I am generally opposed to the death penalty. Not because I have a soft spot for murdering scumbags, but because I don't have enough faith in enough government agencies to believe that they will not end up executing a lot of the wrong people. (Next time you're dealing with a clerk at the Post Office or the DMV, ask yourself if you want to give civil servants the discretion to kill people who have already been disarmed). The fact that so many mistakes have already been made by law enforcement, prosecutors and judges in prior death penalty cases should be reason enough to suspend the death penalty, and certainly at the state level.
Having said all that, I believe that in certain extraordinary cases of spectacular crimes -- especially politically motivated mass murder -- where the evidence is overwhelming, the death penalty should be an option.
In Ramzi Binalshibh's case (assuming he's convicted), his execution should be slow and painful, involving a lot of screaming and blood, and the whole thing should be broadcast live on Al Jazeera.
Have a nice day.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at September 16, 2002 11:16 PMMy objections to capital punishment are the same as yours. Nevertheless, after having read a lot about Eichmann I reached then the conclusion that instead of being hanged, he should have been jailed for life in a glass cage in some public place in Jerusalem, a park or something like that, where he could have been seen by everyone, and would have had the time also to see millions of members of the race he tried to exterminate building a successful country right in front of his nose. Maybe this would not be a bad solution for Binalshibh and his friends. The glass cage in question could be built exactly on ground zero, and he could be shown to visitors as a member of a dying species "homo insapiens islamicus genocidicus".
Posted by: nelson ascher on September 17, 2002 01:51 PMI say kill him as soon as possible. And let's hope Pakistan does the same with Omar Sheikh.
Posted by: Dan G. on September 17, 2002 05:07 PMI hope you were kidding about the method of execution for this guy... cause that puts you back to the middle ages when special crimes had to have special punishments like drawing and quartering. Furthermore, if you are against capital punishment because of the possibility that an innocent person could be executed then you logically have to be against it in all cases regardless of how "overwhelming" the proof seems to you in any one particular case. The notion of "better a 100 guilty go free than one innocent executed" sounds reasonable until you consider that those 100 guilty are likely to kill at least another 50 innocent people. And as far as your cleverly drawn analogy between post office workers and the process in a capital crimes trial -- gimme a break (I have actually gotten good service in the Post Office BTW) Cite one incontrovertable instance where an innocent person has been executed in the U.S. in the last 50 years.
Posted by: Peter J on September 18, 2002 11:02 PMDrop him from a helicopter at the height of a 110-storey building (into a pig farm).
Posted by: Jabba the Tutt on September 19, 2002 10:27 AMFair trial; painless execution. Just get him off our planet. There isn't an appropriate punishment, so let's not try to find one.
Posted by: Joel Rosenberg on September 22, 2002 10:47 AMhow should we punish this guy? i'd sit on his face, and make him eat my ***** all night long. take advantage of him, sit on his face and force him into giving you the best oral pleasure, then ride his huge Arabian cock all night.
SURE HE MAY BE A "TERRORIST" BUT
I LOVE SUCKING TERRORIST COCK
Love and praises to Saddam and may i be so blessed as to 69 with him so I can take him all in my mouth
yiours always Horny "Jamile" al Nami
the crazy half white half arabian bitch who loves to fuck terrorist
Construct a three piece suit made entirely of potted meat and bacon strips. Tie him to a sycamore tree immediately adjacent to a Jack Russell breeders home. Let the dogs eat all of his external meat suit and epidermis. Next, have a Cinco di Mayo party and put him in charge of making all of the Marguaritas with extra lime and salt. Next...leave him at a rest area and let the buggerers have him.
Posted by: Beanii on April 28, 2005 08:43 AMConstruct a three piece suit made entirely of potted meat and bacon strips. Tie him to a sycamore tree immediately adjacent to a Jack Russell breeders home. Let the dogs eat all of his external meat suit and epidermis. Next, have a Cinco di Mayo party and put him in charge of making all of the Marguaritas with extra lime and salt. Next...leave him at a rest area and let the buggerers have him.
Posted by: Beanii on April 28, 2005 08:43 AMConstruct a three piece suit made entirely of potted meat and bacon strips. Tie him to a sycamore tree immediately adjacent to a Jack Russell breeders home. Let the dogs eat all of his external meat suit and epidermis. Next, have a Cinco di Mayo party and put him in charge of making all of the Marguaritas with extra lime and salt. Next...leave him at a rest area and let the buggerers have him.
Posted by: Beanii on April 28, 2005 08:43 AM