Tim's Dead

From my Weblog: http://icymarch.blogspot.com/?/2001_06_01_icymarch_archive.html

Tim's Dead

He was executed about 15 minutes before I woke up this morning. Am I glad? No. Do I think he should have been allowed to live? No.

I look at capital punishment about the same way I look at abortion, as a necessary evil. In a perfect world where every baby is wanted, abortion would be unnecessary. And in a world free of people who commit atrocious crimes against their fellow man, capital punishment would also be unnecessary.

Some people say that capital punishment does not deter perpetrators of such crimes, although some recent studies disagree. Whether it does or not, I believe in holding people accountable for their actions. I think every case where the death penalty is given needs to be thoroughly examined to minimize the possibility of executing an innocent person. But I do believe that killing in cold blood is a definite justification for capital punishment.


I would not like to be the one responsible for executing someone though, death up close makes me squeamish.


A while back we had a problem with mice invading our yard, living in the shrubs and ivy. I had to get rid of them since I didn't want them getting into the house. (We'd had that problem before.) I set traps outside underneath the shrubbery, baited with peanut butter.


I came home one afternoon and found a half-dead mouse in one of the traps. It's back was broken by the trap but it could still move it's front legs, it was trying to escape, dragging the trap. I picked up the only large object I could find, a brick, and dropped it on the mouse to put it out of it's misery.


It started squealing pitifully. The brick didn't kill it, just caused it more injury. I felt queasy as I picked up the brick a second time and threw it down, hard, on top of the poor creature. This time it worked, it was dead.

The mouse didn't mean me any harm, it was just following the rules of nature, looking for a comfortable niche in the environment with available food and shelter. But because rodents contaminate foodstuffs and spread disease, I decided it needed to be exterminated. So I set the trap.

Tim McVeigh made a conscious decision to take out his anger at what he perceived as an unjust government by killing innocent people in an act of terrorism. The judicial system decided that his actions warranted the ultimate punishment of the death penalty.

I know this sounds cold, but I feel more sympathy for that poor rodent I killed than I do for Tim McVeigh.

posted by cy at 6:49 PM 6/11/01