Torture seems to be the subject on cable, on the web and right here at TPMCafe.  The evidence is overwhelming. I do not need to give specific cites. Just take a close look at TheraP's blogs over the last month--that is if you do not have enough time to go over the last year's essays by our lead poster.  Or check out Carolg's tri-weekly posts citing so many web articles. Or....

And that damnable cheney just spins. Oh, it was only three people who were waterboarded, geez the three were scumbags anyway.  And now Obama is making US less safe. And........

If there is one thing I know for sure, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THREE PEOPLE. You see how to properly spin news and opinion when it is all going against you.

Oh, and by the way, dickyc is contending that all these investigations will only hurt the 'little guy'.

He has the gall to say this while he and rummy and w watched the soldiers go to prison.  Talk about little guys. The one female soldier  according to the pictures, looks like she barely reached five feet.  She could hardly be able to get on half the rides at Disney World.

Some times we need to define our terms. What for instance is a good definition of  a 'Police State'? Well let us see what Wiki says:

The term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.

The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.^[1]

That seems 'reasonable', does it not?  And I think torture is one of the tools used by a police state. What exactly defines 'TORTURE'?

Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is: "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions."^[1]

And what is Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

Cruel and unusual punishment is a statement implying that governments shall not inflict such treatment for crimes, regardless of their degree of severity. It was founded in the English Bill of Rights, which was signed in 1689 by King William III and Queen Mary II who were then the joint rulers of England, Scotland, and Ireland following the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688.

These exact words later appeared in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1787). The British Slavery Amelioration Act of 1798 also used the term, forbidding slave owners from using "cruel and unusual punishment" on slaves in the British Caribbean colonies.

So Torture and Cruel and Unusual Punishment are tools used by police states.

I am glad that is all cleared up. And I am glad that Western Civilization has been concerned with issues relating to these subjects for centuries.

So what is the purpose of my rant today? I got really mad after reading a rant from that son of a bitch who runs the NRA again after reading this:

I had not planned to mention this, but Mayor Tom Barrett's behavior since we came to town makes me think he spent too much time hanging out with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg a couple of weeks ago. Tom Barrett went to Mike Bloomberg's meeting of big-city mayors in New York City to talk about big-city crime and that's the problem. They're all talk and no action. Mike Bloomberg, if you really want to stop violent crime, you don't need to spend taxpayer's money to throw parties for mayors and hold seminars and schedule photo ops...and act like violent crime is some new problem with some secret solution.

It's real simple. If you want to get crime off your streets, get criminals off your streets! Mayor Bloomberg, it's not rocket science. NRA has supported putting bad guys behind bars for decades - and it works. Mayor Bloomberg, talk gets headlines. But prosecuting criminals gets results. And the people want results! I'll make you a deal, Mike Bloomberg. Here's what you do. Walk down to Town Hall and tell your prosecuting attorneys that from now on, no plea bargains, no reduced charges, no dropped cases. A drug dealer caught with a gun goes to jail. A violent felon caught with a gun goes to jail. Discharge a gun in commission of a felony, go to jail. Smuggle a gun, go to jail. If you do that, if you stop talking and start acting, your violent crime rate will drop 30-40-50% in one year.

This is the same crap I had to listen to in the 60's and 70's from Agnew and Nixon; just to name a couple of our most famous war criminals. You see the argument is that us liberals molly coddle criminals. We do not 'lock-em-up'. We let most of our criminals go free because...because we are liberals, I guess.

So prosecuting criminals and putting them in jail will solve all our problems. LIKE WE HAVE NOT BEEN PROSECUTING CRIMINALS AND PUTTING THEM IN JAIL.

JESUS H. CHRIST (blesses himself), WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE KIDDING?

So how we doin' in that regard anyway. 

American prisons and jails held 2,299,116 inmates as of June 30, 2007.^[10] One in every 31 American adults, or 7.3 million Americans, are in prison, on parole or probation. Approximately one in every 18 men in the United States is behind bars or being monitored. A significantly greater percentage of the American population is in some form of correctional control even though crime rates have declined by about 25 percent from 1988-2008.^[11] 70% of prisoners in the United States are non-whites.^[12] In recent decades the U.S. has experienced a surge in its prison population, quadrupling since 1980, partially as a result of mandated sentences that came about during the "war on drugs." Violent crime and property crime have declined since the early 1990s.^[13]

As of 2004, the three states with the lowest ratio of imprisoned to civilian population are Maine (148 per 100,000), Minnesota (171 per 100,000), and Rhode Island (175 per 100,000). The three states with the highest ratio are Louisiana (816 per 100,000), Texas (694 per 100,000), and Mississippi (669 per 100,000). ^[14]

