It Was Past Time To Go Fat Boy

Richard Cooey, the man who murdered University of Akron students Wendy Offredo and Dawn McCreery 22 years ago was executed today in Ohio. He had claimed his obesity would make his execution by lethal injection inhumane.

Cooey and a co-defendent were convicted of raping and killing Wendy Offredo, 21, and Dawn McCreery, 20, in 1986 while on leave from the US Army. The two men carved the Offredo and McCreery's bodies with a knife after repeatedly raping them and choking and beating them to death.

Soap Box Ravings asks what responsibilities does the State have to the victim(s) of heinous crimes. Did Cooey humanely kill his victims? I think not.

When a person has committed a crime serious enough to call for their execution Soap Box Ravings feels their appeal should be seriously and expeditiously carried out. But Soap Box Ravings also feels that Inmate Cooey should not have been held long enough to gain 70 pounds. Once the review was completed, Cooey should have been executed.

Soap Box Ravings often asks with the bastardization of our criminal system perhaps executions should be banned. Years ago an article in Florida said it cost about 3 million dollars for an appeal and each executed State prisoner had three appeals before they were executed. I am not sure it is worth nine million dollars to execute someone. Perhaps the sentence should be Life Without Parole.

The McCain - Palin Tradition

Soap Box Ravings loves Hank Williams Jr.'s performance of The McCain-Palin Tradition, a take off of his song Family Tradition, which he performed at a McCain-Palin Rally 13 October 2008 in Richmond, VA.

A hearty "Bravo Zulu" Hank for this song.

The words are provided for your pleasure below.

McCain - Palin Tradition
By Hank Williams Jr.


The left wing liberal media have

Always been a real close knit family

But, most of the American People

Don't believe em anyway ya see

Stop and think it over

Before you make your decision

If they smell something wrong

They're gonna come down strong

It's a McCain - Palin tradition


Now this old Union's got problems

That is plain to see

The Democrats bankrupted Fannie Mae N Freddie Mac

Just like one, two, three

The bankers didn't want to make all those bad loans,

But Bill Clinton said you got to

Now they want a bail out, what I'm talking about

Is a Democrat liberal who doo, to me an you



John N Sarah tell ya

Just what they think

And they're not gonna blink

they don't have terrorist friends

to whom there careers are linked

Yes John is his own man

And Sarah fixed Alaska's broken condition

They're gonna do just fine

We're headed for better times

It's a McCain - Palin tradition



I am very proud of our country's name

But no society is perfect And we have had our stains

If I'm down at the coffee shop and

Somebody wants to give our flag friction

We say please move on

We are standing strong

That's an old John McCain tradition



John N Sarah tell ya

Just what they think

And they're not gonna blink

And they're gonna fix this country

Cause they're just like you N ole Hank

Yes John is a maverick

And Sarah fixed Alaska's broken condition

They're gonna do just fine

We're headed for better times

It's a McCain - Palin tradition



Some are bound to tell you I'm

Preaching to the choir

And that is very true

And we are going even higher

Like a mama bear in Idaho

She'll protect your family's condition

If you mess with her cubs

She's gonna take of the gloves

It's an American female tradition



Ya I wanta know Sarah

Why do ya hunt

John why do you fish

How can she be so smart and savvy

Such a hey good - looking dish

Yes John is his own man

And Sarah fixed Alaska's bad condition

Their gonna get it right

We're gonna see the light

It's a McCain-Palin tradition

Until the censors get ahold of it, you can hear this version of The McCain-Palin Tradition on U Tube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S81brjpteDk

One Bad Apple Screws Everything Up

JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN, of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on 10/13/08 that the Pennsylvania parole freeze was bloating the prison population. Knowledgeable prison folks wonder how the system will hold up without the monthly release of 1,100 parolees.

Pennsylvania Governor Rendell halted paroling state inmates, in response to the killing of Philadelphia Police Officer Patrick McDonald by a paroled felon.

Governor Rendell named John S. Goldkamp, head of Temple University's criminal justice department, to do a top-to-bottom review of how the Board of Probation and Parole decides who gets paroled. The Gov.'s spokesman Chuck Ardo said. "Clearly, the danger posed by an error for a citizen outweighs the impact on the system."

Betty Jean Thompson, of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE), said she found the wholesale halt to parole illogical: "If a surgeon kills his patient, we don't stop all surgeries."

The complete article can be found at:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20081013_State_parole_freeze
_bloating_prison_populations.html

Soap Box Ravings says if a surgeon kills his patient perhaps we should stop all of the surgeons surgeries until we identify the cause along with any new precautions to be taken prior to and during surgery.

As a ex-Probation Officer, Soap Box Ravings understands that some incarcerated felons are negatively affected by this. However, they were incarcerated because of their actions and this should be seen as part of their learning experience...for those capable of learning. For those not capable of learning, or those who choose not to learn, they will certainly recycle through the system still believing their problems are someone else's fault.

Soap Box Ravings sends a hearty "Bravo Zulu" to Pennsylvania Governor: Ed Rendell (D)