Saddam Hussein is dead.

[Rkolter]

Personally, I have no qualms with the death penalty, and I'm entirely happy that Saddam is dead. Given the opportunity, I'd hang his body from a pole and offer people a chance to whack him with a baseball bat for $5.

The guy was evil, and not the garden variety of evil, and not even the evil mad scientist variety of evil. He was the evil variety of evil.

Good riddance.

[Kisai]

Oh yeah- also, death penalty for famous figures can be veeery risky, because it turns them into martyrs for whatever their flavor of a cause is.

As for finding jurors for Al Roker...never underestimate the number of oblivious people there are. :lol: Particularly if they're snagged very quickly. But I'm not actually sure how juror pulling in such cases works.

Pretty soon they will start having to pull jurors from foreign countries.

I don't know who Al Roker is.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

I've met several people that don't know who Al Roker is.

[TRI]

I don't know who Al Roker is.

Truthfully I only know him as AOD's avatar and seemingly random pop-culture references.

[LAO]

and, after everything, it's more expensive to execute someone than to keep them in jail for life.

Mostly because of the legal actions resulting from protesting rights groups.



I do not believe killing in response to crime is some form of poetic justice.
I do not believe not killing in response to crime is somehow more righteous or moral.

I believe in 'cleaning out the garbage' as it were. If you cannot function in society to the degree that you find yourself in this situation, and your continuing life is detrimental to the general good, it is simply the logical answer.

[Rkolter]

I didn't know who Al Roker was until I read about gastric bypass surgery.

[Jesusabdullah]

Really, why should anyone know who Al Roker is? As far as I know he's only in one show, and it's on in the morning when most people are thinking about either sleep or work or both and not about the weather. Still, his lack of noteriety here is amusing.

As far as Saddam Hussein, I (strangely, to me) don't really feel anything either way about his death morally. I wonder about whether it was the shiites getting revenge on Saddam Hussein/his Sunni supporters or whether the whole thing for the most part was carried out without revenge in mind, whether his death will cause a noticeable step-up in insurgent violence or not, and the about how much our government had to do with the verdict. In the end though, it doesn't really feel like his death is changing much on a scale that effects me. (Yes, I'm a selfish ass. ) If anyone deserves death though, he's likely one of them.

As far as the death penalty, I again feel an alarming amount of apathy, though I usually don't support it because (as someone mentioned) The System is fallable (though, as someone else said--kolter?--it doesn't apply to Saddam).

[MixedMyth]

and, after everything, it's more expensive to execute someone than to keep them in jail for life.

Mostly because of the legal actions resulting from protesting rights groups.

Uh...not really. Actually its because getting the legal okay to kill someone is a long involved process involving who knows how many courts and appeals and mounting legal fees. Not that it shouldn't. One had better be damn sure the guy is guilty (which hasn't really been the case in a number of instances.) I suppose it could be argued that these appeals and legal fees are due to rights groups interceeding and making the process complex, but lot of it is simply the way things go. The defendant is always free to try to appeal to the next court up and would be mad not to, though it's up to the court whether or not they'll hear the case.

Besides which, if there's going to be state sanctioned killing, we had better be damn sure it's the right guy. It's a long and involved process, but I'm glad it's there. For something so drastic, once is not enough....hell, in some cases all the appeals weren't enough and innocent people were executed.

We could always say that death row inmates don't have the right to appeal or something....but doing so depends on how many innocent people we want to risk executing.

[Dotty]

This is one of those things that makes me think this should FEEL like history in the making, but it all just seems so forced to me.

He was a twisted evil man, but somehow i almost felt sorry for him in the end. Almost. He was hung many many MANY years ago.

[TRI]

Really, if you want to save money on the penitentiary system try working on lowering the crime rates: an ounce of prevention, as the saying goes.

[MixedMyth]

Really, if you want to save money on the penitentiary system try working on lowering the crime rates: an ounce of prevention, as the saying goes.

Yeah, that too. Oh how oft missed it is.

[LAO]

I suppose it could be argued that these appeals and legal fees are due to rights groups interceeding and making the process complex

Bingo.

Really, if you want to save money on the penitentiary system try working on lowering the crime rates: an ounce of prevention, as the saying goes.

Bingo part two.

[Mr.Bob]

well done, now he's dead. I hope everybody is happy. What a bleeding shambles.

[MixedMyth]

I suppose it could be argued that these appeals and legal fees are due to rights groups interceeding and making the process complex

Bingo.

Do you mean that the long appeals process is due to these groups? Thinking back on it, I'm not so sure- every person has the right to appeal their case. These groups may assist them in doing so, I think, but the right was always there. And who in their right mind wouldn't want to appeal when faced with death? If you want an actual breakdown of costs and where they come from, here.

But I'm glad the appeals process is there. If there's going to be death penalty, I'd rather have the long appeals process and be SURE the guy is guilty than widen the margin of possible innocent deaths. Because they do happen, and because there are some really aweful judges out there. Though the appeals process itself doesn't solve everything, of course. There are enough other variables that the whole process is pretty shakey.

[The Neko]

The guy was a douche, now he's dead. There really isn't much else on my mind in regards to that, as far as personal feelings. I do wonder whether or not this will be turned into a martyr thing, though.

[MixedMyth]

I do wonder whether or not this will be turned into a martyr thing, though.

Yes, I'm sort of worried about that. Though, perhaps, not as much since it seems that he's actually kind of peripheral to what's going on in Iraq at the moment. Only time will tell, I suppose. I'm sure there are still supporters.

[TRI]

Really, if you want to save money on the penitentiary system try working on lowering the crime rates: an ounce of prevention, as the saying goes.

Bingo part two.

Um. If you meant "bingo" as in "that's another reason for supporting the death penalty" then . . . I'm afraid that as far as I know there's never been any evidence that the death penalty acts as a deterrent. If it has any effect on crime rates then it is too small to be noticed against the other factors involved. I don't think the official death penalty advocacy groups* don't even use that argument anymore.

If on the other hand you just meant that as a general show of support for the idea of reducing prison spending by working to make sure less people turn to a life of crime in the first place and to reduce recidivism whenever possible, then on that we can agree.

*I like "Citizens Against Murder" because of the irony in their choice of name.

[LAO]

I never disagreed with you on the importance of a proper trial and the possible need for a retrial or appeal.

But balance the amount of guilty people who waste resources with innocent people who get cleared.

For TRI, I meant the secodn one.

[MixedMyth]

*I like "Citizens Against Murder" because of the irony in their choice of name.

Heh! I'm always amused how often irony and hypocracy are half a step away from each other.

[Mr.Bob]

Irony and hypocrisy are the right words.