From the October 2008 Idaho Observer:

Blinded by the lies

The IO has become the most anticipated and passed around media here at the FSL in Elkton, Ohio. Many other inmates and I count on The IO as a source of reliable information on our dysfunctional government.

Those of us who have been subjected to prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice can state with authority that the executive branch is out of control. Yet, the average citizen doesn’t have a clue. During this presidential election cycle, there has been an endless barrage of interviews with McCain and Obama but have seen only one interview with Ron Paul and one with Bob Barr. While Paul and Barr attempted to bring common sense patriotism into the debate, Obama and McCain drown their voices in an endless barrage of lies and useless rhetoric.

It’s too bad that a large portion of the American public has been shielded from the only viable alternative candidates. Could it be that the cozy relationship between government and the mainstream media has practically guaranteed the election of one or the other pro-globalist, pro-socialist candidates?

In your July edition, another reader, Deen Manning, wrote that where he is incarcerated only one small American flag was visible to the inmates. Here, there isn’t even one. Could it be that the Bureau of Prisons thinks that displaying the American flag to inmates would be too provocative? We’re with you, Deen.

Patriotism does not end when your prison sentence begins. For some of us, prosecution, conviction and prison has been a wakeup call.

The federal justice system needs reform. The country is not safer because the Congress declares a new war on some social ill and creates new classes of criminals with each passing legislative session.

We need to reinstate the federal parole system and convince elected officials to support enhanced good time calculations and stop sending people to prison for victimless crimes.

The American people must begin reminding public officials that their only purpose is to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and protect us from excessive government regulation.