If A Terrorist Falls In The Middle Of The Forest And No One Sees It...

    I know this is a bit late in the game, but what does everyone think about the verdict on the Boston bomber’s trial? In this past week I’ve heard jubilation and stalwart support for his receiving the death penalty, despite the support coming from people who used to detest the very concept of capital punishment. They say that the punishment would send a strong message stating that America will not abide terrorism and that death is appropriate for such a remorseless murderer. For that same reason, though, some I have spoken to on the other side of the argument say that death is too quick for the likes of him.
    My father told me about a man called Richard Speck who broke into the apartment of eight female nursing students before serially raping, stabbing, and choking each victim to death while one girl watched from her hiding place under the bed. The man was caught, arrested, and for some reason was sentenced to life in prison rather than the death penalty. I don’t know if the judge or anyone anticipated what was going to happen, but the result sounded oh so appropriate for a man like him.
    The murderer spent about fifty years in prison before the public heard about him again. By that time, he had been raped by the inmates so often that it became a part of his daily routine and he no longer resisted. He had been given hormone injections to give him something close to breasts and the only thing that kept him alive in jail was his “utility.” He had become their sex slave.
    I don’t know about you, but that sounds like one of the most dehumanizing, cruel, and apt punishments for people like that. For people like this guy and the Boston bomber, who attack innocent people for no justifiable reason, who feel no pity or guilt, and who are vicious beyond any measure of necessity or reason, deserve to suffer for the rest of their miserable lives in the hellish jungle that we have created in our penitentiary system. Then again, in the bomber’s case, perhaps a life sentence would be almost as quick and just as lethal as the death penalty. Imagine him being put into a prison anywhere in New England. The inmates would probably not even consider turning him into a toy. They would tear him apart and the guards would likely look the other way.
    Aside from that, killing him outright in such a public manner as the death penalty could martyr him and actually further his cause amongst other nutzo extremists. Obscurity and suffering seems pragmatic and justified while lethal injection seems merciful and for once in my life I am not a proponent of mercy. Then again, without media coverage of his time in prison, the American people would not see his pain and thus would get no solace while the extremists would perceive no serious message. The implications of a life sentencing would not register for most people around the globe which thus supports the argument in favor of execution.
    So, in essence, I am on the fence between my personal, slightly brutal ethics and political pragmatism. While this yarn might indicate my favoring one or the other, I am honestly evenly divided between the two options. That is unless the bomber’s brief life in prison is publicized in which case I’m all for throwing that filth in with the worst animals that we can find.
    I get that it would be a slight abuse, or rather exploitation, of our legal system and that deliberate torture-esque sentencing goes against our country’s purported ethics *cough cough* (Guantanimo Bay) *cough cough*, but the death penalty also goes against almost half of the country’s sentiments. There’s no good answer to this, not even a simple one. The disgusting thing is that the bomber has been in the spotlight for so long that whatever we do to him is going to have major political and cultural repercussions, but we aren’t too sure what they might be.
    Lovely.
    Anyhow, I am actually curious as to what everyone thinks about this if you want to leave a comment or, better yet, message me.
    While we’re talking about psychos and other crazy people, I was hanging out with my friend Hunter the other day and discovered that computers can be easily offended. He was telling me how to download a program onto my laptop and keeping up an almost endless stream of commentary. When I finally had the file and the machine asked if I wanted to run the program, he said “Now make it run like a Mexican” at which instant my computer froze and we both stared at it in disbelief.
    “Wow,” I whispered.
    “Yeah. I don’t think it got that I was kidding.”
    “I just didn’t realize that my computer was so PC.”
    We only realized the pun afterward and I gave Hunter permission to slap me.
    Well, aside from the issue of the bomber nagging at me, I’ve really got little else to say, so I’m signing off. Have a good week! I truly hope that you’re out enjoying yourselves rather than being so bored as to read this blog! Sleep well!

Song of the Week: I will warn you now that this song won’t be to everyone’s taste (hard emo rock), but the title of the song is just too good to resist for this week’s topic! For fans of this band, enjoy the nostalgia!