As you all know by now the U.S. Navy captured a Somali Pirate this month. Some say he was trying to escape others say captured. Doesn’t really matter, we’ve got him now.
So what do we do with him?
When I’m driving home late at night sometimes I pretend I am President and am preparing to address the nation about a problem we are facing. My constituency is the steering wheel. I’ll bet many of you do the same.
At this point I am going to have to disclose some things.
I really don’t have a political affiliation. I did vote, but I did not vote for Barack Obama. The biggest issue for me was taxes. Not that I am against taxes, I am not. It is the price we pay for a free society (Oliver Wendell Holmes). I like paved roads, providing education for our children, protecting our country, protecting our environment, caring for the truly needy. I do believe that government should stay out of religion and religion should stay out of government, but they are like two kids that can't keep their hands off each other. Maybe I am a Democrat?
I do however believe our government is lousy at managing its finances. The government lives in a way you and I could not. We have a budget. We stick to it.
I don’t think it’s the government’s responsibility to pay for my college, give me housing, provide my healthcare or childcare or really even deliver the mail. There are already so many government sponsored boon-doggles, I have lost my faith in government to be efficient at most anything. I don’t believe that government is going to solve any of my everyday problems nor do I expect it to. I do think we all pay too much in taxes for the return we get. Maybe I am a Republican?
At the end of the day I am more suspicious of government than I am trusting of it. I think the writers of the constitution were much the same.
Anyway, back to the pirate.
I’ve been taking a poll among friends asking what would you do if you were the judge? I say judge because the president is in a separate branch so factually he has no more say than you or I. Of course I don’t really believe that. President Obama’s wishes will go a long way here.
Here are the undisputed facts about the pirate as I know them:
He is a pirate.
He steals and holds goods for ransom.
He was not the mastermind but guilty nonetheless.
He was caught red handed.
He is a teenager.
He comes from a country of abject poverty and corruption.
So what are you going to do with him?
Here are your options:
Release him back to Somalia. This is probably the easiest thing to do. He’ll go back to his lifestyle. He’ll get his 15 minutes of fame but he won’t be much of a problem for us again. He may go back to pirating but that problem is still going to be there weather he is there or not.
We could put him in prison. Easy as well. We would forget about him eventually. He could do some hard time with some of our bad guys. After his release he would be deported. Too old to do much pirating. The problem is now we taxpayers have to pay for his food, lodging (as it is) and healthcare. It’s probably a step up for him compared to daily Somali life. But it is still prison, he is a teenager, surely we can do better.
We could have killed him. If he had actually shot that captain this is what the majority of American’s would have wanted. Don’t be so naive to think that wasn’t discussed at some level. This kid could be a problem. If we jail him he could become a living martyr. We could have easily been told he drowned or was shot with the other bad guys. The fact that we even know he exist means the government ruled this option out. I am glad about this.
Or lastly, we could do something good with him. This is my favorite option, probably because I soon will have teenage boys.
We could take this kid and give him an education. Provide him some type of family. He would get healthcare and security. He could discover a country that mostly has peace, because most Americans are peaceful. We don’t have to steal food. We don’t have to bribe judges or pay off the police. We believe we live in a country that provides our citizens the opportunity of a good life. A life we choose based on the choices we make.
This young pirate is truly guilty. But what were his options? I am not sure that I would not have made the same choices he made if I were a 16 or 18 year old Somali youth.
We could take this young man and show him what the U.S.A. is really all about. Not what he has been told. With a little love and some opportunity this kid could become something he never dreamed he could be. He could be a doctor, lawyer, school teacher, really anything he chooses. And when he turns forty, we pull the trigger.
By that I mean then send him back to Somalia. He doesn’t owe us a thing. He can do whatever he wants. We could support him as best we could from afar but it’s his choice. He can go back to being a thug or he can go be the leader that his people so desperately need.
If we do this job well, I know he will make the right decision.
Anyway, that’s what I would do. I would be interested in hearing your comments.
So what do we do with him?
When I’m driving home late at night sometimes I pretend I am President and am preparing to address the nation about a problem we are facing. My constituency is the steering wheel. I’ll bet many of you do the same.
At this point I am going to have to disclose some things.
I really don’t have a political affiliation. I did vote, but I did not vote for Barack Obama. The biggest issue for me was taxes. Not that I am against taxes, I am not. It is the price we pay for a free society (Oliver Wendell Holmes). I like paved roads, providing education for our children, protecting our country, protecting our environment, caring for the truly needy. I do believe that government should stay out of religion and religion should stay out of government, but they are like two kids that can't keep their hands off each other. Maybe I am a Democrat?
I do however believe our government is lousy at managing its finances. The government lives in a way you and I could not. We have a budget. We stick to it.
I don’t think it’s the government’s responsibility to pay for my college, give me housing, provide my healthcare or childcare or really even deliver the mail. There are already so many government sponsored boon-doggles, I have lost my faith in government to be efficient at most anything. I don’t believe that government is going to solve any of my everyday problems nor do I expect it to. I do think we all pay too much in taxes for the return we get. Maybe I am a Republican?
At the end of the day I am more suspicious of government than I am trusting of it. I think the writers of the constitution were much the same.
Anyway, back to the pirate.
I’ve been taking a poll among friends asking what would you do if you were the judge? I say judge because the president is in a separate branch so factually he has no more say than you or I. Of course I don’t really believe that. President Obama’s wishes will go a long way here.
