You might remember the story of Ethan Couch. He is a young Texan delinquent who slammed his truck into four people while intoxicated, killing all of them. The judge, citing the fact that he was a minor, gave him ten years of probation. His expensive attorneys created a new defense strategy; “affluenza.” They said that he was a victim of being a child of a very wealthy family.

Last year a video was revealed of Couch at a party drinking heavily in violation of his probation. His mother took Couch to Mexico in an effort to avoid incarceration. They were both returned to the United States, and he is now going to serve time in jail.

Couch celebrated his 19^th birthday on Monday, and was therefore tried in ‘adult court.’ Yesterday he was sentenced to 180 days for each of the four people he killed. This is how Texas punishes a rich scumbag.

I can only imagine what punishment would have been consigned to a young black man in Texas who committed the same crime. He would never see freedom again, and might have possibly been added to the growing number of men on death row.

Republicans deny that our nation’s criminal justice system needs a complete revision. Of course they also deny that law enforcement acts differently towards black men and women than it does to whites. But denying facts is nothing new for conservatives who would like to make America a ‘white’s only’ society, but only if they promised to wear the label of ‘Christian.’

Republican voters must leave their party. The GOP has become a national embarrassment. Regardless of who they nominate, they will not offer a qualified candidate for the presidency.

Independents are the only group who can offer America a future. Republican politicians have only one interest in the voting public, and that is your vote. Once they achieve a position in public office, the general public is of no concern to them. They represent special interests. Polls prove that they ignore the wishes of the majority, all the while telling the American people what to believe and what to think.

Ethan Couch should have received 20 years for each person’s life he took. Justice is not blind; it sees the size of a wallet.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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