G
Gandalf Grey
Guest
Good For New Jersey
By Brady Bonk
Created Dec 17 2007 - 9:41am
There are people in these Untied States who will picket and go to pieces
over a zygote who couldn't care less that there are full grown men and women
scheduled to be pumped full of poison and killed on purpose.
I do not understand these people. I actually believe them to be mentally
ill.
So, here's a sentence I thought I'd never in my life put down on paper:
Bravo to New Jersey for instantly becoming the most enlightened state in the
nation.
With Gov. Corzine's signature this morning, New Jersey has abolished the
death penalty. Bravo to the state for ridding itself of this barbaric,
un-American practice.
That's right. "Un-American."
We are told when we're growing up that we are a noble society forged in
revolution, and that, as such, many good men and women gave their lives for
the ideal of liberty. We are socialized early to the notion that, as
Americans, liberty is such a sacrosanct ideal that we should cherish it more
preciously than life itself. We are, in fact, now told by our own current
president that 3,894 U.S. soldiers have given their lives for the ideal of
liberty in Iraq.
The worst, most horrific punishment a society that claims to so adore
liberty should be able to mete out should be deprivation of liberty. If
liberty truly meant more to us than life itself, then we would consider the
ultimate punishment to be life in prison, not death.
A society that practices capital punishment values life more than liberty,
by definition. In that society, Patrick Henry's dramatic pronouncement is no
more than myth.
Which America do you want to live in?
New Jersey had more practical concerns. A state commission had found that
".the death penalty was a more expensive sentence than life in prison,
hasn't deterred murder and risks killing an innocent person."
There are of course many other objections one can find to state-sanctioned
killing. It is cruel and has the potential to be unusually so-if, for
example, the executioners cannot find a vein, or if the drugs do not have
the expected effect, or if the shiny new electric chair instead makes blood
spurt out of your body or flames shoot out of your head, for instance, all
things which have actually happened during attempted executions. There is no
"humane" way to kill a person. None.
The death penalty is racially biased and therefore continues this country's
long history of injustice toward other people based on race. It creates new
murder victims, the families of the condemned; it does not actually deter
the worst crimes, often committed in the heat of passion; it does not
actually create closure for victims; and it actually weakens the stance of
the state, morally, ethically. Ending the life of someone you've already
convicted and incarcerated does not show toughness on crime. Not really.
Also: Is it not possible that putting someone to death before they have a
chance to feel guilty and tortured and remorseful of their own actions is
actually doing them a favor?
No siree bob. New Jersey is right on this one, and it has just become the
most enlightened state in these Untied States. And which political party do
you think is the one that led them to it? Hmmmmm?
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Brady Bonk
Created Dec 17 2007 - 9:41am
There are people in these Untied States who will picket and go to pieces
over a zygote who couldn't care less that there are full grown men and women
scheduled to be pumped full of poison and killed on purpose.
I do not understand these people. I actually believe them to be mentally
ill.
So, here's a sentence I thought I'd never in my life put down on paper:
Bravo to New Jersey for instantly becoming the most enlightened state in the
nation.
With Gov. Corzine's signature this morning, New Jersey has abolished the
death penalty. Bravo to the state for ridding itself of this barbaric,
un-American practice.
That's right. "Un-American."
We are told when we're growing up that we are a noble society forged in
revolution, and that, as such, many good men and women gave their lives for
the ideal of liberty. We are socialized early to the notion that, as
Americans, liberty is such a sacrosanct ideal that we should cherish it more
preciously than life itself. We are, in fact, now told by our own current
president that 3,894 U.S. soldiers have given their lives for the ideal of
liberty in Iraq.
The worst, most horrific punishment a society that claims to so adore
liberty should be able to mete out should be deprivation of liberty. If
liberty truly meant more to us than life itself, then we would consider the
ultimate punishment to be life in prison, not death.
A society that practices capital punishment values life more than liberty,
by definition. In that society, Patrick Henry's dramatic pronouncement is no
more than myth.
Which America do you want to live in?
New Jersey had more practical concerns. A state commission had found that
".the death penalty was a more expensive sentence than life in prison,
hasn't deterred murder and risks killing an innocent person."
There are of course many other objections one can find to state-sanctioned
killing. It is cruel and has the potential to be unusually so-if, for
example, the executioners cannot find a vein, or if the drugs do not have
the expected effect, or if the shiny new electric chair instead makes blood
spurt out of your body or flames shoot out of your head, for instance, all
things which have actually happened during attempted executions. There is no
"humane" way to kill a person. None.
The death penalty is racially biased and therefore continues this country's
long history of injustice toward other people based on race. It creates new
murder victims, the families of the condemned; it does not actually deter
the worst crimes, often committed in the heat of passion; it does not
actually create closure for victims; and it actually weakens the stance of
the state, morally, ethically. Ending the life of someone you've already
convicted and incarcerated does not show toughness on crime. Not really.
Also: Is it not possible that putting someone to death before they have a
chance to feel guilty and tortured and remorseful of their own actions is
actually doing them a favor?
No siree bob. New Jersey is right on this one, and it has just become the
most enlightened state in these Untied States. And which political party do
you think is the one that led them to it? Hmmmmm?
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson