I don’t know if I would or not. Part of me thinks that I must be some wort of twisted freak for even entertaining the notion of witnessing an execution, of my own free will, on television. Then there’s the other part that wants to know for certain that he is dead.
McVeigh wants it televised, so naturally, my first reaction is “no, you rat b******. Why should you get what you want?” Then another part of me thinks that maybe by televising this, somewhere, someone who may be thinking about comitting a crime that could get him/her the death penalty might be watching, and might have a change of heart.
I know I certainly wouldn’t let my children watch. But is televising this truly a horrible idea? A larger portion of me is saying “yes, this is a VERY bad idea” than is saying “no, it’s not,” but I wonder. Maybe could some good come of it?
Two, as much as McVeigh’s a shit, I’m against the death penalty.
Three, it would turn him into a fucking martyr.
It’s just barbaric, I think. Will it solve anything? No. Just feed more blood on top of those he’s already killed.
The bastard WANTS to die-I say, let him live. Let him live with the memory of what he did. Let him see pictures of people he killed in his cell. Let him live with the guilt every fucking day until he dies.
I sincerely doubt McVeigh feels any remorse. What little communication he gives is laced with contempt.
Would I watch? No. I don’t watch boxing either, for much the same reason. However, if HBO wants to offer it as a Pay-Per-View, with the proceeds going to the victims’ families, what the hell. We can’t sink much lower than we have already, given the popularity of Jerry Springer and the WWF.
Do I think he deserves to die? Yes. Do I think he should be able to dictate the terms of his execution? No. He gave up his rights when he killed 138 people.
Let’s look beyond the McVeigh example (scum that he is, I too am against the death penalty).
Say his execution is broadcast. There would be enough sickos out there watching it to send the ratings through the roof. With ratings come advertising dollars (can you imagine the advertising around this?). And then you will see more televised executions. It’s the genie out of the bottle.
Glorifying in the death of another human being is barbaric. Does he deserve to die? Quite possibly. Should the state be the one to determine and execute such a sentence? I say no, but I understand that you might disagree. Should we turn the execution of citizens into a mass-media spectacle designed to appeal to the bases passions of our population? No!
Bread and circuses is not a maxim for an ethical society.
Back when pickpocketing was punishable by hanging, and hangings were public events, pickpockets would often be there , ignoring the fact that it could be them on the gallows.
I have yet to see the slightest trace of evidence that the death penalty has any deterrent effect whatsoever.
I would in a second. I’m all for the death penalty and firmly believe that, eventually, the effect would be to lower the crime rates that are punishable by the death penalty.
No cites of course, but look at it this way. If someone were to smack you in the head with a board and say don’t do that, you’re gonna learn NOT to do whatever it is.
Why would it be a deterrent? It’s hardly used. How many admitted murderers are in jail? How many on death row? It’s very disproportionate. The ones who are actually on death row have been there for MANY years. It means nothing. Plus, who really gets it? The psychotic ones that don’t really care. The gang member that kills a little boy in crossfire doesn’t get death, just a long sentence where his life is better in jail than on the street. Make the death penalty mean something, and make it the most gruesome and painful ordeal possible, and it will be a deterrent. Being broken on the wheel is something to think about compared to lethal injection. Only when we take away prisoner rights, will punishment be a deterrent.
At the very worst, who cares if anyone is deterred? My feeling is this: If anyone wants Timmy to not be put to death, that they alone be taxed for his support for the next umpteen years. Not me.
I’m all for televising executions. since the whole issue of capital punishment is political then it stands to reason that the public has a right to be informed. But lets turn executions over to the private sector. Those guys at the WWF running extreme football should know how to run an execution, and the taxpayer will be off the hook. :rolleyes:
From what I understand, watching an execution can be very upsetting to most. I saw the movie, The Chamber, with Chris O’Donnell and Gene Hackman. And let me just say, I was practically bawling on the floor at the end-it was very hard to watch, even though I KNEW it was fake.
What Jeffro said is another concern I have. McVeigh’s actions were inspired by Waco and Ruby Ridge. Although the militia wackiness seemed to settle some after Oklahoma City (I think even they were horrified by it), I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few really, really far out nutballs that thought this guy was some sort of hero.
And what Ice Wolf said about the parties isn’t too tough to believe, either. IIRC, there was quite a bit of merrymaking outside the prison when Ted Bundy was executed.
Upon reflection, I think that televising this probably would be a tremendously crappy idea. I’m following Ice Wolf’s slippery slope here, and the conclusion I’m coming to is that we as a society are getting more and more desensitized to violence already. Start televising executions, and while my naive little idea about it maybe putting someone off crime might work for a minute, eventually we’d get so used to the executions that we’d become desensitized to those as well, and end up right back where we started.
Would I watch? Absolutely not. I’m fully aware this may not make much sense, but somehow or other glorying in his death would degrade me down to his level.
I’m very conflicted about the death penalty issues anyway. Part of me recognizes if the state puts someone to death there’s a cogent argument for making the process open, i.e. not hiding it behind closed doors and bearing witness. On the other hand, it’s still a person dying, with family and people who care about him no matter what he’s done. It’s one thing for relatives of the victim(s) to witness an execution. Maybe it helps bring some peace and balance; I dunno. But I can’t imagine anything more hideous for innocent family of the condemned to know the execution is being televised for all and sundry.
I can’t think of anyone I loathe more than Timothy McVeigh. But I don’t want him killed, and it has nothing to do with Br’er Rabbit reasoning. He’s an icy, zeal-ridden wannabe martyr. Executing him would just validate his own view of himself. I truly believe the worst, subtle, appropriate punishment would be to make him live. He embraced death as a tactic, wiping out lives carelessly and wantonly, all in service to his own ego–and he’s still doing it. There’s nothing glamorous about an aging prison lag w/ no hope of freedom. He’d have endless, slow, crawling years with nothing to do but think. I believe those years could be increasingly hideous as the consciousness of what he did hounded him. If he were lucky he might go insane–or genuinely wish for death if the scope of the evil he chose became real to him.
Would I watch? Yes. (Probably not live since I’m always working these days, but one of my friends would no doubt tape it. . .)
Would it be a spectacle WORTH watching? No.
Lethal injection is boring. We are so very HUMANE these days. We put 'em to sleep like sick dogs. All so solemn and private. What are we ashamed of?
Now the public guillotine, now THERE was a spectacle! Shakespearian drama at its most Senecan debasment. For the groundlings: blood and gore. For the intelligentsia the higher, and more horrible, problem of the severed head and its possible consciousness after the deed is done. A little something for everyone, a crowd pleaser . . .
As for all these fretful questions of the death penalty being a “deterrent” – please! This is the highest tirade in the dingbat Rousseauist debate playbook. It is the same sort of thinking that gave us the notion that when we lock criminals up, we are “rehabilitating” them.
Imprisonment is punishment of an individual, as is execution. “Deterrence” is a secondary question, interesting certainly, but in no way a deciding factor in the question of imprisonment or execution.