Obama and prisoners

I posted this to a message board on December 8, 2008:

My uncle is a felon and currently in a federal prison in southern Texas for multiple bank robberies and repeat offenses. He claims to support laissez-faire economics and is a Francophile, he has liberal social views and hates organized religion. He thinks the most important issues are the economy and education and that Democrats put more emphasis on them. Although he was surprised by John Stossel's idea that government has a monopoly on education. He wanted Obama to win the election. He recently wrote me a letter and this is what he said:

I'm glad the election is over. You should hear all of the blacks here. All talk is about how Obama will bring back parole and increase good time. I think he has a lot more to worry about than prisoners.

It seems like during the election there was speculation about allowing prisoners to vote, but that's [all] I recall about them. I'm not familiar with some of the criminal terms, so I found a website:

Good time: Many defendants who are incarcerated can earn "good behavior" or "good time" credits, which allow them to qualify for an earlier release date by behaving. The idea is that model prisoners are less likely to re-offend, and that prisoners will behave better if they have an incentive not to cause trouble. Some prisoners will not be eligible for "good time," due to the nature of their offenses. Often "habitual offenders" are not eligible for "good time" credits. Some jurisdictions have abolished "good time" for all prisoners.

Parole: Parole is a privilege, not a right, and many prisoners are refused parole when they first apply. Parole boards expect to hear a prisoner admit responsibility for his crimes. They also expect that the prisoner will take advantage of the programs made available in prison, such as, if appropriate, GED programs, Alcoholics Anonymous, and vocational training. They will also look at the prisoner's conduct during incarceration, and whether the prisoner has been cited for misconduct.

Jerry Doyle

I posted this to a message board on December 6, 2008:

Do any of you listen to the Jerry Doyle Show? I was just listening to it for a few minutes. He calls himself an independent conservative and is really upset with the GOP. He thinks Karl Rove's recent editorial about Obama's fundraising is a lame excuse for the election results. He thinks McCain would have won if talk radio had focused more on Obama's socialist views, support of 60's radicalism, that he likes high gas prices because of his extreme environmentalism; instead of focusing on things that haven't been proven: that he hates America because he wouldn't wear flag pins, that he is sympathetic to terrorism, that he heard (or supported) hateful things from the pastor, and the focus on his birth certificate. He also thinks Chambliss should have easily reached 50% in Georgia during the general election and that it is not much of a consolation that he won in the runoff. He says that most talk radio hosts are cheerleaders for the GOP and he considers himself the coach and has to say important things that sound rough. I didn't watch the TV show, but him and his ex-wife were both on Babylon 5.

Jerry Doyle passed away on July 27, 2016 at the age of 60.  The Clark County Coroner's Office stated that Doyle died from natural causes, with complications from chronic alcoholism being a contributing factor.

It's Time To Support President Obama

On November 30, 2008 somebody posted this to a message board:

I know this sounds wrong, but I think it's time we all support our President Elect. No Joke.

I am going to support President Obama until he proves to me he doesn't deserve my support, just as I would do to any stranger I meet. There are two areas presidents need support - domestic policy and foreign policy.

In both cases, I don't care what he says, since politicians will say anything they can think of to sway voters. It's what they do that counts.

Domestic Policy. He can say anything, but what will he do? My support for him on domestic issues will last until he does some Marxist stupid thing. Unfortunately, based on his meager track record of doing anything, I suspect my support will vanish in his first week as President, certainly by the end of January 2009. By doing Something Stupid, I mean either through executive order or by signing some Pelosireid crap, like a Big3 bailout.

Foreign Policy. Here I think my support will last longer. He has left overs from the Clinton years and maybe even the Queen herself, so it will take longer to do Something Stupid here. However, I give him 3 months.

I just want you all to know, it's time to come together and support the government the idiots stuck us with. In the meantime get a good store of rotten tomatoes.

Someone else said:

Based on soviet experience, the most effective form of thrashing is humor. 

I responded with:

I heard about two Soviet jokes:

In Russia we have freedom of speech, in America you have freedom after speech.

Under Capitalism man exploits man, under communism it's just the opposite.

Then I said:

One of my economic's professors was from Russia and I think she was also a Catholic. She missed a class after John Paul II died. 

Then I wrote:

I'll try to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, even though I really wish he was not elected. The hatred of Bush really bothered me and the left should have agreed with some of his extra spending on education, entitlements and Africa. 

Here is an interesting article I enjoyed written by a Christian:

Respect President Obama, no matter your politics

The link is bad, but here is an excerpt:

But I'll never forget my dad saying a few months later, "Well, Jimmy Carter is our president now, and we have to respect him. That's what happens in a democracy."

Wow - did that ever impact me.

Someone else responded with:

that respect the president thinking is just a big ole bromide. why should you respect or follow someone who has the opposite goals and ideals as you? that is WW2 thinking. i was taught to treat the office with respect, his policies and actions are a different story. 

Another person said:

Respect is not an entitlement, of office or otherwise. Noone has ever been, is, or will ever be entitled to respect. Respect is to be earned, and earned continuously, as it has a limited shelf life.

I wrote:

Here is blog post that I enjoyed: 

The link is bad, but here is an excerpt:

Is it me? Or have the right been far more sensible and gracious to Barack Obama since his election then the left ever was to George W. Bush when he was elected?

.........

I don't think Obama will be a good president. But I HOPE for a CHANGE in that opinion. I hope he's the greatest president in history. I hope the pre-election promises of perfection are realized. I doubt they will be, but I want to at least give him a chance to screw it up before I say he screwed it up.