Eclecticism

Rock on — I’m a couple days late hearing about this, but on Tuesday U.S. District Judge William Sessions declared the federal death penalty to be unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge William Sessions said the law does not adequately protect defendants’ rights.”If the death penalty is to be part of our system of justice, due process of law and the fair trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment require that standards and safeguards governing the kinds of evidence juries may consider must be rigorous, and constitutional rights and liberties scrupulously protected,” he said.

According to the article, this won’t affect individual states’ death penalty statutes, and he’s actually the second judge to make this ruling.

For me, the death penalty has never been something I’ve supported. I fully realize that there are some amazingly heinous crimes committed, and I can sympathise with those who feel that the death penalty is the only recourse (it’s entirely possible that I’d feel the same way if I was faced with the violent death of a loved one), but I’ve never seen anything to convince me that it’s an actual deterrent.

Hrm. This should probably get more thought and exploration than I’ve got time to give it this morning. Maybe I’ll come back to this post later on.

Mark Miller comments on Bush’s recent “Fool me once…” flub:

Bush actually believes that he can do no wrong. This fixed conviction of his own infallibility has come out often, in remarks not laughably sub-literate or confused. He’s boasted that he knows what he believes, and that he never changes his position, or his mind, and that he sees the world in black and white, and so on. He’s made it clear repeatedly: George W. Bush is always right, George W. Bush can do no wrong. And now he’s accidentally made the point again, by showing himself incapable — psychologically, and therefore physically — of saying “Shame on me.”

Without really knowing anything about Mr. Miller’s credentials, I’m tempted to chalk this little bit of armchair psychoanalysis up to being just another off-the-wall theory by someone unimpressed with Bush. However, it does make me wonder if this really could be the case? It seems a bit far-fetched for me to jump into believing right off the bat, but it doesn’t seem to be an unthinkable premise. A fairly frightening premise, also, especially for the President of our country, and moreso given the current state of the world. It’s worth thinking about, at least.

Also, ‘Quiddity Quack’ posits this theory:

While plenty of folks chuckle at the Presidents verbal stumbling, we think that it’s more serious. It appears that Bush’s inability to handle complex thoughts may have led him over time to forsake rationalistic approaches, and instead, make decisions based on his feelings. This may explain why he disdains nuance (as he’s said), and why he has simple solutions for everything. E.g.

• Tax cuts always help.
• Good people will make any controversial program (like drilling in ANWR) come out all right.
• American military power is benevolent. (Again, Americans are “good people”).
• Evil is the reason for misfortunes.
• …and so on…

I’ve got to admit, this theory sounds a bit more sound to me than a psychological disorder so severe that Bush physically cannot utter any self-deprecating remark, no matter the context. Now, neither of them are qualities that I’d really like my President to have, but, in a ‘lesser of two evils’ situation, I’ll take the latter over the former.

If I had my druthers, though, I’d like a third option.

Found via Anger Management Course