Still killing time at School...
For those of you who don't know Steve Earle, he's a Country artist responsible for the songs Guitar Town and Copperhead Road. He's also responsible for stiring up a bit of trouble in Nashville with his album Jerusalem and his song John Walker's Blues. He is also one of my favorite artists, although I don't agree with alot of his positions. He is currently on Air America on Sunday nights at 10pm.
One of my favorite songs of his is Ellis Union One. Which always reminds me of a post I did on The Firing Line a few years ago back in my gun nut days.
please remember that this was written a few years ago. I've edited it a bit.
About 10:30 Mountain Time this morning I was going though my Morning Ritual; Cup of coffee, Three Browsers up and Running, One on TFL another on CNN and a third on http://www.realclearpolitics.com. When a Phrase from Peggy Noonan’s article on England leapt out at me from my normal scan for content mode. “(His name was Rickey Ray Rector, and he famously told his guards minutes before he was taken to the death chamber that he wouldn't eat his dessert right now, he'd save it for later.)”
Whoa
stop scanning
back up
Initiate Level 2 Liberal Media Bias screening programs, and reread the paragraph:
“Enter Bill Clinton, a man of the left who was a reformer of the left and who, having seized the Democratic presidential nomination, moved to seize the restless and prosperous middle of America."
(Cancel Liberal Media Bias Protocols, initiate Conservative Opinion Page Protocols)
"To an extent he had a clear philosophy--expressed not by him, but by the intelligent and accomplished Susan Estrich, Michael Dukakis's campaign manager in 1988, who told me in 1992 that she was tired of losing elections over the death penalty. She would now support those who were for it, such as Mr. Clinton, who made his point by sending a brain-damaged Arkansas man to his death during the campaign. (His name was Rickey Ray Rector, and he famously told his guards minutes before he was taken to the death chamber that he wouldn't eat his dessert right now, he'd save it for later.)”
“Wow,” I thought, “this man, (Rector) didn’t know what was going on, or had a sense of humor.” But the context must be remembered and if it were humor then this man wouldn’t have been remembered for an article like this. Plus there is the mention that the man was Brain Damaged.
Kill all browsers, initiate search for Rickey Ray Rector. Simply Put, Rickey was a bad guy who got into a gunfight with a police officer then shot and killed him. After the fact, he then put the gun to his head and blew himself back to the First Grade, effectively giving himself a frontal Lobotomy. When Rickey's time came, then candidate Bill Clinton flew from the New Hampshire campaign trail to Arkansas to “Personally Oversee” Rickey’s execution. Proving himself as a “New Democrat” and “Tough on Crime”. Rickey however had no real idea what was going on and during his last meal had asked for his slice of Pecan Pie to be saved so he could eat it later.
Later while he was in the execution chamber, Ricky had attempted to help the medics find a suitable vein. Only when the medics were forced to perform a “Cutdown” (when the patients arm is cut to expose a vein) did Rickey realize that he was not simply at the doctors for a check up.
There is not a lot of media play on this available but check the web to find corresponding stories of the execution.
At first this did nothing else but remind me that Bill Clinton is not a Nice Guy and I’m glad he’s not in office anymore. But then in my searching I found this account of what Bill was doing the night Rickey Died: http://mai.flora.org/forum/10984
“She told him: 'I just wanted to let you know that I'm praying for youAbout the execution tonight,' and he replied in a groan: 'it's just awful. Just terrible, terrible.' As she recalls it now, 'I heard in his voice a self - a depth of anguish - I'd never, never heard in him before.' She then told him: 'you know, he's not even dead yet.' 'What?' she remembers him exclaiming. 'What?' From his startlement, it was obvious to her that the conference in which he had been absorbed had not exactly been a 'blow by blow' account of Rector's fate Staley then told him: 'Bill, I'm so sorry. We've had two executions this week, haven't we.' She meant the Flowers allegations. 'He just groaned,' she remembers, and they moved on to discussing that topic. Ultimately, she says, the conversation wound up 'much more about the Gennifer Flowers matter' than about what was happening to Rector at that moment down at Cummins.”
So now he Really isn’t a Nice Guy and I’m Really Glad he’s not in office anymore. Then my train of thought wanders to our government in general. And how stupid a populace needs to be to elect a person like that.
How Screwed up it’s got to be to have a person like Clinton being your last hope for life and he’s off worrying about some tail that he got a few years ago and doesn’t even know whether your dead or not.
And he’s only letting you die so he can get a few more votes, and what kind of dicked up system lets a man die for nothing more than political points?
And then it hit me. I don’t believe that any system that could allow a man to be put to death based on whether or not it is politcialy expedient or beneficial to the deciding individual has the moral authority to condemn a man to death.
I believe in the death penalty. I don’t believe that our government is sufficiently evolved enough to make these decisions. Our courts are over crowded; our Public Defenders are over worked. Our Juries are made up of 12 people who couldn’t come up with a sufficient story to get out of duty. Our District Attorneys are out to make names for themselves to further their careers. The FBI will hide evidence from the case and actively cover up the investigation. And our Governors are too busy dealing with the problems their dicks got them into, to give sufficient thought to the matters at hand.
When I was a child in Colorado I was taught that the beauty of the American Justice System is that we’d rather let 50 guilty men go free, then to let one innocent man be falsely imprisoned. I believe now that 50 guilty men should live so that one innocent man should live also.
Illinois Governor Ryan last year announced a moratorium on executions until he could "be sure with moral certainty" that there would not be any more wrongful executions. I think this is a good idea, and it should be nation wide. I also think that the best way to catapult this issue to the center ring of our political circus is for President Bush to order a stay of execution for Timothy McViegh. If the man is to pay his debt to our society, let him start by being the catalyst of change. Comments? Suggestions?
