Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[rjs246]

Regarding Rome's article:
I don't see a clear cut right and wrong here. The article's point is totally valid. How do you convince the world at large, and your own people, that you are any better than the dictator you just deposed when the manner in which you depose him is vile? Overthrowing a vicious dictator and then killing him in a disgusting and base way shows that you are no better than he was. That's not what the other uprisings have been about and its not a good starting point for the Libyan people in the new quest for liberty.

On the other hand, I don't think you need to be a blood-thirsty savage to understand what was done to Momar. This man was a brutal and remorseless killer. As the revolution was happening he fought dirty and directed others to fight dirty. He did everything that he could to enrage the people he was battling and to a certain degree deserved what he got. I don't think that makes it right, but it definitely makes it understandable.

Regarding the death penalty:
Geo nailed it and I could not have said it better.

Philosophically, I have nothing really against the death penalty.  In practice, though, I can't really condone it.

I don't have any problem with state sponsored murder in an instance of unquestioned guilt of certain crimes. Some people choose to do things which are inhuman and should disqualify them from life. But how often is that actually the situation? Beyond that, the real-world implementation of the death penalty is appalling. If you're rich you don't get the death penalty. If only the poor run the risk of execution, the system is flawed to the point where it should not even be an option. The economic (and racial) devide that is so apparent with the death penalty is too much to abide.

[shorebird]

But, in all the debate about the death penalty, society looks the other way as to the alternative, locked up for life. Out of sight, out of mind.

In the words of Dexter, do some people deserve to die, or just so much as not deserving to live?

[rjs246]

Don't get me wrong, I think that we lock up far too many people for crimes that do no harm to the fabric of society. But putting convicted rapists and murderers in prison is not something I will ever bitch about, and to me, it is a much better alternative than the possibility of putting an innocent man to death.

[ice grillin you]

Really. Locking people up in high security penitentiary today is just about condeming someone to torture for the rest of thier lives. The media has given us a lot closer look at what goes on inside these places, and it's as brutal of an existance as there is for a man. It's not living life on any scale. It's surviving, exisiting and thats about all.

lets all decide for other people what constitutes a life not worth living...that way we can start executing parapelegics....the homeless....the blind and redheads

[rjs246]

And stock brokers, don't forget stock brokers.

[ice grillin you]

brooksie wanted to go back to prison...how bad can it really be

[shorebird]

Really. Locking people up in high security penitentiary today is just about condeming someone to torture for the rest of thier lives. The media has given us a lot closer look at what goes on inside these places, and it's as brutal of an existance as there is for a man. It's not living life on any scale. It's surviving, exisiting and thats about all.

lets all decide for other people what constitutes a life not worth living...that way we can start executing parapelegics....the homeless....the blind and redheads

Thats going overboard when you include people that haven't even commited a crime, and live the way they do through no fault of there own. Thats not what I'm saying at all.

[Sgt PSN]

Brooksie was an 80 yr old MA elder who thought prison was the Rotary Club. 

[shorebird]

Thats kinda' my point, fate worse than death and all that.

[shorebird]

If you have to ask how bad can prison be, theres no sense trying to explain it.

[Sgt PSN]

If you have to ask how bad can prison be, theres no sense trying to explain it.

No one can be this bad at interpriting sarcasm.

[shorebird]

If you have to ask how bad can prison be, theres no sense trying to explain it.

No one can be this bad at interpriting sarcasm.

And there you go.

[ice grillin you]

Really. Locking people up in high security penitentiary today is just about condeming someone to torture for the rest of thier lives. The media has given us a lot closer look at what goes on inside these places, and it's as brutal of an existance as there is for a man. It's not living life on any scale. It's surviving, exisiting and thats about all.

lets all decide for other people what constitutes a life not worth living...that way we can start executing parapelegics....the homeless....the blind and redheads

Thats going overboard when you include people that haven't even commited a crime, and live the way they do through no fault of there own. Thats not what I'm saying at all.

no going overboard is saying you dont see the difference btwn killing a human and putting them in prison

[shorebird]

It's not just killing a human. It's executing someone who has commited a crime so bad that they have no place in society. Most of them go to prison to kill again, be it another inmate or a guard. But they're gone from sight and mind, and everyone feels better about not putting them to death so it's all good.

[ice grillin you]

It's not just killing a human. It's executing someone who has commited a crime so bad that they have no place in society. Most of them go to prison to kill again, be it another inmate or a guard. But they're gone from sight and mind, and everyone feels better about not putting them to death so it's all good.

except you didnt say anything about the crime committed or whether they would committ another crime or being in society again....in fact you mentioned people who are in prison for life....and that anyone in that situation might as well be killed anyway because prison is a rough place