> Why is the capital punishment such an abomination to the Left?
For the same reason burning people alive is an abomination when only a century ago it was an entertainment. We think learning to be horrified by cruelty is a good thing, a civilizing process that makes society a better place. And we want it to continue.
The ritual of capital punishment is like the ritual of funerals. They're more about the living than about the dead. It's a Durkheimian moment when society heals over a loss and strengthens its norms. And gloating cruelty is not the norm I want to strengthen.
I am one who would compromise this principle if it would get Dean elected in 2004, though.
Michael