The Passion of the Comments
I’m always interested by the personal stories that show up in the comments here on WashingtonWatch.com. It’s a window onto people’s experiences in some of their most difficult times. Here’s a sampling.
On H.R. 261, The Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act of 2007, a thirteen-year-old shares the sadness of having a father in prison:
My Dad is the closest person to me in the world. I didnt even know it was possible to love somebody so much. He is a great person and an even better Dad. He made the wrong decision like everyone else he IS human. I just dont beleive it is a fair punishment to take someone away from there family if what they did didnt affect anyone. He did make a mistake and he ALSO learned from it. Being taken away from your family is one of the worst things you can do to someone.
H.R. 5454 would establish a presumption that veterans who suffer amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have a service-connected disease. One widow writes of her experience:
MY HUSBAND . . . WAS [diagnosed] WITH-ALS-MARCH 2, 2006, PASSED AWAY JULY 2, 2006. THIS DISEASE IS A DEATH SENTENCE. HE APPLIED FOR VA BENEFITS-NEVER GOT ANY HELP. HE COULDN’T EVEN GET AN APPT. WITH A DOCTOR AT VA FOR 4-6-WEEKS!!!
HE SERVED 14-MONTHS IN SEOUL, KOREA FROM 1970-1972. HE WAS ONLY 61 YEARS OLD.
I HAVE APPLIED FOR BURIAL BENEFITS-BUT HAVE BEEN DENIED.
Not all the comments should engender our sympathy. H.R. 5722, The International Megan’s Law of 2008 would mandate reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and other sex offenders intending to engage in international travel. It has someone who identifies as “Level 1 Offender” very angry:
I wished I had known what would come of being human. You - self-righteous monster creators - I damn you all to hell and, if I had my way I would kill you all with the simple push of a button. Humans are no better than dogs when banded together. Before I die, my 1st Amen. rights will be served. If I am lucky, then you who have done this to me, and those who think “they are so right,” I look forward to the day you all die a miserable, intensely painful death. “God Almighty - make them all suffer - even their damned forsaken children forever to hell!”
Not a happy day for this character.
It’s all the part of the passion of the comments.
Commentor
Regarding the Level 1 sex offender and his anger. One level one sex offense is indecent exposure. One can violate this law by urinating in the woods with no witnesses to the act, but with a mere admission of “guilt” to a police officer. For this heinous crime many people are now forbidden to live and work some arbitrary distance from various locals supported by the tax dollars exacted from sex offenders. There was a time when a criminal paid his debt and served his sentence and was no longer punished afterwards. There was a time when ex post facto punishments were unlawful, and now when victims of these new ex post facto punishments choose to expatriate and leave their country of birth, government says they cannot leave. I hope these people don’t decide life is simply not worth living and like your poster above decide that “society” is to blame and should be punished. This new law appears to say that The People don’t want sex offenders to leave! Personally I think they should not only be encouraged to leave, we should buy them plane tickets to the country of their choice!
STUPID LAW!