>I am not an abolitionist. I would support the death penalty for types such as Henry Kissinger and other war criminals and criminals against humanity. After a proper trial with death-qualified counsel, due process up the wazoo, etc., of course. As the facts are, capital punishment is an (expensive!) excuse to kill minorities who kill whites. It is freakish, a violation of due process and equal protection, and racist to the core. We are not civilized enough to have it. jks
You are merely not civilised enough to know it is uncivilised to kill people you don't approve of.
What you fail to grasp is that the politics of execution is inherently poisonous. It is not just racist politics that is poison. Any politically motivated execution of a human being is a repulsive crime, but politically motivated killing by the state is the most repulsive crime of all. In fact it is exactly the same crime that Kissinger is guilty of.
By definition, execution by the state is a politically motivated killing. The state is killing a person for political ends - often to curry favour with a group of depraved people. It sickens me to hear you defend this on the supposed basis that the person to be executed deserves to die, or does not warrant sympathy. That is completely beside the point. When has a murderer ever had the option of justifying homicide on the basis that the victim might not have deserved to live?
Do YOU feel confident you deserve to live? Can any of us feel secure a murderer might not be able to construct some argument to justify killing us on the basis we don't deserve to live. Wake up to yourself man!
As for you Wojek, I defend the dignity of human life itself when I reject execution. It is ultimately in my own self-interest to do so, since I am human and regard my own life as precious. Perhaps you do not? The trouble is that yours is a self-fulfilling philosophy, you reduce yourself to the same level as the skin-heads you despise by aping their lack of respect for the life and dignity of others and you drag the rest of us down with you.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas