How did you feel after McVeigh was executed?
Assuming you paid attention to anything about the last six years of America’s most recognizable terrorist, you probably felt exactly as you felt yesterday.
What happened in Indiana on Monday morning was horrible. The US government gave Timothy McVeigh a “Get out of jail” card. State assisted suicide allowed the Oklahoma bomber to escape the pure Hell of isolated prison life.
It’s extremely important that the social sciences and medicine figure out how McVeigh developed. Were he still alive, he could prove invaluable to dozens of academic fields and, ultimately, society itself.
Instead, ignorant politicians wishing to capitalize on the grief of others decide to play Roman prefect and use murder for short-term, personal gain.
The United States cannot continue to use the death penalty–or even the Justice System in its current condition–and claim to be a civilized society.
In 1994, French authorities apprehended Carlos the Jackal in Sudan. He had been waging terror against anyone and everyone for at least 19 years before the French finally caught him. He had done everything from tossing grenades into baby strollers outside of crowded cafes to taking representatives of OPEC hostage.
Carlos the Jackal rots in a Parisian prison today. He is completely isolated. He is not allowed to speak to the media or anyone besides his lawyer. While Carlos may be known to students of history or politics, the rest of the world has forgotten him.
His isolation is his punishment. He is so thoroughly condemned that he cannot even commit suicide. That is true punishment.
Dubya was right when he said that, “McVeigh is lucky to live in the United States of America.”
McVeigh has been put out of his misery and everybody else loses. Surely, the Jackal would want nothing less than the death penalty after what is truly his worst nightmare–nobody cares and he’s around to see that nobody cares.
