In a warped sense of way, I am happy with this decision. For us to have executed him would have made him a martyr. Yes, it would be great for him to be released in the general population of one of our prisons. I suspect he would make it about 3 minutes. But, the thought of isolation for 30+ years for this sh*t wrapped in skin does sound kind of appealing. I'll gladly pay the taxes to keep this one alive.
I'm sorry but that is just not rational. He may have been a dead martyr but now he is a live martyr. He will be celebrated as the one that America was afraid to kill. Here's the truth, he should have been sentenced to death just as a rabid dog is sentenced to death. The country is not better off because we were "fair" to this animal, in fact, to use the logic the jury used i.e that he did not physically act on 911 then the same logic would apply to Osama Bin Laden. I shudder to think what would happen should OBL ever stand before an American jury.
President Hillary Clinton will pardon him in 2009
No. It would make him dead. Period. Dead. A condition in which he could no longer participate in jihad (which he can do from prison through letters).