# If Timothy McVeigh's Execution Were Televised, Would You Watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 18, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013 "2001-02-18T21:12:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/21 "2001-02-19T05:19:58Z")
Would I watch? No. Why? Because I am against the death penalty. . Would I want to watch? Yes and no. Yes, because I have a morbid streak a mile wide, but I can and do satisfy it through art (the bible, Stephen R. Donaldson, Stephen King, Shakespeare, Garth Ennis’s _The Preacher_, Frida Kahlo’s, or Francis Bacon’s paintings… the list is endless). No, because I believe that watching such a spectacle would be debasing to me personally, and to humanity. jm [sub]I demand that David B was joking.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/22 "2001-02-19T05:51:50Z")
He’s getting lethal injection? Not interested, who wants to watch someone go to sleep? Time better spent on Cartoon Channel or watching _Friends_ reruns. Watching a person die like that would only be interesting in person, so you can get the full experience. If it was a hanging, firing squad, or something equally interesting, I might click over to catch it. I wouldn’t bother with the pre-execution show, though. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/23 "2001-02-19T05:59:39Z")
On a gut level, I hope it’s not televised. TV news is already presents itself as entertainment too often, in my opinion. No matter how much was said about how citizens have the right to witness the functions of our justice system, I think it would still be presented as some sort of gory entertainment. Also, the mere fact that he wants it to be televised makes me think we should not. I hope the cook burns his last meal. I don’t support the death penalty, but I also realize that the death penalty is currently part of our legal system and that McVeigh has received his due process. If it were to be televised, and if I had children (which I don’t) and I felt they were old enough and they wanted to watch it, I would rather watch it with them. I would want to use it as an opportunity to talk about why I oppose the death penalty, and hopefully get them to think about their own stand on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/They_Call_Me_Sneeze)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/24 "2001-02-19T06:09:05Z")
I would watch. I’m not sure if I think that it should or should be televised (are they actually, seriously considering it?) but I would watch if it were. Now, I am very, very, very much against the death penalty, for a million and one reasons. So if people were listening to me, he wouldn’t be getting put to death in the first place. But no one listens to me, so that’s a mute point. I cannot even imagine how horrible something like that would be to witness (I have read accounts written by people who watched an execution, and those were pretty awful, so to actually see one must be a good deal more unsettling), even if it is something as mundane as lethal injection. And that is kind of why I would want to watch - to be unsettled. I would hope that other people who would watch would be unsettled too, and would realize what an incredibly dumb and barbaric thing the death penalty is, and so maybe they would change their mind about it. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Pismonque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@Pismonque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pismonque)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/25 "2001-02-19T07:24:34Z")
The idea of televising a human death is appalling and offensive. So would I watch? Hell, no. And pass the popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/26 "2001-02-19T07:41:16Z")
executions and don’t care to see any more of them. I’m from the US but working in Saudi Arabia right now and there are public executions almost every week somewhere in the Kingdom. On two occasions I’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time and wound up seeing a man beheaded. The executions are done on a Friday after the mid-day religious services in a public square. There is usually a large crowd, friends and family of both the prisoner and the victim. A black van shows up with the prisoner and the executioner. The prisoner is tied and hooded, rumor has it that he is also mildly drugged. It’s hot and quiet, a standard desert mid-day and you can smell the dust and the crowd around you. The actual execution is done with a sword. The executioner is very matter-of-fact about it. He simply unsheathed the sword, threw the sheath on the hood of the truck, turned and sliced the prisoner’s head off. One stroke, very quick and clean. There is an enormous fountain of blood, I had never realized how much blood someone has in their body. Afterwards everyone leaves quietly, it’s not a celebration of any sort, they merely see it as justice having been done. Anyway, executions are common here, usually for murder, rape, or drug dealing. On the up-side, Saudi is also a very safe place. Very few murders, rapes or openly sold drugs and definately no repeat offenders. Anyway, I’m not saying that public executions and a safe environment are cause and effect, I couldn’t back that up. I _CAN_ say that if I were planning to commit a serious crime I would have second and third thoughts after seeing an execution. Sorry for the slight hijack but although I have no scruples about the death penalty I would NOT go to watch it. Regards. Testy. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/27 "2001-02-19T08:13:23Z")
