Cheering death: A pathetic new low in American politics

From the Philadelphia Daily News courtesy of Eschaton:

I watched all of last night's rather predictable and not particularly game changing GOP presidential last night. As the dust settles, I honestly couldn't tell you who the "winner" was. I can tell you who lost, though:

Basic human decency. Not to mention America's reputation as a nation built on virtues like justice and fairness.

This shocking new low came near the end of the debate when moderator Brian Williams of NBC News asked Texas Gov. Rick Perry to defend his record of executions -- 234, more than any other governor in modern history -- during his tenure in Austin.

The mere mention that Perry had made what was once considered a solemn decision to sign off on the state-sanction deaths of 234 human beings caused the audience to break into sustained applause. Just watch the video below.

It was utterly sickening to watch. When Perry -- who recently vetoed a bill that would halt the execution of the mentally ill -- told the audience that anyone convicted of murder in the Lone Star State faces "the ultimate justice," the applause grew even louder.

More here.

It is sickening.

I touched on this a couple of weeks ago, on how the state kills in the name of the people, and just how awful that is. This essay is a bit different: it opines on what I believe is a minority, people who don't simply support the death penalty out of a sense of justice, but rather people who cheer it on, people who fucking love it when the state kills in their name.

And I just don't get it. I mean, I understand the deterrence argument, that capital punishment makes potential murderers think twice before taking another person's life, and while I disagree, I think there is, at least, some logic behind it. But what's with all the Nancy Grace style hate, the Nuremberg style glorification of, the hootin' and hollerin' for, state sanctioned killing? I mean, shouldn't taking a human life in the name of the people always be a solemn occasion? It is, after all, murder, even if it's legal. I mean, you know, "Thou shalt not kill."

These people who fucking love the death penalty, who have no problem with killing children, with killing the mentally ill, with killing those who are innocent in spite of their conviction status, are sick, sick, sick fucks. And it just so happens that these people are all die-hard members of the GOP.

I've been calling Republicans psychopaths for years. I haven't been joking or exaggerating.

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