# Texas - An Evil State **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 2, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107 "2006-05-02T15:08:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acqua\_Minerale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/1 "2006-05-02T15:08:26Z")
Man executed on disproven evidence > [@](#): > > Four of the nation’s top arson experts have concluded that the state of Texas executed a man in 2004 based on scientifically invalid evidence, and they called for an official re-investigation of the case. > > In a report scheduled for release Tuesday morning, the experts, assembled by the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization responsible for scores of exonerations, concluded that the conviction and 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for the arson-murders of his three daughters was based on interpretations by fire investigators that have been scientifically disproved. > > The experts were asked to perform an independent review of the evidence following an investigation by the Tribune that showed Willingham had been found guilty on arson theories that have been repudiated by scientific advances. In fact, many of the theories were simply lore that had been handed down by several generations of arson investigators who relied upon what they were told. > > The report’s conclusions match the findings of the Tribune, published in December 2004. The newspaper began investigating the Willingham case following an October 2004 series, “Forensics Under the Microscope,” which examined the use of forensics in the courtroom, including the continued use of disproved arson theories to obtain convictions. The blood lust of Texas strikes again. Every citizen of Texas is to blame for this. The laws the citizens have allowed to be passed are evil. And the Texans that oppose their state’s bloodlust are the worst. You know it is wrong but you don’t do enough to stop it. This man’s blood in on your hands. Texas = 1 step above Iran in justice Texans you should be ashamed. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060502willingham,1,4261058.story?coll=chi-news-hed](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060502willingham,1,4261058.story?coll=chi-news-hed) ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/2 "2006-05-02T15:22:30Z")
> [@Acqua Minerale](#): > > 1. Every citizen of Texas is to blame for this. > 2. This man’s blood in on your hands. > 3. Texas = 1 step above Iran in justice > 4. Texans you should be ashamed. 1. No, we aren’t. 2. No, it isn’t. 3. No, it isn’t. 4. I don’t care. Shut up. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/3 "2006-05-02T15:22:36Z")
Oh, come on. The President of the United States has full confidence in the justice system of Texas. You trust the President, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/4 "2006-05-02T15:23:38Z")
> [@SoulFrost](#): > > 1. No, we aren’t. > 2. No, it isn’t. > 3. No, it isn’t. > 4. I don’t care. > > Shut up. So are you OK with your state executing people based on false evidence? ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/5 "2006-05-02T15:24:13Z")
Ok, I’m not a huge fan of Texas either (having been sent there waaay too many times on business. Gonzales, Texas? Not my favorite). But you really need to calm down. Seriously. Take a deep breath. Relax. While the incident is deplorable, it’s not every Texans fault. Generalizations are always wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/6 "2006-05-02T15:25:41Z")
Not at all. But the OP was moronic drek which deserved no better a reply than I gave. ---
**Author:** ![Acqua\_Minerale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/7 "2006-05-02T15:26:37Z")
SoulFrost, are you saying that Texans don’t pick their leaders and make laws through the political process? Are you saying that Texans haven’t had notice for years that their justice system is fucked up? The time comes when enough is enough. Face this man’s blood is on your hands. Please do something before the next one. IT may help with the feeling of guilt for being a part of murder. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/8 "2006-05-02T15:30:54Z")
> [@](#): > > SoulFrost, are you saying that Texans don’t pick their leaders and make laws through the political process? Are you saying that Texans haven’t had notice for years that their justice system is fucked up? > > The time comes when enough is enough. Had you left it at that, all would be well. You and I could have a rational and reasonable discussion. Then you added what has become – and in such a short time – your usual idiocy: > [@](#): > > Face this man’s blood is on your hands. Please do something before the next one. IT may help with the feeling of guilt for being a part of murder. So all you really deserve in response is scorn. Fuckhead. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/9 "2006-05-02T15:31:56Z")
> [@Acqua Minerale](#): > > The blood lust of Texas strikes again. Every citizen of Texas is to blame for this. Yeeeeeeeeeee-haw! Yea! Woooo!!! I jest LURVE killin’ me some lower-class scum!! Whoa doggy!!! Let’s string up some colored folks and gays, too! T’ain’t nuthin’ more entertainin’ on a Saterday naht!!! Blood makes the grass grow! Kill! KILL!!! Well, Acqua Minerale has clearly established that I’m an amoral evil bastard, so I may as well revel in it. ---
**Author:** ![Acqua\_Minerale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/10 "2006-05-02T15:43:33Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Well, Acqua Minerale has clearly established that I’m an amoral evil bastard, so I may as well revel in it. Or you can do something about it. YOU ARE PART OF A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT IS MURDERING PEOPLE. Don’t you care? Please stop it. If the good people of Texas weren’t so scared and lazy this would have been stopped long ago. Don’t let another man’s blood on your hands. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/11 "2006-05-02T15:44:22Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Yeeeeeeeeeee-haw! Yea! Woooo!!! > > I jest LURVE killin’ me some lower-class scum!! Whoa doggy!!! Let’s string up some colored folks and gays, too! T’ain’t nuthin’ more entertainin’ on a Saterday naht!!! > > Blood makes the grass grow! Kill! KILL!!! Is this a parody? I can’t tell. