Another violent thug gets a slap on the wrist

There's a whole big system in place nowadays to coddle criminals and punish the hard-working public. Folks in my area have complained that if their car is destroyed because of someone else's lawbreaking, getting any information about the case from the authorities is like pulling teeth. The government goes after folks possessing Geiger counters, indie musicians using file-sharing networks to legally trade music, and restaurants allowing outdoor dancing - but if someone commits a serious crime that ruins a person's valuables or even takes an innocent life, the offender has to be pampered. Otherwise it's considered a violation of their "rights."

In Tucson, Arizona, a woman who showed no remorse after drunkenly mowing down and killing a bicyclist has received a hand slap for her crimes. Despite being convicted of negligent homicide and 2 counts of aggravated drunken driving, the coldhearted motorist got only 10½ years in prison - which is a year less than the maximum she could have received.

This might be considered a stiff sentence if she was actually remorseful and if she pledged to devote her life to promoting sober driving and road safety. But no. Not only did she show no repentance, but she actually laughed about her own crime: In a recorded phone conversation, a man told her that someone believed she should receive a medal because she had "taken out" a "tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman, and a gay guy all in one shot." The woman then laughed. The man replied that he knew it was a bad thing to say, but the woman responded, "No it's not."

It looks like the death of the cyclist wasn't the only death. This conversation is yet another illustration of the death of the grownup. I don't know too many people who are 27 who think killing a cyclist by driving drunk is funny. Maybe it's because I had to get a minimum wage job at 17, instead of being spoiled enough to live off wealthy relatives at 27.

By laughing over her own plowing down of a bicyclist, it's clear the woman's own life isn't worth shit anyhow, so I wouldn't say 10½ years is too tough of a punishment. People are serving life in prison just for possessing small amounts of drugs. Is it fair to impose ruinous mandatory minimums for minor drug charges while a callous killer gets much less prison time?

Also, the woman in this case had been driving on a license that was suspended for an earlier DUI conviction. Some people never learn, do they? When she hit the cyclist, her blood-alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit.

That she still had a car is more proof of how the system connives to keep people down. Do you know how expensive it is now to own a car in America? Big banks conspire to keep people from getting the money to buy one. Insurers conspire with lawmakers to deliberately make the mandatory insurance too expensive. Even those who support the compulsory insurance law have admitted in Internet forums that the sole purpose is to keep poor people from driving.

While the walking hate crime that is the insurance racket colludes with lawmakers - they're probably all having group sex with each other and pouring boysenberry syrup on each others' genitalia - and keeps millions of working-class Americans from getting a car, a person who had their license suspended for driving drunk is still able to have a car! That's BushAmerica's idea of "fair."

With this unrepentant criminal behind bars, at least now there's one less vote for Jon Kyl for the next 10½ years.

(Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22818852)