Jonah on Tookie
Jonah Goldberg has a few words to say on Tookiemainia:
I find it revealing that a significant number of conservatives I know (and even work with) either oppose the death penalty on moral grounds or are inclined to. But they are consistently put off by the radical chic crowd, which has grown deceitful, narcissistic and married to agendas no conservative would ever sign on to.
I find it revealing that a significant number of conservatives I know (and even work with) either oppose the death penalty on moral grounds or are inclined to. But they are consistently put off by the radical chic crowd, which has grown deceitful, narcissistic and married to agendas no conservative would ever sign on to.
posted by stewdog | 6:47 AM | Permalink
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4 comments
4 Comments:
He's right. I watched the execution coverage the other night and was appalled to see that someone in the (small) crowd of protesters had rolled out a gigantic papier-mache effigy of Mahatma Gandhi. Like those farcical ANSWER marches, Tookie sainthood rallies only shore up support for the opposite side.
So true, Jeff. You not only want him executed but all of his followers too.
That's why I think the abstract arguments against the death penalty work better for people like me. When you present me with someone like Tookie Williams (or that monster child-muderderer in San Diego and the guy in Orange County who are going to sit in prison for twenty five years watching Oprah and filing appeals), I find it very hard to shed a tear for their fate. Far from seeing them as victims, I can only think of the fate of the *real* victims in each case.
Mike Farrell can pat himself on the back for his "compassion" all he wants, but he wouldn't spend five minutes in the communities that people like Tookie Williams terrorize on a daily basis. How about some compassion for them?
The thing is, you can still be opposed to the death penalty--vocally, even--while not beatifying a unrepentant murderer. Disturbingly, much of the "protest anything" crowd can't comprehend that; theirs is a special kind of moral blindness.
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