Christmas Mix Tapes and the Death Penalty
One thing is certain…
Anyhow, grading my ass off. I could use less ass. (ooh, the grammar check option for “less ass” was “fewer asses” – my grammar check just doesn’t understand me) I’ve got to send Josh my mailing address because I wanna get some of that Christmas mix tape. Kim is going to bust my balls because I’m always complaining about her Christmas music being mixed in my record collection – but she deserves to bust me out once in awhile. Shit, she deserves access to free legal council…it is not easy being married to me and I’m lucky she doesn’t explore her options. I don’t mind taking some heat for the mix tape – they’re usually pretty good…the fall one is still in my dopey iPod and I love it. When I’m working at hhe and I’M THE BOMB comes on – I feel like the coolest man at the corner of 1st Street and Lincoln Hwy.
I’m fascinated by the Tookie Williams last ditch appeal for clemency thing. Would Arnold say: “Asta la vista Tookie” - if he could? I’m sorry. I am actually one of those Catholics who is more concerned (wrong word) about the death penalty than other culture of death/culture of life issues. And my "concerns" do not stem from liberal leanings – or they are not part of the leftover, near defunct – definitely incoherent Brennan-esque judicial theory regarding the death penalty as unconstitutional – there’s more bullshit put into that than I could put into this blog in a lifetime. By the way, that’s saying something isn’t it? Even former Supreme Court Justices and their intellectual heirs – who I do not hold in high regard, or I cheerfully make fun of them at every opportunity – I respect them for the amount of bullshit they can fill the world with…uh, with which they fill the world – dammit.
Anyhow – the death penalty…Bill Garver and I watched tv late the night Gacy’s death sentence was carried out. When the Attorney General (uh, I think it was the AG, I forget) came out and said: “The People of the State of Illinois’ sentence was carried out at 12:05am…” – my heart sunk. Now Gacy – I’m not going to say what he deserved or didn’t deserve…and I wouldn’t argue with someone who says – he deserves the worst punishment we can give him. But, my name is on his death sentence. That creeps me out. The death penalty was carried out in my name…and to the extent that I do nothing about it – I don’t know…I’m sort of responsible for each one carried out. Even Timothy McVey(sp?) – if the death penalty was made for anyone – it was made for him – attacking a Federal building is like attacking all of us – Sirhan Sirhan (sp? sp?) too…whatever one thinks about Bobby or any of the friggin’ Kennedys – he voted for everyone in 1968 (and got his assed saved by the bogus judicial theory)…
…but when I watched the report that the sentence was carried out against McVey – I felt emptiness. No wonder my dad calls me a wuss.
Maybe, before Tookie Williams’ death sentence is carried out – he will say something about Crip on Crip violence.
That is a thought more worthy of this blog…and vice versa.
Anyhow, grading my ass off. I could use less ass. (ooh, the grammar check option for “less ass” was “fewer asses” – my grammar check just doesn’t understand me) I’ve got to send Josh my mailing address because I wanna get some of that Christmas mix tape. Kim is going to bust my balls because I’m always complaining about her Christmas music being mixed in my record collection – but she deserves to bust me out once in awhile. Shit, she deserves access to free legal council…it is not easy being married to me and I’m lucky she doesn’t explore her options. I don’t mind taking some heat for the mix tape – they’re usually pretty good…the fall one is still in my dopey iPod and I love it. When I’m working at hhe and I’M THE BOMB comes on – I feel like the coolest man at the corner of 1st Street and Lincoln Hwy.
I’m fascinated by the Tookie Williams last ditch appeal for clemency thing. Would Arnold say: “Asta la vista Tookie” - if he could? I’m sorry. I am actually one of those Catholics who is more concerned (wrong word) about the death penalty than other culture of death/culture of life issues. And my "concerns" do not stem from liberal leanings – or they are not part of the leftover, near defunct – definitely incoherent Brennan-esque judicial theory regarding the death penalty as unconstitutional – there’s more bullshit put into that than I could put into this blog in a lifetime. By the way, that’s saying something isn’t it? Even former Supreme Court Justices and their intellectual heirs – who I do not hold in high regard, or I cheerfully make fun of them at every opportunity – I respect them for the amount of bullshit they can fill the world with…uh, with which they fill the world – dammit.
