MISTAKES, MISTAKES, MISTAKES ….. WHAT MISTAKES?

During his visit to the federal prison at El Reno, Oklahoma, President Obama kept emphasizing the “mistakes” inmates made

On Monday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 46 “nonviolent” drug offenders doing time in federal prisons. On Thursday he visited the federal prison at El Reno, Oklahoma where he met with six “nonviolent” drug offenders. Afterwards he said:

Every single one of them emphasized the fact that they had done something wrong; they are prepared to take responsibility for it, but they also urged us to think about how society could’ve reached them earlier on in life to keep them out of trouble.

What a joke. Our president got conned with that “We done wrong” and “We take responsibility” convict horseshit. Had he talked to six rapists or murderers, they would have played exactly the same tune.

Obama went on to say:

I think we have a tendency sometimes to almost take for granted, or think it's normal, that so many young people end up in our criminal justice system. It's not normal. It's not what happens in other countries. What is normal is teenagers doing stupid things.

When they describe their youth, these are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different from the mistakes I made, and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made.

The difference is, they did not have the kind of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes. ... That's what strikes me — there but for the grace of God.

Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes ….. what mistakes? Those six inmates were not in prison for getting caught smoking a joint or littering the sidewalk. They are in prison for committing crimes, not for making mistakes. And they are not in prison for “doing stupid things.”

Hitting the wrong key on a computer keyboard is a mistake. Locking your keys inside the car is a mistake. Joyriding in a stolen car is a crime. Selling dope is a crime. Crimes are not mistakes. Criminals may do stupid things while committing a crime, but they’re still committing a crime. When Barack Obama was smoking marijuana, that may have been a stupid thing to do, but he was nevertheless committing a crime, not making a mistake.

Most prison inmates doing hard time for drug offenses are doing so for selling drugs. That’s a serious crime, not a mistake. And, by the way, while the sales of narcotics may be nonviolent, there is a lot of violence associated with the illegal sales of drugs.

When Obama made those 46 commutations, he did not commit a crime, but he may have made a mistake.