http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/columnists/rdreher/stories/DN-dreher_1025edi.State.Edition1.18764d6.htmlRod Dreher: Willingham case a test of Perry's character
Gov. Rick Perry is facing a character test in the matter of Cameron Todd Willingham. So far, it's been an epic fail for the governor. And if Texans let him get away with this brazen attempt to evade responsibility, we'll be party to a grave moral failure.
snip//
Was Willingham wrongly executed? The work of the state's Forensic Commission was on the verge of debating a powerful report by noted fire investigator Craig Beyler annihilating the arson findings that sent Willingham to his grave. And then Perry stepped in to effectively halt the investigation. Since then, the entire nation has seen Texas humiliated by then-prosecutor John Jackson claiming on ABC's Nightline that Willingham might have killed his kids because he liked heavy metal music, and, hey, you know how scary metal heads are.
Perry is plainly afraid that his own investigators will discover that the state likely put a blameless man to death. But what is he afraid of? Political fallout? What is mere politics when the credibility of a system that might have killed an innocent man – and might yet kill other innocents – is at issue? Our skittish governor has taken to calling Willingham a "monster." Even if he was, we put men to death for their deeds, not their dispositions. He needed killin' is no rationale for execution.
A real leader – a brave and honorable one – would want to know the truth, so that if evidence requires it, he and others responsible for Willingham's death could make restitution and repent for shedding the blood of a blameless man railroaded to his execution. If hard-hearted Perry is so certain of Willingham's guilt, why object to an investigation?
More importantly, if Willingham was wrongly put to death, all decent capital punishment supporters should want strict measures taken to ensure that this catastrophe never happens again. If we are going to have the death penalty, we have the solemn duty to use it responsibly. Right? Surely we Texans aren't the kind of people so enamored of retribution that the actual guilt or innocence of those executed in our names is of no real concern.
This is not only a problem for Rick Perry. We live in a democracy. It's on all of us. If Texas really did kill an innocent man, that's a terrible tragedy. But if Texas and its governor lack the courage to face the truth and deal squarely with it, the tragic act will be magnified by deep and lasting disgrace, and we will all stand condemned by our collective moral cowardice. It's much harder to live with painful truths than with comforting lies. But a people who would be on the side of right have no choice.
Rod Dreher is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. His e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews .com.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
