Kate Stewart: US politicians losing battle against crime

WAGING WAR: Bill Clinton went into battle ... and made a few mistakes along the way.

AFTER LAST week I thought I would give you a Bargain Box of my own making ... two tales for the price of one but both themed on crime.

Most United States presidential campaigns have been won on the promise of being tough on crime.

Richard Nixon targeted blacks who were deemed somewhat redundant once they had equal rights; Ronald Reagan waged his war on drugs; for George Bush it was terrorists and immigration; and Bill Clinton, the only one to admit he made mistakes, waged war on all of the above thanks, in part, to the influence of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

This was a highly questionable group of politicians and corporations and it suffered some embarrassing exposure of its inner workings. So much so that many corporate members have now distanced themselves or cut ties completely when newly-passed bills were seen to favour them. An example would be Walmart and its increased gun sales after the Stand Your Ground bill was pushed through.

All candidates preyed on people's fear and promised, through propaganda, to be the saviour.

The self-proclaimed greatest country in the world makes up a mere 5 per cent of the global population yet it houses 25 per cent of the world's prison population.

Methinks their past and present policies aren't proving successful in the land of the free, apart from being extremely profitable for those businesses that elect to piggy-back on crime.

American missile systems are being made in prisons. Brands like Boeing, Coke and Victoria's Secrets have all taken advantage of low cost labour to increase their profits, making them no different to the Third World sweat shops they publicly shame.

No surprise then that current contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both promised to be tough on law and order.

More important is what New Zealand can learn from decades of failed US policy. What matters more - the prisoners or the profit to be made from them? The war on crime is bound to have more casualties.

It's also a crime that it took so long for Bob Dylan to be nominated for a Nobel prize.

I was lucky enough, to spend the best part of a month in the States, following him on his 1988 tour.

What an experience - my third row seat at the Greek, in Hollywood, was a highlight. The bass and lead guitarists were each thrown at least two new guitars from the wings, seldom missing a beat as strings broke. Dylan's strings would also break, but he just kept on playing.

Lyrics aside, how can you not be impressed by his ability to play two different tunes on guitar and harmonica simultaneously. And they say men can't multi-task!

He endeared himself to me further when quizzed on who he would most like to be for a day ... he replied Leonard Cohen.

My favourite Dylan album is Desire, with backing vocals by Emmy-Lou Harris and songs such as One More Cup Of Coffee and Isis. Back then the latter wasn't such a questionable word to use in one's writings.

I'm probably flagged as a terrorist now, so shall finish here and prepare for my imminent arrest and incarceration. Prison penpals welcome via investik8@gmail.com.

- Kate Stewart is an unemployed, reluctant mother-of-three, currently on the run from government forces.