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/12 "2006-05-02T15:48:31Z")
> [@strawman](#): > > are you saying that Americans don’t pick their leaders and make laws through the political process? Are you saying that Americans haven’t had notice for years that their justice, political establishment and entire society is fucked up? > > The time comes when enough is enough. > > Face it the blood of Iraq/Palestine/the entire third world/cute fluffy bunnies/the environment is on your hands. Please do something Yes **Acqua Minerale** , the actions of the entire USA are entirely down to **you**. Everything Bush, Halliburton, ExxonMobil and Union Carbide have done is **your** fault, because you live in the country they come from. You are an enabler of Fred Phelps, Ann Coulter and Dick Cheney because of your cowardly failure to stand up for the oppressed and assassinate them with a lump of frozen tofu. What are you going to do to make amends to the rest of humanity? ---
**Author:** ![Acqua\_Minerale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/13 "2006-05-02T15:49:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, 1,020 men and women have been executed, with _ **more than one-third 362** _ – in Texas. No blood lust in Texas? ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/14 "2006-05-02T15:50:15Z")
Mmmmmm… blood on my hands. Makes a nice in-between-meals snack. _slurp_ So, **Acqua** … I assume that my fellow Texans on this board also vote and are involved in the political process. We vote, we stay informed, and we call bullshit when we see it. What more do you want? You want we should storm Austin all Rambo-like and hang the murderin’ bastards? Scared? Lazy? What have **you** done (other than calling people names on a messageboard), you sorry sack of spineless shit? ---
**Author:** ![Acqua\_Minerale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/15 "2006-05-02T15:51:23Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > Yes **Acqua Minerale** , the actions of the entire USA are entirely down to **you**. Everything Bush, Halliburton, ExxonMobil and Union Carbide have done is **your** fault, because you live in the country they come from. You are an enabler of Fred Phelps, Ann Coulter and Dick Cheney because of your cowardly failure to stand up for the oppressed and assassinate them with a lump of frozen tofu. What are you going to do to make amends to the rest of humanity? Not a fair comparison. Most of the people you cited are private actors. And Dick Cheney is a good guy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/16 "2006-05-02T15:53:54Z")
Well you see, **Acqua Minerale** knows something that the rest of you don’t know. For starters, voting is 100% required in Texas. Every single person, from the Governor down to Billy Joe’s coon-dog, heads on up to Peewallup Elementary School on Votin’ Day (they don’t have words ending in ‘ng’ in Texas) to cast their votes for every decision that will be made in the coming year. Additionally, no decisions are made by legislators alone. Every decision, including sentences handed down by judges and what information to pay attention to in any given trial, is made by every single Texan. I bet you didn’t know that every decision had to be unanimous, too! Say what you like about Molly Ivins and Kinky Friedman; at the end of the day they all get up to their votin’ district and DEMAND we kill an extra fifty Meskins and Afry-can Merr’cuns ev’ry week, reg’lar. Ain’t no dissent in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Acqua\_Minerale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Acqua\_Minerale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acqua_Minerale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/17 "2006-05-02T15:54:27Z")
> [@SoulFrost](#): > > Mmmmmm… blood on my hands. Makes a nice in-between-meals snack. > > _slurp_ > > So, **Acqua** … I assume that my fellow Texans on this board also vote and are involved in the political process. We vote, we stay informed, and we call bullshit when we see it. > > What more do you want? You want we should storm Austin all Rambo-like and hang the murderin’ bastards? > > Scared? Lazy? What have **you** done (other than calling people names on a messageboard), you sorry sack of spineless shit? How about peaceful protest? Remember that guy that burned himself in protest over Vietnam. If 500 Texans did that, one each day on in front of the Texas state house, this problem would be solved. Hell, it wouldn’t even take 500. More than 5. And that is an extreme example. Other things could be done. How about the good Texans refuse to work until the justice system is fixed. The point is you have to stop this. By any peaceful means. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/18 "2006-05-02T15:55:17Z")
> [@Acqua Minerale](#): > > Or you can do something about it. > > YOU ARE PART OF A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT IS MURDERING PEOPLE. > > Don’t you care? > > Please stop it. > > If the good people of Texas weren’t so scared and lazy this would have been stopped long ago. > > Don’t let another man’s blood on your hands. So even if I voted for somebody other than who’s in office right now, I’m a murderer. And everybody else in the state who voted for somebody else is a murderer? And just exactly who should I have voted for to make sure this never happens? Oh, you don’t know. You just wanted to spout off some bullshit to make you look superior. Made you look like a raving asshole is what it did. Well, not just this one post, seems like every post you make here does that. So fuck off, dickhead. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/19 "2006-05-02T15:55:20Z")
> [@Acqua Minerale](#): > > Or you can do something about it. How do you know I’m not? How do you know a goddamned thing about me? Rather than ASSUME, why not ASK? > [@Ludovic](#): > > Is this a parody? I can’t tell. Is _this_ a parody? I can’t tell. No really. I can’t. I mean, if that idiot **Acqua Minerale** understood what I was saying, surely you did too. Oh, and to help you out on the off chance you aren’t kidding, **SoulFrost** ’s bit about blood making a nice snack was parody, too. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107/20 "2006-05-02T15:57:12Z")
Ok. You first. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-an-evil-state/355107.md?page=2)