27 October 2014

The way to abolition of prisons goes via Simon Jenkins

Calling Simon Jenkins "a gift that keeps giving" will be a serious understatement. The man is a natural Horn of Plenty, and I feel sorry I don't follow his writing closely enough. The long and sweet hour of hilarity caused by his ruminations on irresistible attraction caused by what he calls "celebrity buildings" to the terrorists doesn't have to stand alone a whole year, you know.
A World Trade Centre, a Mumbai hotel, a Boston marathon, a Nairobi shopping mall are all enticing to extremists. Defending them is near impossible. Better at least not to create them.
Yeah... sweet as it was, a whole year without something new is too long, so I should make it a habit to check on his output more frequently.

At least one of his recent articles I stumbled upon accidentally, didn't disappoint. The article (in CiF, why not?) is headlined: Oscar Pistorius should not be going to jail and its lede pretty much summarizes the whole:
Pistorius’s life is ruined. No one will be deterred by his sentence. Imprisonment is a brutal response that achieves nothing in such cases.
I want you all to be cautious and to take a few minutes of consideration before you jump in with a harsh response to that statement. Think about it first. And you shall see the light. First of all, it is a cannily crafted and absolutely universal form. The only thing your defense lawyer has to do - to make it a core part of his concluding speech - is to replace "Pistorius’s" by the name of his defendant (you, perhaps). It is the ultimate "get out of jail" card, and I hope you all will print it out and carry it on your body. Because you never know.

Otherwise: I can only sympathize with a commenter haribol there on CiF who said:
This is the biggest load of tosh that Simon has written in a long time. It beggars belief, and I am one of those bleeding heart lefties that think that the criminal justice system is not fit for purpose (worldwide).
No worries, haribol, rest assured Simon will let it rip again fairly soon.

0 comments: