A reader writes, aghast at government plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army major who murdered 13 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.
“I am so upset, so disgusted and in disbelief,” she says. “What has happened to this country?”
I want to sympathize, but can’
“Disbelief?” I reply. “Really? You are paying attention, right? This is very on brand for them.”
Between condemning children in Africa to death by denying food — and now vaccines — to shooting Americans in the street for failing to comply promptly to the orders of masked men, to the certain atrocities going on out of sight in windowless ICE prisons nationwide, the idea of the government beginning to ballyhoo their horrors has a certain appeal. At least we’ll be able to witness this one. And unlike most victims of official violence, Hasan bears undeniable guilt.
I’m generally against the death penalty, because it is so misapplied, racially and economically. But I’m willing to make exceptions — I’m glad Timothy McVeigh is not still around, writing manifestos, enjoying cheeseburgers and watching Netflix in his cell. Hasan falls into that category.
Which doesn’t mean his death should be served up as public entertainment? Or should it?
We’ve fallen out of practice watching public executions. To get myself in the spirit, I pulled down a collection of William Makepeace Thackeray’s journalism and reread “Going to See a Man Hanged.”
Writing in 1840, the future author of “Vanity Fair” spends pages setting the scene — his sleepless night before friends arrive in a carriage at 3 a.m., imagining the final hours of “the poor wretch” awaiting execution. The gallows set up in the street before Newgate Prison; the sight sends “a kind of dumb electric shock” through Thackeray. The “gentle and good humored” crowd of 40,000 — Charles Dickens is also there. The cursing ragamuffins and teenage prostitutes, “giggling, drinking, and romping.” The jokes, the rumors, the catcalls.
The condemned man, François Courvoisier, a Swiss valet who slit the throat of his employer, regards the crowd with “a wild, imploring look. His mouth, contracted into a sort of pitiful smile.”
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I don't have to wait for it to happen to be disgusted. By Pete Hegseth, truly a despicable, broken human being. The damage he has done to the ideals of America is incalculable. He can't be part of the detritus of history soon enough.
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to ask that drunken lunatic Kegsbreath if he is going to be one of the firing squad.
ReplyDeleteIf not, he's just another vainglorious pile of shit play acting as a tough guy & is actually too cowardly to shoot someone, even though he seems to get orgasmic over announcing the act!
So many people get offended when truth is spoken.
ReplyDeleteHillary Clinton called them "deplorable."
Turns out, they are.
I’m surprised few discuss something sources claimed when DT was elected first time. In 1990 he told a writer he had Mein Kampf on his bedside table, with later claims that it was actually a compilation of Hitler’s writings. Not surprisingly he later claimed he never said any of that. I looked up a summary of MK just now, as I only recall it in vague, but key terms:
ReplyDeleteHitler viewed escalating tolerance of violence as a predictable manipulation of public psychology, detailing several key insights on how a population responds to force:
• The Psyche of the Masses: Hitler asserted that the broad populace behaves like a submissive entity that prefers domination over freedom. He wrote: "The psyche of the broad masses is accessible only to what is strong and uncompromising... They feel inwardly more satisfied by a doctrine which tolerates no rival than by one which affords them the freedom of choice."
• The Psychological Utility of Terror: He argued that escalating, calculated physical terror breaks down a population's will to resist, eventually forcing their compliance.
• Submission Over Moral Outrage: In his view, a nation subjected to persistent and aggressive force does not react with sustained moral outrage; instead, it succumbs out of a desire for stability, order, and alignment with the winning side. He claimed that while individual intellectuals might protest, the broader nation ultimately bows to a shows of absolute authority and aggressive certainty.
This sounds very much like his playbook. He has the means and motive to buy what he wants now, anything; his resources have only grown exponentially through time, despite the immense costs born by those of little relative power. Even the disabled.
Our Supreme Court is hobbled, to say the least. And a majority of the Senate…are propped up by God knows what means.
What now?
A televised execution might cause some to turn away from this administration's violence and cruelty. But that's not worth the debasement of watching, and thereby participating, in a killing.
ReplyDeleteI feel sad that there are people who find an execution entertaining. A couple of friends of mine decided to sit outside Stateville when Gacy was executed. They thought they would get to see the lights dim when the switch was pulled. Turned out it was a lethal injection execution. Much less spectacular, but I was glad that I didn't have to listen to their drunken stories for the rest of the summer.
ReplyDeleteBack in late 1989 or early 1990 I viewed video of the firing squad execution of the Ceausecus of Romania. The video was getting lots of attention so I decided to see it for myself. I regret watching it. Whether you agree or disagree with the death penalty, its methods, or the specific details of a particular case, too little attention is given to the impact it has on the executioners and witnesses. In the Ceausecus case, one member of the firing squad said some on the team hesitated while others forgot to switch their guns to automatic firing mode, leaving his gun to inflict the fatal shots. The person who coordinated the execution was promoted to Colonel but killed himself just over 2 months later.
ReplyDeleteAs a society, we are complicit in the ways our "justice" system metes out its justice. To televise the firing squad execution of a guilty man in a wheelchair says way more about the United States than it does about the crime or the man who committed it. And those who witness the spectacle will be impacted, as well.
Yes, one of my many reasons for opposing the death penalty is the moral injury it inflicts on the executioners and witnesses.
DeleteThey may try to monetize it...and make it pay-per-view. Anything for a buck.
ReplyDelete