The truth is that I paid very attention to the White Water scandal, the Clintons and the McDougals. At the time that the whole Clinton scandal was coming to a head, I was very unsympathetic to Clinton and I considered them all crooks.

On npr's Dianne Rheem show, Dianne interviewed Susan McDougal and I was floored by the interview. Of course she presented her side of the story, which I believe. But what bothered me were the prison stories that she had and how women are treated in prisons. It sounded so bad that it doesn't even sound like America. Regardless of if you think whe was deserving of prison or not, there is no reason for her to be placed in isolation for months, she did not murder anyone. Also the stories she told about many of the women in prison is enough to give anyone pause.

In the parable about the sheep and goats, many people who thought that they were deserving of Heaven were counted among the goats. When they asked why, XT told them that when he was in prison they did not visit him. Susan McDougal's story is, I think, a call to do something for prisoners, especially many women in prison who need help. The point is not do away with jails, but to make them more humane. There is no reason that scores of mentally ill women should be locked up in isolation and live in despicable conditions that show little difference with the horrors of third world jails.