Yes. I’ve seen all of the _Faces of Death_ movies. What’s another one? I also think that anyone in favor of the death penalty should watch. That is, after all, what you are voting for. If you’re not able to see the results of your vote, maybe you might want to rethink your position somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/28 "2001-02-19T13:32:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I also think that anyone in favor of the death penalty should watch. That is, after all, what you are voting for. If you’re not able to see the results of your vote, maybe you might want to rethink your position somewhat. Then I’d argue that each anti-capital punishment voter should have to take his/her turn guarding criminals like Timothy McVeigh. This _is_ what they voted for, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/29 "2001-02-19T14:24:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > > \*\*Then I’d argue that each anti-capital punishment voter should have to take his/her turn guarding criminals like Timothy McVeigh. > > This _is_ what they voted for, after all. \*\* No, I’d say it’s more analagous to saying they should _watch_ the criminal in jail. On TV. I did not go so far as to spout the “don’t vote for the death penalty if you’re not prepared to pull the switch yourself” line, which would be more analagous to what you propose, wouldn’t you say? ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/30 "2001-02-19T14:56:04Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Turbo Dog \* \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RoboDude \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > I have yet to see the slightest trace of evidence that the death penalty has any deterrent effect whatsoever. \*\* > > 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.\*\* Hey, Texas and Virginia execute people like it’s going out of style, and it appears to have no effect on their murder rates. **Especially** in Texas. > [@](#): > > It means nothing. Plus, who really gets it? The psychotic ones that don’t really care. Actually, the ones that “get it” are usually poor and overwhelmingly nonwhite. Oh, and in Texas, the occassional retarded person, minor, non-English speaker, non-citizen, and whoever else they think they might be able to toss in. > [@](#): > > Make the death penalty mean something, and make it the most gruesome and painful ordeal possible, and it will be a deterrent. Um, did you see the thing about pickpockets? People were picking pockets in the crowd of people gathered to watch the hangings of pickpockets. It isn’t a deterrent, face it. > [@](#): > > 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. Gee, that’s a reasonable response. :rolleyes: You do know that the parents and families of some of the people killed in the bombing have asked that he not be executed. Right? I mean, you do know that? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/31 "2001-02-19T15:32:08Z")
And now that **PL** has brought up the families of the victims, I feel safe in twisting the OP to read, “If Timothy McVeigh’s Execution Were Televised, and You Had Lost Family Members in the Bombing, Would You Watch?” Me? No. For either OP. Let it go, say I. Also, I agree that televising it is a very bad idea. You’re giving him exactly what he wants, lots of celebrity strokes. His 15 minutes has gone on way too long as it is. Just executing him will make him a martyr to the other “Freedom Fighters” anyway, but putting the thing out over the airwaves, and on videotape, will only pump them up even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/32 "2001-02-19T19:30:52Z")
HOW, tell me, is witnessing an execution going to deter crime? After all, back in the days when public execution was carried out, it still didn’t deter crime. Other wise, they wouldn’t have needed it in the first place! In fact, it was seen as entertainment! ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/33 "2001-02-19T19:44:23Z")
