October 09, 2008
Obama: Soft on crime (and "Present" when it counts)
I've had a number of conversations with a colleague about the impending presidential vote -- or as he prefers to think of it, the second coming of the Messiah (I'm paraphrasing).
As you might have guessed, he's voting for Obama, which is rather surprising, for several reasons, first and foremost being that my colleague is a law and order guy, a dedicated career prosecutor who is second to none when it comes to aggressively going after the hardest of hardcore criminals.
I've pointed out that of the two candidates, one is more likely to nominate federal judges -- and Supreme Court justices -- who believe that denying criminals pedicures and shiatsu massages is a violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
My misguided coworker concedes that perhaps I'm right, that Obama may very well appoint soft-on-crime judges, but that's not a certainty.
I'm afraid that Obama's all-to-brief legislative record removes all doubt about what he'd do with -- and to -- the judiciary.
Back in March of 2007, The Hill dug into Obama's time in the Illinois legislature.
Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) votes on crime issues during his tenure in the Illinois state Senate could prove harmful to his effort to win the White House. His opponents and critics are mining his short voting record for campaign fodder.
A review by The Hill found a number of votes by Obama on bills dealing with drug, gang and gun-control issues that could be used by opponents seeking to derail his presidential candidacy.
Observers have suggested Obama could be vulnerable to accusations that he is soft on crime.
In 1998, Obama was one of only three senators to vote against a proposal making it a criminal offense for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang.
In 2001, Obama voted against a measure that would have expanded the penalties for some gang activity to include the death penalty. The bill was vetoed by then-Gov. George Ryan (R ) not long after he had issued a moratorium on the death penalty in the state.
Obama, at the time, said the bill would unfairly target minorities, stating, “There’s a strong overlap between gang affiliation and young men of color … I think it’s problematic for them to be singled out as more likely to receive the death penalty for carrying out certain acts than are others who do the same thing.”
Obama opposes the death penalty except for terrorists, serial killers and child-murderers, but his campaign added that he does not support the death penalty as it is currently administered in this country.
On a 1999 vote making adult prosecution mandatory for aggravated discharge of a firearm in or near a school, the senator voted “present.”
He explained the vote, saying, “There is really no proof or indication that automatic transfers and increased penalties and adult penalties for juvenile offenses have, in fact, proven to be more effective in reducing juvenile crime or cutting back on recidivism.”
And in 2001, Obama voted “present” on a bill that would increase penalties for trafficking in Ecstasy and other designer drugs.
The senator questioned the length of some drug penalties when compared to other crimes, noting that selling 15 tablets of Ecstasy was a Class X felony, as was raping a woman at knifepoint.
In addition to being soft on crime, Obama is also a political crapweasel of the first order. If a politician doesn't want to vote "Aye" on a bill, than have the stones to vote "No."
Obama's preference for "Present" is a profile in cowardice, an attempt to have it both ways: "I didn't vote for the bill" to its critics, and "I didn't vote against it" to its supporters.
Much as my colleague may detest Pres. Bush and loathe McCain, I'm not sure how he'll be able to square the circle that is Obama; the more you learn about the candidate, the less appealing he is to those of us who aren't into long walks on the beach, hugs and sloppy kisses for career criminals.
Posted by Mike Lief at October 9, 2008 10:59 PM
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Comments
Yes, I am that Colleague who is law and order but won't vote for McCain.
No, I do not believe Obama is a Massiah, that is ridiculous. In fact, my vote is more anti-McCain than pro Obama.
It is because I believe in accountability that I can't go with McCain in this election. President Bush is the most incompetent President we have ever had and the war in Iraq was a strategic blunder of massive proportions.
It was also based on 3 lies that Bush and I presume McCain knew were lies: 1) WMD's 2) Saddam Hussein was a threat to America. This is the biggest lie and the CIA concluded that even if Hussein did have WMD's he was not a threat to us. Bush/Cheney deliberately left this out of the report used to justify the war. 3) Saddam Hussein was an ally of Al Qaeda and was behind 911. In fact Hussein was an enemy of Iran and and Al Qaeda. Who do you think was in those mass graves. Radical Islamists who wanted to overthrow Hussein and establish a religious state. As bad as he could be to his own people (gassing Kurds even as Reagan gave him weapons and money) he was never our problem. He wanted to live, he loved his plush palaces and harems of women. He wasn't looking for 72 virgins in the afterlife; he loved what he had now and we could have used him instead of doing what we did. Now after billions of dollars 4,000 lost lives and 10,000 Americans maimed and wounded we have an Iraqi Government who has love fest meetings with Achmedinijad of Iran.
McCain was huge cheerleader for this war and still says even knowing everything we know now he would still have done it. That is such bad judgment it disqualifies him in my mind from being our President. We have to make the consequences clear when a political party engages in an illegal war based upon lies costing thousands of American lives.
I am not the only law and order guy supporting Obama. Vince Bugliosi, former Manson prosecutor and as law and order as they come thinks Bush's war amounts to murder and is voting for Obama.
If Obama ends up being soft on crime and the Republicans put up a reasonable candidate in 2012 I will vote Republican again. For now, I can't back McCain since he is a unrepentent apologist for the worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime.
Posted by: Massiah Man at October 14, 2008 05:20 PM