thoughts on the death of pinochet

[rkt]

pinochet is dead.

and i'm still a far lefty pinko.

as much as i believe in prison reform to the point of abolition, some people come along and seriously test that belief.

i was thinking about that the other day when i came across an article written about a mother who is now in prison after she abused her child (nixmarie) to the point of death. the mother was complaining about her own lack of safety in prison.

i was just perusing the friends of friends and someone somewhere had writ about an abortion clinic bomber complaining of the same.

and first, it's like "boo hoo, dumb ass."

byt there's a lot to be said about the nature of a country being judged by its treatment of the lowest of the low.

i was second guessing myself on my prison stance on both, more so with regards to the mother, but maybe because i hit upon that one first. and also maybe because i have abstractly thought about anti-abortionists.

but i came back to my senses pretty quickly on both.

i've already steaded my ground pretty well regarding rapists. not easy. and it shakes sometimes.

but there is no "sorta" or "sometimes". really, you have to be absolutist or you get into a hierarchy game of judgment and whatnot. ok, rapists and child murderers get to stay in shithole prisons but those who murder adults or commit armed robbery get into the improved/reformed prisons. and, hey, drug dealers don't do prison at all!

um. no.

but after reading the nixmarie article, my thoughts trolled over to bush. and having him locked up. and. well. that one was even harder.

and now pinochet is dead and now what?

part of me feels cheated.

sometimes, my actual sinister side (as opposed to the faux-sinister that's in it for the LOlz) tries to take over my thought process.

so. very. tempting.

i still absolutely do not believe in the death penalty. ever.

Comments

[goodlookinout.livejournal.com]

Not really to do with the specifics of this post or answering any of your thoughts/questions, but just to do with prison/abolition, I just finished an INCREDIBLE book for a class (and when Im done exams I plan on posting recommendations all over the internets!) called Global Lockdown: Gender, Race and Class in the Prison Industrial Complex.

Highly recommend!

[rkt.livejournal.com]

thanks. it's already in my amazon wish list :)

[kaygigi.livejournal.com]

Speaking of which, are you done with the book I lent you earlier this semester? I need to write the final paper for the class...

[rkt.livejournal.com]

done enough. remind me on wednesday to pack it for thursday.

we may relocate to b-dubs though.

[kaygigi.livejournal.com]

My schedule is as follows:
4:15-7:15 - class
7:15 - till whenever - drinkies with the prof @ crappy O'Reilly's
whenever till whenever - pregame with you and Christine in the 'hood (b-dubs is fine, the purpose is food so we don't puke later on)
whenever till 4 am or so - Lotus Lounge in the LES

When do you have to be at work on Fri? My plan is to close out the party and take the first train back to Westchester in the morning...

[rkt.livejournal.com]

i'll check with her, but my ass is far too weak to stay out very late.
i seriously might get separation anxiety from being away too long from my bed.

the whole job thing makes a 4am night impossible. friday is "christmas party" day, so, yeah.

[kaygigi.livejournal.com]

I didn't expect that you'd stay out all night, thats just my plan. I'm hoping you'd come to the party for a little bit, and it's right in Christine's neck of the woods (she live in C-town, right? this is in the part of C-town that's been rerenamed the LES as it's become white, again).
I'll call you when I come into the City.