Two senior Democratic members of Congress were infected with anthrax proven to have come from US government biowarfare labs. The only reason those Congress members survived was because there were warning notes along with the anthrax.

The anthrax mailer has never been caught and Congress has never evinced the slightest interest in pursuing the matter.

Is there anyone here who thinks that people who have killed hundreds of thousands for their own personal gain would think twice about killing a few dozen or hundred more?

Your grandchildren are so beautiful and smart, it would be such a shame if anything were to happen to them.

Let me explain that although my personal philosophy of life is not easily described I'm closest to being a liberal than anything else.

The United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Let me put that another way for emphasis, the land of the free cages a higher percentage of its citizens than any other regime on the planet.

And yet when I raise the issue I can rarely get any liberals to respond at all. It either bores everyone to tears or scares them, I'm not really sure which.

If there is anyone who thinks that torture is not routine in US prisons then let me disabuse you of that notion, Sixty minutes did a piece not too long ago about a man who died of thirst in prison. Occurrences like that, while not perhaps as severe, are happening every day in our prisons and jails.

We as liberals have this great outrage that foreign nationals are being tortured and yet seem to have no thought at all for our fellow citizens being tortured and caged by the millions.

We are like lawyers, straining at the gnat of torture by our intelligence agencies while swallowing the camel of routine torture of our own citizens.

That during the 1950's, the period which seems to be the golden age to conservatives, the top marginal tax rate was 90%.

And, strangely enough, the US economy was the envy of the world at that time.

This is not to say that torture in American prisons has no consequence. It is to say that torture sanctioned by the highest levels of our government as a wartime tactic is an abomination that makes even the prison system pale in comparison.

Torture is torture is torture..

And yes, I know that some American citizens have been tortured in "the war on terror".

Let's face it though, the average American has a *far* higher chance of being incarcerated and tortured due to the drug war than due to the terror war.

A family member of mine has a close friend who just got out of prison after fifteen years for, you guessed it, a drug charge. The tales this man has to tell would shock you greatly.

The point I'm trying to make is that a nation which condones the torture and caging of its own citizens on a scale more massive than any other on the planet has little to no compunction about doing the same to (mostly) foreign nationals.

Why do I not see the same level of outrage by "liberals" about what is happening in our "regular" prisons as to what is happening to "terror suspects"?

Keep in mind that the prison population soared during the incumbency of Bill "I didn't inhale" Clinton.

I personally would prefer Kucinich to Paul, but I would take either over the rest of the crop of candidates, Republican and Democratic.

For someone who was not a "liberal", Bill Clinton sure seems to get a lot of praise from liberals.

Yes indeed, there are a lot of people in prison who should be elsewhere.

It's funny, I get called a "moonbat" on the right wing boards and a "wingnut" on the left wing boards. I suppose that anyone who does not fit neatly into either category can be expected to be excoriated by both sides.

If "liberals" are so concerned about our burgeoning prison population then perhaps one of you knowledgeable folks here could point out the federal level politicians of either party who have come out in favor of ending "The War On (some) Drugs".

I won't be holding my breath.

It's a stupid statement, and anyone who knows anything about the drug culture knows it is a lie.

That was simply a case of Clinton wanting to have his cake and eat it too.

He got the "young" vote, minute as it may be, by seeming to be "cool". And he avoided appearing like a druggie by claiming not to have inhaled.

I find it most amusing that at the time of Clinton's impeachment the President, the Vice President and the Speaker of the House were all admitted users of cannabis. Think of it, the three top leaders of the US were all admitted users of an illegal substance.

And yet, cannabis is still illegal, despite the fact that every truly educated person knows cannabis is far less dangerous and debilitating than is alcohol.

The conditions in "Supermax" prisons are deliberately and officially designed to torture the inmates. Humans, even prisoners, are social animals and to cut a human off from social contact is one of the worst things you can do to a person.

It's no accident that "shunning" was about the worst punishment that could be inflicted on someone in the early American settlements.

Tildeman and I agree on something.

We're just a couple of bomb throwers, eh Tildeman?