100% Confidence For One Government Policy: Execution

"So, sadly, I don't think the execution of Troy Davis will have much effect on the national "conversation" about the morality of capital punishment or the glaring flaws in America's system of justice. Because while it's very reasonable to argue that "we" should only kill someone if we're really, really, really sure they did it, the modern American conservative is really, really, really sure about everything." (via Salon)


Despite doubts raised prior to the execution last night of Troy Davis in Georgia, despite the enormous evidence of wrongful convictions, it just is not 'popular' to oppose the death penalty in the U.S.

People say to me - "Some crimes and criminals are so terrible, what else can we do but rid the world of such awful people?"

Last night in Texas, Lawrence Brewer was executed for a grisly crime, dragging a man to death by chaining him to his pickup until the body fell apart. It was a horrifying crime. The victim, James Byrd Jr.'s son, Ross Byrd, though, says execution is not justice:

"You can't fight murder with murder," Ross Byrd, 32, told Reuters late Tuesday, the night before Wednesday's scheduled execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer for one of the most notorious hate crimes in modern times.

"Life in prison would have been fine. I know he can't hurt my daddy anymore. I wish the state would take in mind that this isn't what we want."

"Byrd says the execution of Brewer is simply another expression of the hate shown toward his father on that dark night in 1998. Everybody, he said, including the government, should choose not to continue that cycle.

"Everybody's in that position," he said. "And I hope they will stand back and look at it before they go down that road of hate. Like Ghandi said, an eye for an eye, and the whole world will go blind."

SEE ALSO: Former prison wardens appeal for an end to the death penalty.

Alexander, Corker Protect KBR, Ignore Rape

It is very good news that the U.S. Senate voted to end forced arbitration of Defense contract employees who are raped by their co-workers. (as I noted earlier this week). But the bad news is how the Tennessee media has ignored the votes cast by Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker who voted against such a change.

How could they vote to protect such a vile crime? Why does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce support arbitration as a "benefit" for employees?

Said Sen. Franken: "She has not had her day in court, she has litigated for four years to have her day in court. She was drugged, she was raped, and she had to have reconstructive surgery. If that's a better workplace, what was the workplace like before?"

The two Tennessee senators were joined by 28 other Republicans voting against the protection of Americans and instead voted to protect the multi-billion dollar contractor Halliburton/KBR.

Rage and anger at accusations against the group ACORN dominated the news for weeks. Meanwhile, gang-rape victim Jamie Leigh Jones faced a 4-year battle to encourage Congress to halt the employee abuses of Halliburton/KBR. In September, she finally was allowed to take her case to court.

Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart pointed out the shame of those 30 senators.

Congress Expands Secret Spying Plans

I posted the following over at KnoxViews today, a somewhat cautious post as I was entering the group blog thing for the first time there. I was and I am seeking some other opinons on the last-minute approval of an even larger federal secret surveillance program by Congress. I am fairly disappointed by the passage, though I wonder if it's worth bringing up. So I offer the post here, to see if anyone has a comment other than Trust The President.
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I've never made a blog entry here, but this particular blog seems like the best forum to take my questions about what happened in Congress this weekend.

I'm referring to the passage, demanded by President Bush, of continuing to expand some questionable surveillance programs. I admit to having hopes they would be able to adjourn without voting on the bill, but realizing it would likely pass since this President seems to get from Congress whatever he wants or ignores them whenever he wants.

The always outspoken critic of the administration, Glenn Greenwald, writes about some of the same things the passage brought to my mind, but I have others too for your consideration.

Why was this bill not fought and debated as intently as the recent Iraq War funding debate? Was that just theatrics after all?

Why are Democrats (those who voted Yes are listed in Greenwald's article) caving to the President? Or was it caving in at all? Is this why Congress' approval ratings are so low?

I know the FISA bill has a limited lifespan, but once policies are made into law, they seldom end. I'm just not very happy with this approval and have been hoping that Congress would provide less approval, even if that means stalling the entire legislative agenda.

Not that I consider aggressive intelligence-gathering bad, far from it. But it sure seems like both the intelligence groups and the Attorney General's office have done a truly botched job in the last 6 years - so how can Congress justify expanding the roles of both groups?

UPDATE: Russ McBee has some thoughts on the passage of the bill, and more info on how it changes the spying rules is here at MetaFilter.

And one more thing to consider -- these changes in surveillance authority, would they be tolerated by Conservatives if the Attorney General was appointed by a Democrat president?

No Indictments in Death of Peyton Strickland

"Peyton Strickland's parents, Don and Kathy said: "Our unarmed 18-year-old son Peyton was killed when Chris Long, a deputy sheriff, fired three bullets from a submachine gun through the front door of Peyton’s house while he was answering the unlocked door. The failure of the grand jury to indict Long on any charge compounds our family’s tragedy."

Long, who was fired after the shooting, has said he fired his fully automatic submachine gun because he mistakenly thought he heard gun blasts. Instead, he was hearing the officers' battering ram hammering Strickland's door. Long admitted in an affidavit filed Monday that his hearing was impaired by an earpiece, a hood and helmet." (link)

This case, which grew stranger with each new report, was first mentioned in this post as well as here and here.