.

The women — Natalie Hoffman, Oona Holcomb, Madeline Huse and Zaachila Orozco-McCormick — made no effort to conceal their work. Confronted by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer, they said they believed everyone deserved access to basic survival needs. One of them, Ms. Orozco-McCormick, compared the wildlife refuge to a graveyard, such is the ubiquity of human remains there.

Since the turn of the century, more than 2,100 undocumented migrants have died in that sun-scorched region of southern Arizona, according to Humane Borders, a nonprofit group that keeps track of the numbers. Last year, according to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office, the remains of 127 dead migrants were recovered there.

In the past, prosecutors declined to press charges against the volunteers who try to help by leaving water and canned food in the desert. But the four women, arrested in August 2017, were tried for the misdemeanor offenses of entering a refuge without a permit, abandoning personal property and, in the case of Ms. Hoffman, driving in a restricted area. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco, who presided over the bench trial, said their actions ran afoul of the "national decision to maintain the Reserve in its pristine nature."

In fact, prosecutors have broad discretion in deciding whether to press such minor charges — just as they do in more consequential cases such as the manslaughter charge against Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent who killed 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez in October 2012. According to Mr. Swartz, he opened fire on the boy, shooting 16 times in what the agent said was self-defense, through the fence that divides the city of Nogales along the Arizona-Mexico border. He said the boy had been throwing stones at him across the frontier.

Mr. Swartz was acquitted on second-degree murder charges last spring, but the jury deadlocked on manslaughter charges. In a second trial, last fall, the jury also failed to reach a verdict on manslaughter. Last month, prosecutors declined to seek a third trial.

While the aid workers seek to avoid prison time, Americans may well wonder about a system in which justice is rendered so perversely.

Eamonnca1/Sid

Aiding and abetting means breaking the law - Rightfully lock them up.

[J70]

Lock them up for leaving water out for people in a desert area where thousands have died?

How very christian!

But then again these people are not human. They're just statistics. Same as those little kids being ripped away from their mothers.

[Dolph1]

Lock them up for leaving water out for people in a desert area where thousands have died?

How very christian!

But then again these people are not human. They're just statistics. Same as those little kids being ripped away from their mothers.

Ridiculous J70. Do it the legal way and you don't have people dying in the desert or family separations. They bring it on themselves but that's someone else's fault. The victim mentality is rampant.

[whitey]

Just saw that darling of the left, Democratic Congresswoman Ilham Omar once lobbied for lenient sentences for Somali men who tried to go to join ISIS in Syria back in 2015

You do have to wonder at the people who voted her into power.

So what's your policies?
Helping ISIS.

Seems to be a growing trend on the left.

Fun fact: More Americans were killed by angry, right-wing extremists last year than by ISIS. They must be getting radicalized by a constant diet of Fox News.

Correct.......And if a "rising star" of the Republican party wrote a letter to a judge looking for a lenient sentence for these people because thy were misunderstood and victims themselves, Id be calling for them to step down also

She said they were "misunderstood" and "victims"?

Draw your own conclusions

Ilhan Omar's letter to Judge Davis, dated Nov. 8

Honorable Judge Davis,

As you undoubtedly deliberate with great caution the sentencing of nine recently convicted Somali-American men, I bring to your attention the ramifications of sentencing young men who made a consequential mistake to decades in federal prison. Incarcerating 20-year-old men for 30 or 40 years is essentially a life sentence. Society will have no expectations of the to be 50 or 60-year-old released prisoners; it will view them with distrust and revulsion. Such punitive measures not only lack efficacy, they inevitably create an environment in which extremism can flourish, aligning with the presupposition of terrorist recruitment: "Americans do not accept you and continue to trivialize your value. Instead of being a nobody, be a martyr."

The best deterrent to fanaticism is a system of compassion. We must alter our attitude and approach; if we truly want to affect change, we should refocus our efforts on inclusion and rehabilitation. A long-term prison sentence for one who chose violence to combat direct marginalization is a statement that our justice system misunderstands the guilty. A restorative approach to justice assesses the lure of criminality and addresses it.

The desire to commit violence is not inherent to people -- it is the consequences of systematic alienation; people seek violent solutions when the process established for enacting change is inaccessible to them. Fueled by disaffection turned to malice, if the guilty were willing to kill and be killed fighting perceived injustice, imagine the consequence of them hearing, "I believe you can be rehabilitated. I want you to become part of my community, and together we will thrive." We use this form of distributive justice for patients with chemical dependencies; treatment and societal reintegration. The most effective penance is making these men ambassadors of reform.

The restorative approach provides a long-term solution – though the self-declared Islamic State may soon suffer defeat, their radical approach to change-making will continue as it has throughout history – by criminalizing the undergirding construct rather than its predisposed victims. Therein, this ruling can set a precedent and has the potential to be a landmark case in addressing extremism.

Thank you for your careful attention,

Ilhan Omar
State Representative-Elect – MN 60B