A tale of two executions

 And that’s how I see capital punishment, my friends; it’s vengeance. We can dress it up with the trappings of justice. We can point to the horror of the crime and claim that death is the only suitable redress. But all we’re really doing is exacting revenge.

   And that is also why I advocate that every man, woman and capable child always carry a weapon. The rapist, murderer, theft, extortionists, etc. pays his price at the scene of the crime.

Setting on death row for 15 years is not only “cruel and unusual” punishment, it is also a terrible waste of resources (stolen-tax-money). — jtl, 419

by Ben Crystal at Personal Liberty

  The State of Georgia executed Kelly Gissendaner in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday. Convicted for the murder-for-hire of her husband, Gissendaner spent more than 15 years on the Peach State’s death row before meeting her end in the state’s death chamber. I’m neither sorry she’s gone, nor am I sympathetic to her cause. But that doesn’t mean I’m celebrating her execution.

On the same day, the State of Oklahoma did not execute Richard Glossip. Convicted for the murder-for-hire of a motel owner, Glossip spent about the same amount of time on the Sooner State’s death row as Gissendaner did on Georgia’s. Only a stay ordered by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin stopped Glossip from meeting his maker. But I’m not necessarily celebrating his reprieve for his sake.

  I am celebrating his reprieve for life’s sake. In not executing Glossip, the people of Oklahoma, and by extension the people of the United States, took one less life. In allowing Glossip to continue his mortal shuffle, we killed one less person. In staying our collective hand, we filled one less grave with the fruits of our vengeance.

And that’s how I see capital punishment, my friends; it’s vengeance. We can dress it up with the trappings of justice. We can point to the horror of the crime and claim that death is the only suitable redress. But all we’re really doing is exacting revenge. Considering what a party our maximum security correctional facilities tend to be, dodging the needle is hardly the equivalent of a pat on the back and a ticket home. Moreover, there’s the possibility, however slim, that the person strapped to the gurney didn’t do it. Granted, the odds are nowhere near what the amateur defense attorneys on the left would suggest; but I’m not certain I’m comfortable with anything other than a “0” on the dividend side of the wrongly convicted/rightly convicted quotient when it comes to the ultimate punishment.

There is no shortage of people whose continued existence is an affront to the dignity of the species, not to mention a profligate waste of oxygen. Some of them — ISIS, Boko Haram, Michael Brown — actively throw themselves into the crosshairs. I’m not suggesting we contort ourselves to keep every homicidal lunatic from meeting his maker; I am suggesting we avoid contorting ourselves unnecessarily just to satisfy some emotional urge for retribution. An animal rushing toward you is a different animal from the one who’s already in a cage, and we can certainly guarantee the cage will be pretty damned miserable. Besides, dead animals can’t make license plates.

Planned Parenthood is a taxpayer-funded human butcher shop. The so-called “Black Lives Matter” movement has transformed into a looting and cop-killing mob. And our beloved, Nobel laureate president has bowed and scraped us into a face-off with the Russians across the sands of Syria. Life seems awfully cheap to the people in power these days. Perhaps we should consider a moratorium on executions for a while.

–Ben Crystal

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