The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world at 738 persons in prison or jail per 100,000 (as of 2005).^[18] A report released Feb. 28, 2008 indicates that more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States are in prision.^[9] The United States has 5% of the world's population and 23.6% of the world's prison population.^[3]

By comparison in 2006, the incarceration rate in England and Wales was 148 persons imprisoned per 100,000 residents; the rate for Norway was 66 inmates per 100,000 and the rate in New Zealand was 186 per 100,000.^[3] In Australia in 2005, the rate was 126 prisoners per 100,000 residents.^[3]

The incarceration rate in the People's Republic of China varies depending on sources and measures: in 2003, for sentenced prisoners only, the rate was declared at 118 inmates per 100,000;^[3] in 2008, an estimate for all forms of imprisonment in China assessed the incarceration rate at 218 prisoners per 100,000 population.^[22]

First, I  am prouder of my state than when I started this sixth grade essay. Minnesota aint doin too damn bad. ha

Second, I really feel that a police state incarcerates a lot of people. Soviet Gulags, Nazi Internment Camps.  Well the good ole USA aint doin too bad.

Third, what kind of country does LaPierre (who is a Canadian anyway) want?  Should we have 6 million in prison and 18 million more walking around with stars on their shirts? Or hell, lets go all out. 18 million in prison and 60 million walking around with stars on their shirts.

Fourth, remember that in many states, after you have served your time, you still to not attain full citizenship. Most of those 7 million on parole or probation cannot vote.

How exactly does a police state treat its prisoners?

The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch raised concerns with prisoner rape and medical care for inmates.^[24] In a survey of 1,788 male inmates in Midwestern prisons by Prison Journal, about 21% claimed they had been coerced or pressured into sexual activity during their incarceration, and 7% claimed that they had been raped in their current facility.^[25]

In August 2003, a Harper's article by Wil S. Hylton estimated that "somewhere between 20 and 40% of American prisoners are, at this very moment, infected with hepatitis C". Prisons may outsourceCorrectional Medical Services, which, according to Hylton's research, try to minimize the amount of care given to prisoners in order to maximize profits. medical care to private companies such as

Also identified as an issue within the prison system is gang violence, because many gang members retain their gang identity and affiliations when imprisoned. Segregation of identified gang members from the general population of inmates, with different gangs being housed in separate units often results in the imprisonment of these gang members with their friends and criminal cohorts. Some feel this has the effect of turning prisons into "institutions of higher criminal learning."^[26]

Ok. So basically we rape, beat, and inject disease into our prisoners.  Sounds like torture to me, huh?  A lot of pain, a lot of disease, a lot of fear...Sound cruel and unusual?

Here is the kicker. We as a people seem to be a little skittish about all this. So why not hire some thugs to do the job? Kind of wash our hands of the entire matter?

In recent years, there has been much debate over the privatizationmarket economy for prisons might not also lead to a market demand for prisoners (tougher sentencing for cheap labor). While privatized prisons have only a short history, there is a long tradition of inmates in state and federal-run prisons undertaking active employment in prison for low pay. of prisons. The argument for privatization stresses cost reduction...

Aint this great, we can wash our hands of the entire matter and save money too. Oh and the workers for the capitalist torturers, their employes make less money than government workers. Except management of course. But that is the American Way.

We turn our prisoners into slaves, working for no money so they can produce for the capitalists. Wonderful.

Now how exactly does a police state treat its children?

Recently, forty seven states have made it easier to be tried as an adult^[34] , calling attention to the growing trend away from the original model for treatment of juveniles in the justice system.

Harmful to youth: Juvenile detention facilities are often overcrowded and understaffed^[42] . The most infamous example of this trend is Cheltenham center in Maryland, which at one point crowded 100 boys into cottages sanctioned for maximum capacity of 24, with only 3-4 adults supervising. Young people in these environments are subject to brutal violence from their peers as well as staff, who are often overworked, underpaid and under stress. The violence that incarcerated youth experience --- fights, stabbings, rapes --- is well known to those who work in the criminal justice system, and those who oppose it ^[43].

Some have criticized the United States for incarcerating a large number of non-violent and victimless offenders;^[64][65] half of all persons incarcerated under state jurisdiction are for non-violent offences, and 20% (in State prisons, whereas Federal prison percentages are higher) are incarcerated for drug offenses.^[66][67][64] "Human Rights Watch believes the extraordinary rate of incarceration in the United States wreaks havoc on individuals, families and communities, and saps the strength of the nation as a whole."

Well, I guess you could say that a good police state prepares its children for the reality of adulthood.

So getting back to our war criminal cheney.  He seems to admit--at the same time unadmitting--that the US does torture. But only three people.

WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE KIDDING?

Just one after thought here. A sixth grader should have been able to find this Wiki essay. I included long quotes because the amount of information in them was extraordinary.