Anyhow – the death penalty…Bill Garver and I watched tv late the night Gacy’s death sentence was carried out. When the Attorney General (uh, I think it was the AG, I forget) came out and said: “The People of the State of Illinois’ sentence was carried out at 12:05am…” – my heart sunk. Now Gacy – I’m not going to say what he deserved or didn’t deserve…and I wouldn’t argue with someone who says – he deserves the worst punishment we can give him. But, my name is on his death sentence. That creeps me out. The death penalty was carried out in my name…and to the extent that I do nothing about it – I don’t know…I’m sort of responsible for each one carried out. Even Timothy McVey(sp?) – if the death penalty was made for anyone – it was made for him – attacking a Federal building is like attacking all of us – Sirhan Sirhan (sp? sp?) too…whatever one thinks about Bobby or any of the friggin’ Kennedys – he voted for everyone in 1968 (and got his assed saved by the bogus judicial theory)…
…but when I watched the report that the sentence was carried out against McVey – I felt emptiness. No wonder my dad calls me a wuss.
Maybe, before Tookie Williams’ death sentence is carried out – he will say something about Crip on Crip violence.
That is a thought more worthy of this blog…and vice versa.
posted by edP | 7:14 AM
12 Comments:
Time to divulge your beefs* with the Supreme Court. It seems to be a leitmotif running through your undergarments and I need specifics.
*It is the birthright of any midwesterner to pluralize things that do not need pluralization, e.g. "beers," "Jewels"...though I suspect Jewels may be posessive: "I'm goin' out ta Jewel's for some sassage."
At the time of Gacy's execution (May '94) I was writing for Insight (the WCC paper). A car load of us went down to check out the scene outside Statesville Penitentiary during the execution.
It was fucking INSANE.
I saw a redneck shove over a nun who was there protesting the execution. The pro-execution crowd was attacking anyone who wasn't celebrating. Our group got tagged as Gacy sympathizers for being "impartial", and not screaming for blood. My friend Jeff is confined to a wheelchair - they kept pushing him around and whooping. I got swung on by some drunk. The six of us had to book out of there pretty quickly after Gacy was dead. It was ugly.
Holy crap! Now I feel like a bigger wuss for talking about my reaction to the whole thing - sitting on Bill Garver's friggin' couch!
But yeah, it was incredible - and my feelings on the death penalty were never clearer in my cloudy head.
I am against the death penalty for lots of reasons that I won't get into right now. The biggest reason though is that I believe the laws most imprtant role is to protect us from our more vulgar emotions. I think Gacy was scum and I think the same about Tookie. I even think that victims might get some sense of satisfaction from their executuions. That's what keeps this debate hanging around. Problem is, in just about any other case where vengeance is carried out in the name of the people (police violence, torture, etc...) we become outraged or at least pretend to be. What the hell is the matter with us?
I'm outraged by that statement!
There's vulgar emotions, and there's justice. "We" are not meant to be "satisfied" when the State puts a killer to death. I am just not "humane" enough to understand how justice is served by simply locking up a proven child rapist/killer (except that he get what Dahmer got). My ONLY problem with the death penalty--and it's a big problem--is the possibility that it can happen to an innocent man. Police trying to cover their ass; an overly ambitious prosecutor.
"Humane"-wise, come on. If we can endorse a war (say, a WW II-like "just" war) and the large-scale death that ensues, then our hesitation about this form of justice seems a teensy bit disingenuous, doesn't it?
I think war is different in a few ways not the least of which is it is supposed to be fought for noble reasons. If killing someone is the only way to protect yourself or (in the case of war) your nations boundaries then you do what you have to do. Killing someone because it makes you feel better is not noble. Maybe I just like to tell myself that because it makes me feel better about my time in the service so I can sleep at night.
This is an interesting "pro" take courtesy Ancient Athens that takes into account the "ignoble" aspect. Just read p.6, particularly regarding the ancient "festivus." The key difference between then and now is that the populace does not feel "implicated" in the person put to death--which may account for its continued "popularity."
It reminds me of Shirley Jackson's famous short story, "The Lottery."
As for the issue, I'm just arguin' for its own sake. I'm pathetically incapable of taking a stance on this one.
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