The title of my very first blog, on December 13th 2005, was 'Another Death In Paradise'. It was the morning that Stanley 'Tookie' Williams was put to death by the state of California, and one more killing would follow in January 2006, before a moratorium took effect.
There are tons of statistics relating to crime rates - but for me, two stand out. Between 2006 and 2009 (which are the stats I could find) the population of California has risen every year, and the murder rate statewide dropped each year.
No politician who has even the slightest grasp on reality can believe that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder. But regrettably, no politician who has the slightest grasp on electoral success can afford to oppose this American lifestyle, which we share in common with some countries we wouldn't even want to have dinner with.
At the end of August, three innocent men were released from prison in Arkansas, one of them from the isolation of Death Row. They had been incarcerated since they were teenagers for the horrific slaughter of three small boys whose bodies were found in a wooded area near their homes. Known as the West Memphis 3, these men were released after tireless efforts on their behalf, but the state of Arkansas still had one more cruel trick to play on them before they could walk free. The men agreed to a plea agreement in which they could maintain their innocence while still agreeing that the state had enough evidence to have convicted them.The other part of the deal was that they could not sue the state for wrongful imprisonment.
Damien Echols sat on Death Row for 18 years, as inmates were taken past his cell to their executions.
And the brutal murders of three young boys snatched from the living are as yet unsolved.
Executions (aside from federally imposed ones, as in the case, for example, of Timothy McVeigh) are a state's rights issue, though it is beyond me how anyone can discuss 'America' as if it were somehow a united country when Capital Punishment exists in any one of the 50 states. And that brings me to my point. It would seem now that the Republican Party will be stuck with a deeply conservative candidate for President, and if it does miraculously end up with the more moderate candidate, Mitt Romney, that he like McCain before him will be forced into a Palin like choice for VP. That is the depth of the polarity and division this country now faces.
Obama, through his own actions, and through the determined efforts of the rightwing, has become the most polarising President in memory. But as Rick Perry's star keeps rising from the drought and destruction of the state of Texas, the prospect of a Death Penalty fanatic as a Presidential nominee becomes more real by the day. In fact, it could be that only Sarah Palin's entry into the race could eclipse him. It will be a great day in these un-United States when a national politician can say 'I oppose the Death Penalty' and get elected. Meanwhile, let me leave you with Perry's view on the subject:
“If you don’t support the death penalty and citizens packing a pistol, don’t come to Texas.”
Rick, I won't come to Texas if you promise not to leave.
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