DISQUS

Hans Christian Brando · 2 years ago

My fantasy is one day to hear the condemned's last words, just before the administration of the lethal injection: "Is it too late to say no to drugs?"

Kelcy · 2 years ago

Yes we have. The question is whether we can extricate ourselves from the quagmires that Bush-Cheney have plunged us into on multiple fronts. It is not just the civil war in Iraq which can not be ended until the Iraqiis themselves decide they want it to end. It is also the quagmire of ethics, or the lack there of, that we have sunk into when people think torture is okay because it could save us from amorphous, undefined potential destructive action. It is also the financial quagmire of borrowing billions of dollars to fight a war without asking the people of today to pay for it. Our children and our childrens children will be living in an economically depressed country where other countries will be trying save us from ourselves. When I think of how the US has grown and changed over the last hundred years and then how it has been dessimated in a mere seven years, it is enough to make you cry.

Dennis · 2 years ago

Well Kelcy, cry me a river, but today's bumps, bruises and scratches are not really significant in the big picture. Our country has endured through much worse than today's little "I fall down" type behaviors and unfortunately, there is no such thing as a nice way to end a life.

And Hans reminds me of the last words of a convicted killer in Texas, who wanted Spegettios for his last meal and yelled " I didn't get Spegettios, I got Spaghetti and I want the press to know!" Last words...

Jim · 2 years ago

Let me see if I understand Dennis correctly. He sees a quagmire of ethics in the last seven years. Hmmm, I guess if I asked the Supreme court if instead of lethal injection, the prisoner would have an incison in the bottom of the skull and then the doctor would insert a suction device and suck out the man's brains if this would be torture and cruel and unusual punishment, I'll bet the answer would be yes. Yet this is exactly what the far left defends under the guise of choice.

Grow up Dennis.

george · 2 years ago

Torture is Terrorism.

We are the Terrorists.

Kathy · 2 years ago

Thank you for this elegant letter, and thanks to Kelcy for that thoughtful and layered response. Yes, it's harrowing to see what we have become, due to our complacency, arrogance, sense of privilege, and moral bankruptcy.

Kathy · 2 years ago

Jim,

Women must have the right to terminate a pregnancy for any reason, at any time, and I would hope you would leave abortion out of the excellent torture discussion that you started.

Women must have the right to decide what happens with their own bodies.

Thirty per cent of all women in the US have aborted a pregnancy at least once. It often comes from desperation. It's normal, understandable, though sad, and it has been through the ages.

You may feel safe in your conviction that you would not abort if you were a woman and poor, or overwhelmed, or attacked and raped, or ill, and pregnant, but if you were in a desperate women's shoes, I venture to say that there is at least a 30% chance you would be very, very relieved to have that option.

Kathy

Tom · 2 years ago

I have no sympathy for an individual that has committed a crime (ie murder) and has to pay the price with their own life. It was their choice to commit the crime and knowingly what the consequences would be. I think the death penalty should be expanded to serious crimes as well. And while we are at it limit the appeal process to a reasonable time frame like 2 years.