Crime: Lock 'Em Up!And Throw Away the Key

With outraged Americans saying that crime is their No. 1 concern, politicans are again talking tough. But are they talking sense?

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT these kids (monsters) who kill with guns??? Line them up against the wall and get a firing squad and pull, pull, pull. I am volunteering to pull, pull, pull."

That's not a rap lyric. It's from an anonymous letter to a judge in Dade County, Florida -- part of the shared unconscious talking. And suddenly we're all ears. In one of the most startling spikes in the history of polling, large numbers of Americans are abruptly calling crime their greatest concern. Confronted by clear evidence of a big issue, politicians everywhere, including the one...

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