The United States has less than 5% of the world's population but 23% of the world's prison population. Of the 15 States with the largest percentage of their citizens incarcerated 13 of them are from the old South. Louisiana imprisons its citizens at over twice the rate of any other state in the union. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the hight of apartheid.
What this means is that for the last 250 years the American South, for millions of people, has been one of the more oppressive places on earth. We should not forget that if you were a white German Protestant, Germany was a pretty cool place for you to live in the 1930s. You would have thought that you enjoyed all the fruits of liberty, freedom and economic health and that those imprisoned were criminals, foreigners or threats to your security.
It also should be noted that the Civil War was about the politics of power as well as slavery. Under the Constitution at that time it was permissible to count slaves as citizens for purposes of determining the number of members to the House of Representatives allocated primarily to the South while at the same time not allowing those same "shadow-citizens" the right to vote on who those Representatives would be.
The various political controversies over who can vote at the polls that we are experiencing today carries on this dispute. Republicans, especially in the South want to be able to restrict which citizens can vote, but continue to insist the number of Representatives in Congress they are allotted be allocated based on including those whom they do not allow to vote in the total number of citizens in the State used for the calculation.
In order to appear fair and balanced, I should mention that, on the other hand, Democrats would like everyone to be able to vote and be counted, even if at times it seems like they would include international travelers on their way to their destination in another country as they change planes in an American airport.
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Today's Quotes:
"You gotta convince me that you know what this is all about, that you aren't just fiddling around hoping it'll all... come out right in the end!"
Sam Spade
"It was crime at the time, but the laws, we changed them: "Kevin Drum’s nickel summary works for me, comparing and contrasting the new decision, in Shelby County v. Holder with Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (PDF). 'So here’s your nickel summary. If a law is passed on a party-line vote, has no justification in the historical record, and is highly likely to harm black voting, that’s OK as long as the legislature in question can whomp up some kind of neutral-sounding justification. Judicial restraint is the order of the day. But if a law is passed by unanimous vote, is based on a power given to Congress with no strings attached, and is likely to protect black voting, that’s prohibited unless the Supreme Court can be persuaded that Congress’s approach is one they approve of. Judicial restraint is out the window. Welcome to the 21st century.'"
John Holbo:Noted for June 27, 2013" J. Bradford DeLong.
"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but they can always be brought to do the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country. It works the same in every country."
Herman Goering during his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials.
"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
Joseph Stalin