Richard Soderstrom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
If an have any comments for me I am closing down for a few weeks starting
May 4. I am going to take this opportunity to make a few comments of my
own.
No.1
>Sue said
You said the same thing that I was trying to say. I don't think that
>these kids even think of the consequences of shooting that gun. Death
>to a kid really has no meaning. They don't understand that dead is
>dead, and there is no changing it. And the movies and television
>don't
I believe it was in referance to Jonesborough. Kids have no concept about
what they are doing when they shoot someone. Generally the adults don;t
either. The people I know who have shot someone say you don't really know
until you do it and see the body. Thses are all good people ( Vets). The
punks on the street probabl never have an idea. I think Kipling said
something to the effect that the first maan you kill is very hard but by
the time you get to six or seven It's like another little drink.
No.2
Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Hi Sody:
A district attorney, the other night on Nightline, said that the law and
prison aren't about rehabilitation. They are about justice and
punishment.
Sue:For this response I am indebted to Vi and some fella name of Anon.
"What the world needs more of is not love, but justice."
No 3
Hi Sody,
Oooh, you're really treading dangerous ground when you support executions
to eliminate "burdens of society". IMO, it's a lot easier to justify
locking someone up for 25 years than it is to justify killing them. In
Hitler's time the Jews were considered burdens of society and they were
systematically killed. I bet there are people in this country right now
who would argue that the old the sick and the lame are burdens to
society. I don't think a "burden to society" argument is very strong to
support a death penalty.
But I DO agree that the penal system must be structured to provide
medical treatment where required as well as rehabilitation, where
possible. Killing them all is simply not an option, IMO. And unless you
are going to kill them all you will simply have to find a way to justify
locking them up for whatever time periods are called for, including the
rest of their lives for some individuals.
IMO, the debate over the death penalty is quite separate from the debate
over how prisons should be operated and how prisoners should be treated.
Bill
Bill as you so often do you made me think. My first thought is to
disagree. If people are sentenced to death by Courts duly established by
the law than such action is within the per view of justice. The only way I
can see to support euthanasia, assisted suicide or abortion could only be
as an action of a duly appointed judge and jury acting in accordance with
law.
Let see if in the few minutes I ve got I can present a case. I do not
support punishment of the criminal Oh I don't mean spanking or one friend
of mine recommends a return to stocks and pillory. Maybe not a bad idea as
punishment for some crimes such as spray painting graffiti on public or
private property. Public drunkenness, use of marijuana, generally speaking
the crimes of youth growing up and testing their wings.
What good does it do to punish a thief? Does the victim get his property
back? It is more important to make the thief recognize that such conduct is
against the best interest of society. Certainly sending those two kids
from Jonesboro to jail won't do the victims any good. Does oursociety have
the knowledge and patience to teach these two how to be good contributing
members of that society. Maybe these two can be redeemed, but there are
many in prison who are beyond our ability to reform or our capacity to
forgive. We commit a greater crime than theirs sentencing them to a life of
hopelessness rotting for the rest of life in jail.
I have to think more on this comments welcome.
No4 The other night on some TV program said that some children were
programed toward violence by the age of three. This was mostly from TV and
in some cases battling parents I seriously think we should consider
whether freedom of speech and press were intended by the founding fathers
to extend to the air waves and electronic media. The amount of violence
coming into our homes to day via the tube is unbelievable. Even the news
carries the violence into the living room.
Some years ago the State Police in Monroe County Wisconsin took it upon
themselves to take people convicted of t drunk driving to the scene of
fatal accidents and help pick up the pieces. They discovered that one or
two such experiences had the desired effect but more seemed to make the
trainee inured to the carnage it no longer bothered him. I believe the
constant carnage on TV has had that effect on Americans.
I remember taking my shotgun to school when I was in High school and
putting it in my locker. I had gone hunting early and stopped at school
coming back I took the gun home at night. Several kids did that and no one
thought any thing of it. Now they bring a gun to school to shoot people???
Believe me it isn't only in the south were kids grew up with guns. I am
from Wisconsin, and I have owned a gun ever since I can remember. I have
never shot anyone, but sometimes after watching TV or a movie I have to
wonder if I am not missing something. I think mor than kids have been
affected.
I guess I ve blown off enough. Be well.
Who the hell is that Anon fella??? I put him in a search engine and drew a
blank.
The dirty old Gandy Dancer
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