Friday, April 06, 2007
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MKH on Paula Zahn Now
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
10:33 AM
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Here's the clip of last night's show. It's a little long 'cause the story we're talking about is so obscure, I thought you probably needed the intro. So, here I am, talking about sex offenders living under bridges. In this scene, I play the cold-hearted conservative, which frankly, ain't that hard when you're talking about people who rape 9-year-olds. I swear, if we had done a segment on smokers, there would have been less sympathy on display:
I'll have a HamNation on my Iowa trip up in a bit.
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They should be in prison for life for raping children. I would bet these men were homeless prior to being arrested for child rape, too. Where are the other child rapist living, as I bet there are more than 4 in the Miami area. |
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I don't know why it was so difficult for the men in that segment to understand, but it is quite clear that the people who wrote those restrictions knew exactly what they were doing. They don't want any sex offender to be allowed to live within their community's borders. Good for them.
I agree that telling them to live under a bridge is a stupid official decision...can't the parole officer travel west beyond the city limits to visit them in the swamps instead? |
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A hot, intelligent, non-brain-washed blogger/reporter. I'm duly impressed.
A few comments: 1) Did anybody else notice that Mary was supposed to have the last word, and the emotive man to her right then argued against what she said? And exactly how constructive is it for a person (MKH) to deliver an arguable, *but well-reasoned* position, to then be contradicted with a combination of arm-waving and "That's just nonsense!"? I like that Paula Zahn brings different views together, but there really should be a filter on who represents which ideas.
2) One thing that I think was unfortunate, though, is that we didn't hear what Mary thought we should do about sex offenders. Quarantining them cannot be the only solution--they have to live somewhere (or do they?...), and wherever they live, it will create a community that worries about them.
3) One other thing that I think was unfortunately overlooked was the idea of principle: What is our government's job? These sex offenders forfeited their right to participate in society when they violently took away people's rights (... I don't even like that language. It doesn't quite communicate the extent of sickness in these people, but I can't find the words.). So our government should be doing whatever it can--and I do mean *whatever* it can--to keep these people from violating others again.
So the one and only question is, how does the government go about doing that? And hence we're back to #2.
Rehabilitate?; do we have evidence that this is effective? Stronger penalties?; do we have evidence that this is more effective? Some third option?; send them to Cuba?
I think we should rule out capital punishment only because so many sexual offenses occur within the family. A child who has been sexually offended by a relative may not want to report it if he thinks that will get the relative killed. These victims usually feel guilty enough already. And it's important to keep in mind that the goal is not primarily to punish sex offenders, but to protect the innocent--punishment is a method of protection and not an end in itself.
One of my ex-girlfriends was raped by her cousin, and my threats of being violent against her cousin only made her more afraid and insecure. One thing I learned from the whole thing is that your gut, instinctive reaction to sexual crime has to be concern for the victim, first and foremost. |
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...that they would take in the "stray animals." But yet,"They served their 'time'."
Their victims will be serving time for life. |
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is there some sort of rule that these guys have to stay within miami city limits? moving them to a less populated area seems like the solution. is there something i'm missing?
and mkh can't get any cuter. |
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Right up front, introducing the panel, MKH was introduced as "conservative." I guess that was to let the viewers know who to hate in the discussion. The other two guests were introduced by name and their professional affiliation.
The discussion didn't go anywhere, but MKH's "welcome to the animal kingdom" line was the best of the exchange. |
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BTW, dmsith, just because MKH doesn't want taxpayers to fund your housing needs is no reason to get nasty.
Now back under your bridge, troll. |
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MKH - Have you looked at this product called Invisalign..
(you would look even cuter - perhaps even get your first date!) |
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"Well, you raped a 9-year-old. Welcome to the animal kingdom."
Probably the best thing you've ever said on national television. Hats off. |
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