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Thursday, December 28, 2006
9 comments:
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Anonymous said...
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"Saddam bids family farewell, hanging date unclear."
Rodg ain't gonna like this, but here goes.
Don't kill people. For these reasons, all of which stand alone:
1. They may be innocent (well, in Saddam's case, this doesn't hold).
2. There is hell. Best to repent here on earth (ya ya, I'm cutting it short, but there's a chance Hussein may).
3. The state (in this case, the Iraqi and US) that imposes the penalty. I am a member of the state: I have no wish to become a killer, not now, not ever. Don't drag me down to his level.
Discuss. -
12/29/06, 1:15 AM
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Anonymous said...
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It might make you forget your woes but you'll never forget your wodadendrun.
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12/29/06, 6:04 AM
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Anonymous said...
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I have wrestled with the death penalty some. There are a great many Americans that do not or did not want to kill anyone. I do not want to kill. But in defense of yourself and society some folks have been forced to take that action. We live in a constitutional republic the vast majority of people want the death penalty and they elect people to there political bodies that reflect that desire and despite the claims that the death penalty is not a deterrant I know for a fact it is in many cases.
One being a man that comitted an armed robbery and the victim acidentally saw his face when his mask slipped. The investigating officer asked him why he did not kill his victim and his response was That he knew the state had just recently signed the death penalty back into law. Another example was a young man that wrote his parents a letter to them in Kentucky while he was visiting Knoxville Tennesee he had just witnessed a public hanging it was around 1894 the criminal was hung in the Market Square Mall. I read the letter it was reprinted in a newspaper and you could feel the deterant effect seeing this event had on the young man. Now when you come across an individual that has tossed all respect for life even his own out the window no nothing is a deterrant but for many it is. It is I regret to say an ugly part of humanity. -
12/29/06, 6:29 AM
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Anonymous said...
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Alear,
Hang him high, hang him soon, hang him publicly. The tormented population under Saddam's wicked reign of cruelty, need to know that this monster will not be resurrected to power and seek their heads on sticks.
Similar to Jack Hamilton's law enforcement background, my husband has spent the last 21yrs working state corrections facilities, including maximum security, administrative segregation, and death rows. He has seen the revolving door of habitual criminal behavior, i.e. recidivism. The death penalty, especially in the case of Saddam Hussein, is necessary and required for public safety. It is my opinion that the people of Iraq need to witness his death for their ability to move forward.
We will be flying cross country today returning home. I hope there are no murderers set free along our path. -
12/29/06, 9:21 AM
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Anonymous said...
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Death penalty too lenient.
Real issue is whether he should be turned over to Shi'ite or Kurdish women.
Bet either group could keep him alive for years to come. In reduced circumstances, with salt on. -
12/29/06, 10:46 AM
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Anonymous said...
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I hold with General Sherman (another Buckeye), "Kill them all. The Lord knows his own."
Casca -
12/29/06, 12:15 PM
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Anonymous said...
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If your dog has rabies what would you do? There is no cure for rabies, and the dog is a threat to all around him. No matter how much you love the dog, and care for the dog, the fact is that the dog is diseased and broken. There is only one solution.
As a nation built on hope, we retain hope for individuals even when others have given up. That is what makes us a great nation. But, it clouds our judgement when we must deal with those among us who have lost (or never had) the morality to control their animal impulses. Rehabilitation retains the hope of repentance and reform, punishment acknowledges the failure of the individual to be a good citizen. The death penalty is the ultimate acknowledgement that there is no hope for a particular individual.
This conflict between rehabilitation and punishment, hope and judgement, has been the source of much tumult and confusion within our justice system. Some people want to ensure that the system never loses hope for the individual, regardless of the cost in treasure and sweat. They choose to never pass judgement on another person, whether from weak mindedness or good heartedness.
Our justice system recognizes this inherent sense of hope, and ensures that our the most broken among us are (so far) punished for their crimes. As a group we make the decision that this person is beyond rehabilitation, and the process carries that judgement to it's conclusion. Admittedly, the influence of those who cling to hope has slowed the system in recent years, but it still works for the most part.
The key to these punitive measures is that is the state that does the executing, not an individual or a self-appointed group of some type. The will of the people is carried out by an entity that is governed by law, not emotions.
While the impersonal nature of the state presiding over a death seems wrong, is that not the correct way to impose such a penalty? To my mind, it is much more desirable to have a punishment administered by an entity free from emotional involvment than it would be for passion and hate to drive the punishment.
The remarkable thing about the Saddam execution will be that it is carried out by the state, as part of a process of law that protected the rights of the accused and reviewed it's decision twice more before the sentence can be carried out. This is a huge step forward for a nation that executed it's citizens on the whim and word of those in power. The rule of law is exercising it's power over the most powerful Iraqi alive. What does that say to Iraqi's about their new government?
I believe the the execution of Saddam is neccessary and good on multiple levels, and that his demise may actually be a significant turning point for Iraq and the US. Do it, now, and don't ever feel guilty for it.
Chuck...who has been there and seen the horrors that @%$&@&! did to his nation and his people -
12/29/06, 2:08 PM
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Anonymous said...
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3. Demonstrate that there are "levels" and that you currently occupy a relatively high level from which you may be dragged down to a lower one.
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12/29/06, 2:38 PM
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Anonymous said...
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Mr. Munger,
Saddam is a killer. A given fact. I am not (you'll have to trust me on this). To say that we're not on different levels would be to slip into some moral equivalency. No dice friend.
Meanwhile,
"Official: Saddam to Be Executed Tonight"
This makes me uneasy, queasy.
However, today on the Corner,
Andrew McCarthy raises a very cogent point. I need time to consider this, please.
Scroll down to "Re: Nobody Favors Saddam's Execution ", not sure how to get the permalink. -
12/29/06, 7:53 PM
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