Here are the undisputed facts about the pirate as I know them:
He is a pirate.
He steals and holds goods for ransom.
He was not the mastermind but guilty nonetheless.
He was caught red handed.
He is a teenager.
He comes from a country of abject poverty and corruption.
So what are you going to do with him?
Here are your options:
Release him back to Somalia. This is probably the easiest thing to do. He’ll go back to his lifestyle. He’ll get his 15 minutes of fame but he won’t be much of a problem for us again. He may go back to pirating but that problem is still going to be there weather he is there or not.
We could put him in prison. Easy as well. We would forget about him eventually. He could do some hard time with some of our bad guys. After his release he would be deported. Too old to do much pirating. The problem is now we taxpayers have to pay for his food, lodging (as it is) and healthcare. It’s probably a step up for him compared to daily Somali life. But it is still prison, he is a teenager, surely we can do better.
We could have killed him. If he had actually shot that captain this is what the majority of American’s would have wanted. Don’t be so naive to think that wasn’t discussed at some level. This kid could be a problem. If we jail him he could become a living martyr. We could have easily been told he drowned or was shot with the other bad guys. The fact that we even know he exist means the government ruled this option out. I am glad about this.
Or lastly, we could do something good with him. This is my favorite option, probably because I soon will have teenage boys.
We could take this kid and give him an education. Provide him some type of family. He would get healthcare and security. He could discover a country that mostly has peace, because most Americans are peaceful. We don’t have to steal food. We don’t have to bribe judges or pay off the police. We believe we live in a country that provides our citizens the opportunity of a good life. A life we choose based on the choices we make.
This young pirate is truly guilty. But what were his options? I am not sure that I would not have made the same choices he made if I were a 16 or 18 year old Somali youth.
We could take this young man and show him what the U.S.A. is really all about. Not what he has been told. With a little love and some opportunity this kid could become something he never dreamed he could be. He could be a doctor, lawyer, school teacher, really anything he chooses. And when he turns forty, we pull the trigger.
By that I mean then send him back to Somalia. He doesn’t owe us a thing. He can do whatever he wants. We could support him as best we could from afar but it’s his choice. He can go back to being a thug or he can go be the leader that his people so desperately need.
If we do this job well, I know he will make the right decision.
Anyway, that’s what I would do. I would be interested in hearing your comments.
3 comments:
Don,
You are without a doubt a libertarian (with a small 'L') ... but one with a 'heart'.
Re: The government ... smallest is best. And our is too large and has been for 100 years.
Re: Pirate ... Bullet to the head after his trial.
Re: Future ... Early 20th century progressivism leads to socialism or totalitarianism - the nanny state. And that my fellow ER DOC is what is coming ... oh,that and hyper-inflation. No I take that back ... CRUSHING, dream sapping, hyperinflation.
Steve C.
DS, Al
I would say you are not only a liberal, but a bleeding heart one! Welcome to the club. Its a nice place to be. Your feelings and ideals of what this country is all about are exactly the fibers that we were built on.
I too worry about the haphazard spending habits of our government. We simply must get that under control so that we can go about the business of our democracy. However, I would point out that our budget was balanced and we had a surplus in 2000. (you make the assumption!) It appears that the Democratic Party is not only the Party of social responsibility, but fiscal responsibility as well!
Lets offer to adopt the Somalian teenager (what's one more boy between our two families?) and change the world!! EP
libertarian? i don't think so. you are advocating for violence whether you think so or not. take taxes, for example. our founding fathers fought a revolution over a 1% tax; the issue was not so much the tax itself, but that they had no say in where the money was going. do you agree with where your tax dollars are going? pointless wars are still going on, medicare/medicaid boondoggles continue, welfare does not serve its purpose, civil rights are violated at every turn, the constitution is outright ignored, etc. basically, the government fails at everything it tries to do. look at free market roads in places like disneyworld- they are clean, pothole free, and likely cost millions less than government roads. you think graft and corruption are not present in this country? what about politicians who reward their friends after election with contracts? taxes are the price of a free society? i think not, how about "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"? don't try to pigeonhole yourself into liberal or conservative or democrat or republican, because they have come to mean the same thing. look at your "changes" with this new clown in office:
civil rights violations: warrantless wiretaps and searches- still happening, human rights in gitmo- shifted to afghanistan and still going on, right to carry a gun- same restrictions, maybe more
economy:
same horrible plans set up by bush to spend all kinds of money to fix a problem created by careless spending
war:
still fighting in the middle east an undeclared war costing billions of $$ and lives that americans and iraqis don't want to continue
healthcare:
trying to throw more money at a problem that is sucking up huge sums of money; only solution is total free market (don't try to tell me this has been tried before since there has not been free markets in this country for over 100 years- see federal reserve)
you can keep the change...
as for your pirate- the market would have handled this without government. the govt prohibits private companies from arming and protecting themselves. a perfect role for private security forces (blackwater) would be to protect this companies vessels, or put some .50 cal's on the ship. there would not be an issue. however, in this current paradigm, this person should be liable for damages to that company. sitting in a jail cell hurts the people who have to pay for him, killing him is an absurd act of violence (how can you call yourself a libertarian and advocate for this??). he needs to repay the shipping company for damages which would involve working for them for a predetermined amount of time until the debt is settled. whew, enough rambling for now, coffee wearing off....
todd
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