crime prevention, vegas style

I guess since they can't prosecute businesses for grand theft out there, they have to get their kicks somehow. But they found a good way to do it.
Here we have a government official actually proposing some real punishment. "'I'm saying maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb,' the mayor added. 'That may be the right thing to do.'" Enough of this slap on the wrist stuff. It's kinda hard to use a spray paint can when ya ain't got a thumb to hold it with, eh? And he goes on to say "whippings or canings should be brought back for children who get into trouble." I like this Oscar Goodman feller. Anyone who drops those lines and then adds "I'm dead serious" just to make sure folks get the idea is one cool dude. Same vein as Tom Tancredo if a bit more extreme. You want to deal with some malefactors? Give 'em something to really be afraid of and they'll play nice. Or at least they'll only break that law once. Okay, they have two thumbs, but no more than twice.

Think about it this way. When I speed (i.e., when I drive) the opposing threat is the negligible chance that I fly by a cop and he pulls me over and he gives me a ticket or warning. Yeah, some deterrent. But if I knew the cops would impound my car if I got caught, I ain't speedin' if there's one cop in the entire state. That's a threat with teeth. Again, if you want to play games and just slow crime down slightly, you impose weak penalties that people scoff at. If you want to stop crime, you give people a good reason to obey the law.

Gotta love that Old World justice, baby. It's fantastic!