December 13, 2005
Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged
Well, Arnold has taken one horrible person out of circulaton permanently, stating that "The basis of Williams' clemency request is not innocence. Rather, the basis of the request is the "personal redemption Stanley Williams has experienced and the positive impact of the message he sends" (quoting Williams' own clemency reply). But Williams' claim of innocence remains a key factor to evaluating his claim of personal redemption. It is impossible to separate Williams' claim of innocence from his claim of redemption." Really, Tookie should have apologized properly-- it might have done the trick.
Besides Tookie was doing alot of damage from his prison cell, (which he never was expected to leave, by the way) just a sociopath manipulating the public with his ostensible good works -- a real meglomaniac "charlatan". Now we've shown young black men how they will be treated if they are bad, and we have appeased all the righteous who support the death penalty in one fell swoop. A dip in one's approval rating is hardly worth sparing a black man's life, after all. Besides, It will help the families of Tookie's victims feel alot better.
We know that people cannot be redeemed. Well, maybe Kurt Waldheim , but he was, after all, a very popular Austrian, and everyone in Austria is related to someone who joined the Nazi party. Besides if you can't change the Consititution in the U.S. so that you can run for President, there's always a smaller venue. Don't alienate the populace and keep your options open.
People need to pay the price for the crimes of their past, and if you're poor , black, disadvantaged and angry, the price is just a little bit higher.
Photo note: One never knows when a shot of an executioner's weapon will come in handy.
Posted by Dakota at December 13, 2005 06:14 AM