Election 2016 & The Rise Of Propaganda In America

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The attacks on the planet, civil liberties and human rights are at the core of the American profit-driven, hierarchically-based governing system. While the ultra-rich keep prospering, large swaths of the population are disenfranchised. The tenures of Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic President Bill Clinton largely fortified and accelerated these assaults, exemplifying the bipartisan collusion of the elites against regular Americans.

Much has been written about the unprecedented inequality in the United States. An additional marker of a society in crisis is the status of the mental health of its population. With policies that have led to the privatization of prisons and health care, the deregulation of an already privatized pharmaceutical industry and a defunding of public mental health clinics, the nation is currently plagued by a mental health crisis that is reflected in a devastating heroin epidemic.

But how can a system maintain legitimacy while riddled with such gross corruption and inequality?

Virginia Woman Dies After Being Tased, Placed In Restraints & Hood

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On February 3rd, a 5’3″, 130 pound Virginia woman was killed after six deputies tased her before locking her in restraints with an anti-spitting hood over her head. Natasha McKenna, who was 37 years old and suffered from schizophrenia from a young age, went into cardiac arrest before ever leaving the jail and later died at the hospital.

McKenna called 911 on January 25th to report she had been assaulted. After she was taken to the hospital for an examination, police realized they had a warrant for her arrest stemming from an alleged assault against an officer.

With the warrant in one hand and McKenna in the other, Alexandria police took her to jail on the 26th. McKenna remained in that jail for the next several days waiting to be transferred. Her condition deteriorated rapidly. By February 3rd, when six sheriff’s deputies lined up outside her cell in body armor, McKenna resisted and a struggle ensued. It was then she was tasered and would eventually die.

Conflict Of Interest Brewing As Ohio Confronts Prison Overcrowding

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Ohio’s prison system is facing a severe overcrowding crisis. With facilities hovering around 130% capacity, prison chief Gary Mohr considered declaring an overcrowding emergency for the first time in the state’s history. This would have granted early release to prisoners nearing the end of their sentences, but those plans were inexplicably scuttled less than a month ago. It was unclear what the alternative strategy would be until Governor John Kasich released his budget proposal last week.

Kasich’s proposal calls for increasing the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) budget from $1.62 billion to $1.72 billion by 2017. It also doubles the budget for prisoner addiction services and commits $58 million to pursuing sentencing alternatives for low-level, nonviolent offenders over the next two years.

While a final budget has yet to be approved by the state legislature, the proposed increases put Director Mohr in a position that deserves serious scrutiny.

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