Officially, Arnold Schwarzenegger has condemned a human being to death in real life, as opposed to just pretending to do it in movies. Tookie sounds like a bad dude, and in addition to the murders he was convicted of perpetrating, the legacy of founding the Crips, a gang responsible for hundreds of deaths over the years, is probably unforgivable. But if ever there were a convict who was rehabilitated, who had tried to atone for his crimes with positive action, it's this guy, Tookie Williams. By executing him, I think the US is sending a message to its citizens and to the world that the US Prison System isn't going to feed the public a line of BS anymore. There is no intention, nor was there ever any, in "rehabilitating" convicts. The purpose of prisons in this country is, exclusively, to punish individuals for crimes they've committed (or been convicted of committing) and to render them useless as people once they've finished serving their "debt to society". This convict in particular, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was rehabilitated, and for his efforts, he will be murdered himself. I think the death penalty is on its way out in this country -- I hate to see Arnold kowtowing to his conservative base and allowing one of the last state-sanctioned murders in the US to take place in his state.I don't believe for a second that it wasn't a hard choice for Arnold to make. I just wish he'd opted for mercy instead of vengeance. I know he'd be sleeping better tonight if he had.
4 comments:
so true...so true
I sure hope the death penalty doesn't go away for good in this country. To put another man to death is, well, something we pretend is a bit more drastic than it really is. I know, that sounds pretty horrible, but consider this. A person on death row isn’t necessarily a good person – they did something horrible to get there. Tookie “Monster” Williams isn’t a good person. I don’t care what he’s accomplished in his later life; he’s done terrible things in his youth. What if John Wayne Gacey (I know, that was too easy) decided to do good in his later life -- I’m talking ‘Jesus’ good, too – should we let him off? Or is the death part that bothers you? You’d feel okay about it as long as Tookie was alive and living the rest of his years behind bars? Yeah?
Clemency is great for those that get the occasional speeding ticket. It’s great for those otherwise calm and rational citizens who engaged in a onetime bout of disorderly conduct or social indecency or the like. Hell, the guy who moons someone in public has to register as a sex offender. Let’s show that guy some clemency, please. But a murderer? Nah. A gang member? Nope. Let’s put them to death. What’s the big deal, anyways? Look at all the jerks in this world. Hell, look at all the leeching homeless! It’s high time we start tucking our little dirty secrets (aka the homeless) away at night, permanently – but I digress. No, seriously, come on, some people deserve to die, and I think a society has a right to select who, whether or not a minority of them believe it to be wrong. What do you think, Crane? I know you’re a liberal. Let me have it. I want to hear the blood squirting from your heart!
He maintained his innocence therefore was not reformed. Kill em.
Right!
Post a Comment