Friday, July 06, 2007

Head On... apply directly to the forehead!!!

Okay, so I'm in one of those surreal moods! And time for some more "Random Thoughts."

1) Leg Cramps... Got one about 3:30 a.m.... It takes a lot to get me to sail like a sailor. Like a leg cramp. I'm surprised I didn't wake up the whole of Madison! Or my blogging friend out on Lake Herman!

You know, there are about as many theories about what causes leg cramps as there are JFK assassination theories. All I know is I was walking like a goober today because of it. Leg Cramps Suck!

2) Death Penalty... Believe it or not, I'm not quite sure about this anymore. On one hand, there's the whole deterrent thing, which holds about as much water as a colander. On the other hand, there's the "being much better than the criminal" argument. Which is a bit silly, because we are not committing crimes or going around killing people for no good reason!

Frankly, I'd like to be a heartless bastard. Ship em all to Alaska, no cable TV, no porn, just 3 basic meals and 12-hours of hard labor a day. That's all they deserve. And if they escape... well, good luck with the bears!

3) Bush pardon of Libby... Dubya, you gotta take a lesson from your predecessor... If you give a pardon, make sure that person gives a nice fat contribution to your Presidential library (or your wife's Senate campaign!)

4) Zoey... Every since my niece was born, I've had her picture on my cell phone. Whenever I get stressed or feel like crap, I just flip open my phone and there she is in all her newborn cuteness. Best medicine in the world!

4 comments:

caheidelberger said...

On the death penalty: I used to confidently advocate the death penalty for the scum of the earth. I, too, am now having doubts that I can justify the use of deadly force when the threat -- the criminal -- is contained. If it were my home, I could live with using deadly force on an intruder in the process of committing a crime against my family. But after the fact, after the criminal has captured, convicted, and imprisoned, I have trouble justifying empowering the state to carry out my emotional urge for revenge.

Alaska -- not a bad option for criminals, and there's plenty of room, so decent Alaskans might not feel terribly imposed upon. It worked for Britain with Australia, which turned into a pretty fun country.

I'm reminded of Socrates, who choose hemlock over exile. Kicking a criminal out of society could well be a greater punishment than killing him. That might be the case with Elijah Page, who's been asking us to kill him, and whom our smiley governor seems content to oblige this criminal's wishes. Weird.

Jackrabit1 said...

And I wonder how many ACLU folks would call that "Cruel and Unusual Punishment?"

I've heard of some prisons that actually provide cable TV for the inmates... I don't know about you, Cory, but when we went to college, weren't the dorm rooms SMALLER and we had to PAY for cable?

Anonymous said...

Bush did not pardon Libby, he commuted his prison sentence. There is a big difference

Jackrabit1 said...

Same 'ol, same 'ol Tim, it's the political game of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine!" The only difference is Bush didn't get a donation for his library out of his executive order!