One of my favorite songs of his is Ellis Union One. Which always reminds me of a post I did on The Firing Line a few years ago back in my gun nut days.
please remember that this was written a few years ago. I've edited it a bit.
About 10:30 Mountain Time this morning I was going though my Morning Ritual; Cup of coffee, Three Browsers up and Running, One on TFL another on CNN and a third on http://www.realclearpolitics.com. When a Phrase from Peggy Noonan’s article on England leapt out at me from my normal scan for content mode. “(His name was Rickey Ray Rector, and he famously told his guards minutes before he was taken to the death chamber that he wouldn't eat his dessert right now, he'd save it for later.)”
Whoa
stop scanning
back up
Initiate Level 2 Liberal Media Bias screening programs, and reread the paragraph:
“Enter Bill Clinton, a man of the left who was a reformer of the left and who, having seized the Democratic presidential nomination, moved to seize the restless and prosperous middle of America."
(Cancel Liberal Media Bias Protocols, initiate Conservative Opinion Page Protocols)
"To an extent he had a clear philosophy--expressed not by him, but by the intelligent and accomplished Susan Estrich, Michael Dukakis's campaign manager in 1988, who told me in 1992 that she was tired of losing elections over the death penalty. She would now support those who were for it, such as Mr. Clinton, who made his point by sending a brain-damaged Arkansas man to his death during the campaign. (His name was Rickey Ray Rector, and he famously told his guards minutes before he was taken to the death chamber that he wouldn't eat his dessert right now, he'd save it for later.)”
“Wow,” I thought, “this man, (Rector) didn’t know what was going on, or had a sense of humor.” But the context must be remembered and if it were humor then this man wouldn’t have been remembered for an article like this. Plus there is the mention that the man was Brain Damaged.
Kill all browsers, initiate search for Rickey Ray Rector. Simply Put, Rickey was a bad guy who got into a gunfight with a police officer then shot and killed him. After the fact, he then put the gun to his head and blew himself back to the First Grade, effectively giving himself a frontal Lobotomy. When Rickey's time came, then candidate Bill Clinton flew from the New Hampshire campaign trail to Arkansas to “Personally Oversee” Rickey’s execution. Proving himself as a “New Democrat” and “Tough on Crime”. Rickey however had no real idea what was going on and during his last meal had asked for his slice of Pecan Pie to be saved so he could eat it later.
Later while he was in the execution chamber, Ricky had attempted to help the medics find a suitable vein. Only when the medics were forced to perform a “Cutdown” (when the patients arm is cut to expose a vein) did Rickey realize that he was not simply at the doctors for a check up.
There is not a lot of media play on this available but check the web to find corresponding stories of the execution.
At first this did nothing else but remind me that Bill Clinton is not a Nice Guy and I’m glad he’s not in office anymore. But then in my searching I found this account of what Bill was doing the night Rickey Died: http://mai.flora.org/forum/10984
“She told him: 'I just wanted to let you know that I'm praying for youAbout the execution tonight,' and he replied in a groan: 'it's just awful. Just terrible, terrible.' As she recalls it now, 'I heard in his voice a self - a depth of anguish - I'd never, never heard in him before.' She then told him: 'you know, he's not even dead yet.' 'What?' she remembers him exclaiming. 'What?' From his startlement, it was obvious to her that the conference in which he had been absorbed had not exactly been a 'blow by blow' account of Rector's fate Staley then told him: 'Bill, I'm so sorry. We've had two executions this week, haven't we.' She meant the Flowers allegations. 'He just groaned,' she remembers, and they moved on to discussing that topic. Ultimately, she says, the conversation wound up 'much more about the Gennifer Flowers matter' than about what was happening to Rector at that moment down at Cummins.”
So now he Really isn’t a Nice Guy and I’m Really Glad he’s not in office anymore. Then my train of thought wanders to our government in general. And how stupid a populace needs to be to elect a person like that.
How Screwed up it’s got to be to have a person like Clinton being your last hope for life and he’s off worrying about some tail that he got a few years ago and doesn’t even know whether your dead or not.
And he’s only letting you die so he can get a few more votes, and what kind of dicked up system lets a man die for nothing more than political points?
And then it hit me. I don’t believe that any system that could allow a man to be put to death based on whether or not it is politcialy expedient or beneficial to the deciding individual has the moral authority to condemn a man to death.
I believe in the death penalty. I don’t believe that our government is sufficiently evolved enough to make these decisions. Our courts are over crowded; our Public Defenders are over worked. Our Juries are made up of 12 people who couldn’t come up with a sufficient story to get out of duty. Our District Attorneys are out to make names for themselves to further their careers. The FBI will hide evidence from the case and actively cover up the investigation. And our Governors are too busy dealing with the problems their dicks got them into, to give sufficient thought to the matters at hand.
When I was a child in Colorado I was taught that the beauty of the American Justice System is that we’d rather let 50 guilty men go free, then to let one innocent man be falsely imprisoned. I believe now that 50 guilty men should live so that one innocent man should live also.
Illinois Governor Ryan last year announced a moratorium on executions until he could "be sure with moral certainty" that there would not be any more wrongful executions. I think this is a good idea, and it should be nation wide. I also think that the best way to catapult this issue to the center ring of our political circus is for President Bush to order a stay of execution for Timothy McViegh. If the man is to pay his debt to our society, let him start by being the catalyst of change. Comments? Suggestions?
posted by meiji_man at 10:47 PM
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