Death Penalty Talking Points (Amazingly, the Left shows its hand)

The Nation ^ | December 18, 2002 | Lisa Weinert

[kuma]

Sonny M

Ok I'll poke my head up out of the ground long enough to get it pounded back down in.

I do understand the difference between murdering an innocent unborn baby and executing a guilty adult. However, to me it is more about the "spirit" behind the thing. When I watch one of those "execution parties" with people standing outside cheering it on, they have the same hateful faces as all the pro-mass murderer of babies scum. An execution of a criminal deserving of punishment shouldn't be a party. It should be a sobering moment where we as a nation realize the enormity of taking a life even though the punishment is just.

I don't argue that the punishment is unjust but that I don't like the sickos outside cheering. That is my Conservative Christian stance. What irks me the most is those sickos claim to be God-fearing Christians. They need to read the bible and understand that at some point we must forgive because we have been forgiven. They will face their Maker just like that executed murderer will face Judgement. The murderer may have repented... will see Eternal Life and they may be vengeful and unforgiving... facing Eternal Punishment.

[Sonny M]

I believe in executing murders, no doubt about that, but I am not sadistic enough to enjoy people dying. I see it as a punishment served, not something to cheer and have fun with. They do wrong, they get what they deserved, and I'm happy, execution parties are just bizarre, but then again, if I lost a loved one, and the person who killed them was being executed, I might feel differently.

[Optimist]

NOBODY reads this marxist rag, the Nation anyway. Is probably kept alive by "foundation money".

and often found at eye level on the periodical rack of today's public high school libraries

[Optimist]

ABORTION Talking Points
by AmIa Liar, II

1. It is morally reprehensible to take a life, and it is especially reprehensible for the state to do so.

2. ABORTING innocent CHILDREN outweighs any logic behind PRO-CHOICE.

3. Race is often a defining factor in ABORTION cases.

4. Whether or not ABORTION is DECIDED depends largely on the quality of COUNSELING for the mother, and ALL ABORTED FETUSES DO NOT RECEIVE decent representation.

5. The ABORTION does not deter IMMORALITY.

6. It is impossible for ABORTIONS to ever be administered fairly, given our COUNSELING system, and it is therefore unquestionably unconstitutional, because FETUSES often do not receive a fair CONSIDERATION.

7. Administering the ABORTION is far more expensive than PUTTING the CHILD for ADOPTION.

8. ABORTION is administered cruelly, arbitrarily and unfairly.

9. The United States is one of the only First World country that still ABORTS its CHILDREN.

10. The United States ABORTS mentally retarded children.

[bluesagewoman]

Wow! Did you come up with those? Very, very poignant. I think you should post it on its own thread with the 2 sets of talking points set side by side! Great job!

[SendShaqtoIraq]

You are a moron. I never said anywhere that no one should go to jail.

"Does your zeal for justice continue through to the sentencing and punishment for other crimes? A man may be put in jail for 40 years due to charges of armed robbery. What if he actually was innocent? Forty years is a long time to be punished."

Yes, 40 years is a long time to be punished. But if somewhere in there it turns out the man is innocent, AT LEAST HE AIN'T DEAD.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

That is not an abortion. An ectopic pregnancy has NO chance, EVER, of surviving. It may be medically defined as an abortion, but so is a miscarriage. In neither case is there a chance of the baby surviving.

[Mister Baredog]

NOBODY reads this marxist rag, the Nation anyway. Is probably kept alive by "foundation money".

and often found at eye level on the periodical rack of today's public high school libraries

And when they get to college it gets worse, Marx himself becomes more prevalent with MORONS from the 60's radicalism dominating the campuses, ugh.

[MHGinTN]

Actually, to willfully terminate a pregnancy is an abortion. It might also be of interest to you that an ectopic pregnancy was recently delivered alive and healthy following a difficult C-section where the 'placental body' (the baby and her space capsule) was removed from its attached location of the Mother's liver. [I don't toss assertions around willy nilly. There is something to back up the things I offer; my honesty is at stake as a writer, fellow freeper. When I offer pure speculation, it will be characterized as such. You might enjoy reading the essay on my profile page, or the essay now linked on the right-hand margin title 'The Amorality of Science Has Won'. BTW, I'd love to have Shaq as the Sheriff of my resident county, when he decides to stop playing basketball. He's one cool giant of a man, giant in more ways than just his height ... kind of a modern Bill Russell, if you know what I mean in my respect for Mister Russell.]

[IronJack]

1. It is morally reprehensible to take a life, and it is especially reprehensible for the state to do so.

Hogwash. It is the only valid response to certain crimes of such depravity they remove the perpetrator from the right to human protection.

2. Executing innocent people outweighs any logic behind the death penalty.

Between 1973 and 2001, 89 death-row inmates were found to be innocent and subsequently were exonerated, escaping death by hours in some cases (The Nation, January 8-15, 2001).

They were also found GUILTY long before they were found innocent. The legal finding of innocence does not equate to innocence unless the legal finding of guilty equates to guilt. The system seems to work far harder to exonerate this trash than to execute it. But all the legal technicalities in the world don't change the FACTS.

3. Race is often a defining factor in death-penalty cases.

Race is often cited as an aggravating circumstance when it is committed by Whites against Blacks. In the name of equity, the same must be true in reverse. In any case, all this means is that we should be executing MORE perpetrators, not fewer.

4. Whether or not the death penalty is applied depends largely on the quality of legal representation for the accused, and most death-row inmates cannot afford decent representation.

Whether or not ANY penalty is applied depends largely on the quality of legal representation. Most death-row inmates are animated refuse who have preyed on society their whole lives. By my reckoning, they don't deserve ANY representation.

5. The death penalty does not deter crime.

It isn't supposed to. Criminal penalties are retributive, not preventitive. Besides, the death penalty most certainly does deter the executed person. No person put to death has ever committed another crime following completion of the sentence.

6. It is impossible for the death penalty to ever be administered fairly, given our legal system, and it is therefore unquestionably unconstitutional, because defendants often do not receive a fair trial.

Between 1973 and 1995, seven out of ten death-penalty cases were thrown out on appeal due to flaws in the trial (The Nation, January 8-15, 2001).

Then stop throwing them out.

7. Administering the death penalty is far more expensive than imprisoning the offender for life.

Carrying out a death sentence costs about 7 1/2 cents, the price of a .45 caliber cartridge administered by a volunteer to the back of the convicted person's head. And, like the Chinese, we can send a bill to the next of kin.

8. Capital punishment is administered cruelly, arbitrarily and unfairly.

See above.

9. The United States is one of the only First World country that still executes its citizens.

It's great to be an American!

10. The United States executes mentally retarded people and children.

First of all, this is a crock. But even if it's true, so what?