I had said: > [@](#): > > I mean, hell, I’ve watched every episode of _Temptation Island_, fercryingoutloud. It can’t be worse than that… Spiritus Mundi replied: > [@](#): > > DavidB, I’m begging you, man . . . please tell me you were joking! About which part? That I have watched every episode of _TI_ or that his execution can’t be much worse? If it’s the former, nope, I’m 100% serious. I even tape it when I’m not home on Wed. nights. Like I said, I write a web column on reality TV. Believe me, I’m not doing it 'cus I like the show! (If you want to see some of the articles, search at [RealityTVFans.com](http://www.realitytvfans.com) or [Themestream.com](http://Themestream.com). I get paid a couple pennies for each reader, so I can’t give a direct link.) If it’s the latter, well, I gotta figure that the extended torture (to me, as a viewer) of _TI_ makes it worse to watch than a quick death (to some other guy) by lethal injection. [Edited by David B on 02-19-2001 at 05:18 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/34 "2001-02-19T20:32:01Z")
**David B** , I don’t think mentioning a schlock fantasy show, masquerading as “reality”, such as TI, in the same sentence as an execution is clever, or relevant. Yeah, TI is excrutiating in its banality etc. etc. But executions are not banal. Given the theoretical choice of watching male and female bimbos show their intelligence deficits, or watching a show featuring a man strapped down and receiving a lethal cocktail of chemicals into his body may seem obvious – but this is reality. And where one day the average viewer is treated to the sight of judicial euthanasia, the next time it could be “Old Sparky” as the star of the show. Thanks, **Persephone**. It _is_ the “slippery slope”. I hope Americans never find themselves at the top of that particular ski run. ---
**Author:** ![dal\_timgar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@dal\_timgar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dal_timgar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/35 "2001-02-19T21:06:35Z")
only if he was eaten alive by ants. the sadistic, Dal Timgar ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/36 "2001-02-19T23:25:37Z")
Jeez, Ice Wolf, if ya can’t joke about the taking of a human life, what _can_ you joke about? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/37 "2001-02-19T23:43:32Z")
I personally find it very disgusting and sad that the United States punishes it’s criminals by doing exactly what they are being punished for. “Do as I say, not as I do.” But I find it even more appalling at the number of people who would watch the taking of a human life on national TV. The only time that I’m ashamed to be an American Citizen is when it comes to the death penalty. As a nation, I would hope that we would be above this barbaric and disgusting practice. Apparently, not only are we not above it, we also want to be there to see them “flip the switch”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/38 "2001-02-20T00:59:01Z")
Aren’t we one of the few (if not the only one) industrialized countries that still has the death penalty? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/39 "2001-02-20T04:23:03Z")
> [@](#): > > _Posted by David B_ > Jeez, Ice Wolf, if ya can’t joke about the taking of a human life, what can you joke about? I can joke about a lot of things, David. But not the death penalty. However, I’ll put in a 🙂 just so’s ya know I’m friendly. BTW – you have to write about stuff like TI? This because you drew short straw or what? [sub](See? A _jocus chucklus_ right there. Quick, you might miss it. :)}[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013/40 "2001-02-20T04:32:29Z")
**Guinastasia** , here’s the list of death penalty retaining countries, according to Amnesty International ([www.amnesty.org](http://www.amnesty.org)): > [@](#): > > Countries which retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes > > AFGHANISTAN, ALGERIA, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, ARMENIA, BAHAMAS, BAHRAIN, BANGLADESH, BARBADOS, BELARUS, BELIZE, BENIN, BOTSWANA, BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CHAD, CHILE, CHINA, COMOROS, CONGO (Democratic Republic), CUBA, DOMINICA, EGYPT, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GABON, GHANA, GUATEMALA, GUINEA, GUYANA, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRAN, IRAQ, JAMAICA, JAPAN, JORDAN, KAZAKSTAN, KENYA, KUWAIT, KYRGYZSTAN, LAOS, LEBANON, LESOTHO, LIBERIA, LIBYA, MALAWI, MALAYSIA, MAURITANIA, MONGOLIA, MOROCCO, MYANMAR, NIGERIA, NORTH KOREA, OMAN, PAKISTAN, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, PHILIPPINES, QATAR, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, RWANDA, SAINT CHRISTOPHER & NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA, SAINT VINCENT & GRENADINES, SAUDI ARABIA, SIERRA LEONE, SINGAPORE, SOMALIA, SOUTH KOREA, SUDAN, SWAZILAND, SYRIA, TAIWAN, TAJIKISTAN, TANZANIA, THAILAND, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, TUNISIA, UGANDA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UZBEKISTAN, VIET NAM, YEMEN, YUGOSLAVIA (Federal Republic), ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE I think the only countries comparable to the US are Japan and South Korea. Maybe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-timothy-mcveighs-execution-were-televised-would-you-watch/55013.md?page=3)