The Tookie Williams saga is getting WAY too much airtime on DU

[wtmusic]

How many thousands of innocent people has our military killed in the last month?

Whether you agree with the death penalty or not--I can't quite figure out why the execution of a notorious gangbanging thug is occupying so much of our collective attention.

Someone please 'splain me how the fascination with this case is remotely justifiable given the crimes taking place elsewhere on the planet, financed by our tax dollars. :shrug:

edited to add link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5499498

[sandnsea]

1. Why are you giving it more air time then?

:)

I think the death penalty eats at our collective soul. If people can be made to realize one person on death row can put his life to use, even if he never gets out of prison, then maybe they'll rethink the way we treat the rest of them. We can protect ourselves from predators and allow them to find their humanity and become productive, if it's at all possible. Those aren't conflicting values.

[donheld]

18. That always cracks me up.

They whine cuz something gets too much attention by giving it more attention? :crazy::crazy::crazy:

[bluestateguy]

2. My support for his clemency is very soft

I happen to think he should be commuted down to life in prison, given his work in the area of keeping kids out of gangs, which is a good thing. But this is the first time I have posted on the subject, and will likely be the only one.

If he is executed, I'm not going to make a fuss over it, because as you said, there are just too many more important problems in the world, and right now I just don't have the time to be sympathetic toward him.

[leftstreet]

3. People are obsessed with "The State" having the right to kill

It's the ultimate form of mind control. The ubiquitous news-feeds about THEM and THEIR power to kill. Keeps the peasants in line.

[Fescue4u]

4. He wrote a childrens book

Therefore he gets a pass

(although the books didnt do much for his own kids, one is in prison for murder, and the other is currently being sought for the rape of a teen)

[Swamp Rat]

5. There are some folks who are apparently pushing this topic relentlessly.

However, I understand this man is about to be put to death, so time is of the essence. Personally, I am against the death penalty under any circumstance - it is state sanctioned murder, the ultimate purpose of which is revenge, and control. Though, I wish this topic could be covered in ONE THREAD, with addition parts added as the original gets too long.

[rpannier]

6. I'm not sure why I can't focus on both

I haven't exactly noticed that people have stopped caring about other crucial issues to focus on the execution of Tookie Williams.
I would point out that the issue of capital punishment, ie "State sponsored Murder" is one of the two-or-three most important issues that face this country And you could logically make the connection between state sponsored murder at home and the propensity for war abroad. Both issues show a lack of concern for human life, human suffering and for finding easy answers to complex problems.
When you look at the countries that murder their own citizens, the death penalty is a crucial issue. I don't know about you, but I am not comfortable being in the same company as China, Singapore, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc.

[rpannier]

7. self delete dupe

[acmavm]

8. I confused. Is someone forcing you to read them? Are you now the

the person we go to to decide what to post and when and in what volume? Do you decide what's important to everybody now? If so, I think someone should have told us before this. Maybe you can kill some of these 2008 polls if you have the time.

[ET Awful]

9. So are you now the self-appointed topic police?

There is a hide thread feature for a reason. If you are, for some reason, not interested or offended by a thread, simply hide the thread an you no longer have to deal with it.

Just as a little side-note . . . Williams is now engaged in saving lives. Seems to me he should be allowed to continue doing so. He has, in fact, saved tens of thousands of children (many the same age as the child in your linked article) from entering into the gange scene. By stopping them from joining gangs, there is no telling how many lives were saved FROM those tens of thousands.

[seaglass]

10. There isn't really that much fascination it's a small number

who are posting repeatedly in the threads.

Weren't there 2 other people on death row executed this week?

I'm against the DP on principle, not because Tookie deserves it more or less than Kenneth Lee Boyd did (number 1000).

[nofurylike]

14. one was executed. one was granted clemency, thanks to efforts

exactly like this for Mr Williams.

peace

[supernova]

11. Wh not do both?

Among the many nafarious reasons we are in a war now is so the right wing doesn't have to listen to us bitch about our other pet causes, the DP being chief among them.

They thought that if we had a war they could silence us about the rest of society. Not so.

[tammywammy]

12. What I don't understand is

Why Tookie. I understand if people are anti-death penalty and want it to stop.

But what about Kenneth Lee Boyd in North Carolina. I didn't read a peep (and maybe I just missed it) about petitioning him for clemency. If I read anything about Boyd it was in relation to the 1000th execution being committed, not that he should be given clemency.

:shrug:

[nofurylike]

15. eight executions scheduled. one clemency so far. that's this time.

it's endless.

that's why it is so crucially important to *fight the death penalty* in every possible way.

i'm off this thread now, so no worry replying to me. just wanted to say that.

thank you!


peace!

[pitohui]

13. simple suggestion

if you think a topic is a waste of space, don't reply to that topic, as it bumps it back up to the top

and don't add new threads complaining abt that topic, again, you crowd out topics you might consider more worthy

i got nothing against tookie but agree that i've got other priorities

my answer to the issue is since i have nothing positive to contribute, i will stfu on that topic and let those who do have something positive to contribute continue to discuss

fair enough?

[donheld]

20. "if you think a topic is a waste of space"

they should use the "hide thread" button

[Walt Starr]

16. It should die off in about eleven days

along with the gang banging thug.

[hiaasenrocks]

17. Yep. After December 13th, DU will be free of this discussion.

And we'll be free of this defendant.

[Walt Starr]

19. He's not a "defendant"

He's a convicted murderer. He was a defendant all the way up to the point where he was convicted.