Wow. Tookie.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But I just can't get my head around someone who contends that opposition to the death penalty is evidence of a deplorable deficit in one's commitment to human goodness. You have got to be kidding me.

But he does make an excellent case for preemptive execution.

[Rock Steady]

Originally Posted by BigV

Wrong. As usual, you presume much and understand little. .... But I just can't get my head around someone who contends that opposition to the death penalty is evidence of a deplorable deficit in one's commitment to human goodness.

Yes.

[barefoot serpent]

Somehow I think Arnie was disinclined to grant clemency...

[Tonchi]

Ahnuld's reasoning was that the facts did not make him believe that there was a "genuine repentance" on Tookie's part. But in the interviews I read he made it sound like it was his "gut feeling" or perception of the circumstances rather than something quantifiable (...now WHO in the world would ever think that way.....?

At first thought, I would have been inclined to say the man had "redeemed himself" too, until something very revealing came out upon reading all the articles: namely that not one single time in all these years did this "reformed" man ask for television time or a podium so that he could appeal directly to the remaining Crips or all other adult gang members to give it all up, get out, turn themselves in, or any other solution which could have used his influence in that community to turn evil into good. And so there are now double the number of gang members in this country as there were when he got caught and convicted. He was not willing to give up his "dignity" by publicly humbling himself and pleading with others to turn back. If he really was such an all-out wonderful role model that Snoop Dog and all the other Black media whores wanted to eulogize him, where is the PROOF that he actually accomplished anything? I can nominate UG for the Nobel Peace Prize, did you know that? So it means nothing that other people with an agenda to push use his name in that context. What I want to know, and hopefully our governator as did as well, is where are the crowds of gang members coming forward to say that Tookie convinced them to dedicate their lives to helping their people through good works rather than robbing and slashing them? Not a peep has been heard along that line, instead we are just getting more of their "righteous anger".

[Beestie]

The sympathy for the perpetrator I see in this thread is mind-numbing. Its as though the pile of corpses and ruined lives are a sunk cost and don't factor into the evaluation.

No wonder I have to leave my knife in my car when I park in DC - apparently, its my job to become fodder for these worthless misfits in order to justify their state-mandated rehabilitation.

In Virginia, we just kill the bastards and move on. A simple examination of the relative crime rate between VA and DC is very revealing. And the argument that DC crimes are comitted with weapons obtained in VA is laughably ironic.

[zippyt]

What is the saying ,,,,,,, Oh yea " live by the sword , Die by the sword "

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Beestie

The sympathy for the perpetrator I see in this thread is mind-numbing. Its as though the pile of corpses and ruined lives are a sunk cost and don't factor into the evaluation.

No sympathy here. That would be Happy Monkey. He gets all warm and fuzzy thinking of the human potential in people like the Tookmeister. Really! It's unfortunate that Took had to murder four innocents before he understood the true meaning of the word "Christmas", but he DID finally learn, right? That's all that matters. [sarcasm/off]

[Clodfobble]

I really wish people would stop talking about the "four people" he killed. Yeah, and Al Capone committed tax fraud. The man killed dozens at least, and everyone knows it.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I really wish people would stop talking about the "four people" he killed. Yeah, and Al Capone committed tax fraud. The man killed dozens at least, and everyone knows it.

I didn't realize it was a competition.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I really wish people would stop talking about the "four people" he killed. Yeah, and Al Capone committed tax fraud. The man killed dozens at least, and everyone knows it.

It was the 4 people he was convicted of killing that have to be entered into the argument about his punishment. The rest are speculation and have no place in the debate.

[wolf]

He hadn't admitted guilt or shown remorse for the four he's been legally held responsible for, I doubt that he would do so with respect to the ones he got away with.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Beestie

The sympathy for the perpetrator I see in this thread is mind-numbing. Its as though the pile of corpses and ruined lives are a sunk cost and don't factor into the evaluation.

It not just the unrepentant violence that causes me to question his supporters. It is also what he did. He co-authored some books. So what? Why does that prove repentance? I just don't see quantitative reasons that would justify actions by CA's governor.

That capital punishment is wrong because it is too often applied erroneously - now that would be a logical reason. But erroneous prosecution is not being claimed. Somehow because he wrote children's books, that somehow says he is reformed. Woefully too little too late to validate such reasoning. So what am I missing? Where is a signficant fact that would justify a change in sentencing?

[Griff]

I don't believe in the death penalty but if you're going to use it this was the guy. He was the Grandaddy of all the gangbanger nonsense. Nobody should be executed by the state but to exempt this guy when you're executing kids and the mentally retarded, this belongs in the wtf thread.

[tw]

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

I have the same shirt. But mine fits better. Apparently Arnie's wife does not iron.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

BigV, the short answer is you've got to be kidding me. But then, I always did have some problems with your worldview. Reckon I always will.