The audio is bad, but the video gives a sense of the rush of the media get their story and Browne's love of playing them.
Driving home from the courthouse I heard Aaron Selbig on KUDO saying things like, "I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy whatsoever for Kohring. He violated the public trust, his constituents..." Aaron's not the only one.
Kohring sold out his constituents and the people of Alaska. I have no tolerance for what he did. But he is also a human being. I was sorry to hear Aaron's retributive ranting. I understand the righteous outrage he feels. But Kohring has been tried and convicted and will go to prison. Save that anger for the people who are still out there violating the public trust. Go after them. As I get older, I know that the total lack of compassion Aaron expressed simply perpetuates the win/lose, the us/them mentality that keeps us stagnant as a society. So, if Aaron gets his way, we'll have 'us versus them' Democrats doing the same thing in the state legislature? No doubt retribution is a natural instinct. But as we grow up we learn to positively channel those instincts that still survive in our amygdalas.
I was hoping KUDO would offer an alternative to testosterone radio mired in playground behavior and ideas. Retributive justice as we practice it in the US has gotten our prison population up to 2.24 million people. People that we pay to house and feed. People who aren't contributing to society, aren't working to help restore their victims. What's wrong with our society that we have such a relatively high percentage of our population in prison? KUDO should be asking these bigger questions and exploring alternatives like restorative justice. We should be figuring out why people have taken this path, how to divert people starting on that path, and how to help the Kohrings learn to give instead of only to take. Selbig wasn't modeling the kind of behavior we'd like Kohring to have. And, yes I realize that there are some people who will never be rehabilitated and we have to find ways to keep them from harming others. There are psychopaths out there. But they didn't choose to be born without a conscience any more than the rest of us chose to have that part of our brain functioning.
Having sympathy for a human being who is hurt does NOT mean one excuses that person for the wrongs he has committed,. Instead of lashing out at him for our own faults we may see in him, or because we can't deal with people like him who directly affect our own lives, or whatever reasons, it seems more practical and decent to recognize that we too are fallible; that we should deal with the Kohrings who directly affect us. Not through safely beating up on already injured person, but by taking more control of our own lives. Aaron use those stones to build something not to pick on a man who is already down.
Gimme a break! Vic is a CRIMINAL who refuses to recognize the reality of his behavior. I agree that he needs rehabilitation, but it won't happen until he admits that what he did was WRONG.
ReplyDeleteAaron, me, and everyone else is damned right to be angry and demand retribution from these criminals that violated the public trust and their oaths of office. They gave alway BILLIONS of our oil money to the oil companies!
And the Fred Jameses of Mat-su will continue to defend their behavior and contend that they were railroaded? Too bad. It's about time that reality hit them upside the head & they got a clue.
Vic showed NO compassion for battered women who needed funding for shelters, for poor kids who needed publicly funded medical care from the SCHIP program, or for seniors who suddenly had their longevity bonus that they had been promised and that they counted on when they retired. I'll be damned if I'll show him any compassion. If he wants comfort, let him hug his wingnut ideology.
Maybe some time in Lompoc will teach HIM some compassion. I'll have compassion when the right wingnuts stop pissing on the honest guys like Les Garas and Hollis French by calling them "socialists" and "commies".
Your blog of today is valuable for each and evey Alaskan that cares about our future and has witnessed the "horror of Juneau" and importance of placing their political party above and beyond their duty. Your statements deserve to be published as a Compass piece for statewide distribution.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the excellent coverage of this trial.
I think you are right. No matter what, someone's life is a mess and he's having time taken from him.
ReplyDeleteI admired his stoic attitude.
Vic Kohring wanted to be in the legislature. He spent countless hours and a great deal of money to achieve that goal. And he kept wanting to stay there. He complained that he wasn't paid enough, and yet he spent thousands of dollars to keep the job. Instead of looking after the interests of his constituents, he chose to do the bidding of special interests. He took money from the special interests. A jury found him guilty. It seems there's nothing real special about this story. He was weak, he sold out people for money.
ReplyDeleteHe's not a hero, not a tragic figure. Just weak.
As I get older I am trying to be less judgemental...trying...not meeting all my goals yet. That being said I will leave it up to the jury to judge this man--not I. My only hope is that these recent convictions may prevent someone else of power from becoming corrupt. Justice has spoken.
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