Opinions Of The Month: February, 1999

Eye For An Eye In Texas

James Byrd, Jr. was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he was black. And because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, specifically in the same place at the same time as John William King, and because his skin color was different from King's, James Byrd, Jr. died. He was drug along a country road, chained to King's pickup truck by his ankles, for 3 miles before his body slammed into a culvert, severing his head, shoulder, and arm, and bringing to an end the suffering, the terror, and the life of James Byrd, Jr.

Now, I can't be the only person that thinks lethal injection just isn't enough. Life in prison just isn't enough. How about we chain old Johnny to a pickup and drag him, oh, about a mile down a gravel road. Once a week. For about a year. Then on the anniversary of his sentencing, we take him for a high speed spin down the same road on which Mr. Byrd died, making sure to miss that culvert. And we keep dragging him until his evil heart stops.

Some of you think the death penalty is just revenge in disguise. I say, yup, in some small part it is just that. So let's take off the disguise for this guy. He doesn't deserve a nice, warm, cozy death. He deserves to receive the same blood-chilling terror he visited on Mr. Byrd. He deserves to die in some truly horrible fashion. Some say the death penalty is not a deterrent. Others say that, in other countries it is a deterrent because it is quick, it is consistent, it is brutal, and it is public. I tend to agree with the latter. So let's take off the kid gloves, and who better to start with than John William King.

Man, that guy's mamma must be so proud…

1998 Recap

I took January off due to work and family related events, but I'm back briefly, just long enough to take a final jab at some folks and t o start anew with my most heartfelt beliefs.

Iraq. Saddam just put a bounty on our airmen's heads, about $14000 a piece. Well, let's put a bounty on this shmuck's head. I think $5 million, payable in the currency of the hero's choice, should about do it. I urge Bill Clinton and Congress to take the cost of 5 of our mid-range missiles and use it to pay off anyone with the cojones to take this rat-bastard out.

Microsoft. Second only to Saddam Hussein is Bill Gates when it comes to destroying all who oppose him and consuming all who don't. Microsoft claims to innovate. That's a JOKE. Bill Gates needs to be taught a severe lesson in fair practice and honesty.

So does Bill Clinton. I'll come back to this.

The NRA: rabid, maniacal idiots, every one. Sorry, I even have friends that are part of the NRA, and when it comes to guns we just don't see eye to eye. Guns are not a right, they're an evil. Sure, guns don't kill people, people kill people, and people with Uzis kill a LOT of people in a short amount of time. People who want better law enforcement aren't bothered that someone had to die before the law could be enforced.

Latrell Sprewell, Unrepentant Racist Thug. I understand our favorite felonious free-thrower of fists is now playing for the Knicks. Well, there goes the neighborhood. He should be doing time in jail, but the NBA sees too much cash value in him. I still think Carlesimo should sue the SOB. I'm sure the NBA took care of Carlesimo somehow to prevent him from damaging their cash cow.

Kenneth Starr, A Man in Desparate Need of a ... Hobby. This is the weird, pudgy kid that got picked on in high school. Now he gets to take a vicarious swing at all the kids that ruined his childhood by taking out the President. He makes up the rules as he goes along. He has decided that, although the Constitution explicitly states that the President may be indicted once he's out of office, it doesn't explicitly say that he can't be indicted while he's in office. And guess what? He's decided that the limelight shouldn't be taken away so soon, so he's going to keep dragging the President through the mud. (Mom, don't read this next part) Kenneth Starr is an asshole. My personal opinion of course, but one I feel strongly about. What a dick. What an "I can't stand not being important" jerk. If he wasn't a special counsel, he'd be a serial murderer or he'd assassinate the Pope or the President or anyone at all so long as his name went down in history. If he got hit by a car tomorrow I'd be rolling on the floor laughing, and I mean it: laughing until I was choking, gut-splitting, milk-puking guffaws and snorts. I reserve the kind of hate for him that you typically save for the likes of Hitler, Zhirinovsky, the Grand Dragon of the KKK, that type. People who have turned to the meaningless and unnecessary destruction of people to secure some horrible form of power and their place in the history books.

Drug laws as a whole should be revisited with the premise that if it's physically addictive it should be illegal, and if it's not then it should be restricted by age, regulated in sales, licensed for retail, and taxed.

Prostitution should run the same way. It is not currently a victimless crime because it's illegal. Make it legal, require licensing and frequent disease testing, zone the city for it, then tax it.

Westboro Baptist Church: Prejudiced Morons, Bleeting Hate-Filled Sheep. In my personal opinion, of course.

Mike Tyson: a thug in need of serious and constant counseling. Not someone who should be allowed in a boxing ring. Ever.

Tobacco: I love a good cigar (mostly to chew on, rarely to smoke), but tobacco has got to go. Outlaw it. I'll miss my cigars, but I'll have one less thing to worry about when it comes to my kids safety.

NEA: Waste of money. Let artists get jobs and support their own artistic efforts.

And now, new font style and size in hand, we forge on, spouting barbs and invectives, railing at the injustices and stupidities of the world...

The Impeachment Trial

Ok, I think it's clear now how I feel about Kenneth "Point The Camera At Me Or I'll Destroy You All" Starr, Linda "I'd Videotape My Parents Having Sex For 15 Minutes Of Fame" Tripp, and Bill "Say Sugar, Wanna See My Disappearing Zipper-Weasel Trick?" Clinton. About the trial:

The House, right or wrong, charged Clinton with committing impeachable crimes. That was their job, to decide what, if any, charges to bring against Clinton. They did that. The charges are perjury and obstruction of justice. Fine, ok....

The Senate is supposed to hold a trial now. In my mind and according to the way I read the constitution, it is a trial JUST LIKE ANY OTHER. I would say that the one difference would be that the judge would probably be out of his mind to dismiss all charges. I would guess he doesn't have that kind of power although there is no precedence or stricture either way. But otherwise, there MUST BE A TRIAL.

The senators act as one body of jurors. The witnesses are trotted out, testimony is given, evidence is entered into the record, and closing arguments are given. The jurors vote on guilt or innocence, NOTHING ELSE. If he's guilty, he's guilty. Period.

Then you go to the penalty phase and vote on what should happen beyond that point. The maximum penalty is removal from office. Depending on the state, if my vague understanding of the law holds, it depends on the state whether the jury can suggest or decide on the penalty. Then it's up to the judge to make a final ruling. I would guess that this is another point on which this kind of trial differs. The senators must come to some agreement on what to do with the President at that point. Since they are overturning the will of the people, expressed in the presidential election vote, they require a 2/3rds majority.

My point in all this? That it should be viewed as A NORMAL TRIAL. The accused is anyone but an ordinary person, but he has committed extraordinary crimes as deemed by the House of Representatives. Thus he stands formally accused and his innocence is currently being tried in a Constitutionally specified manner, vague though the Constitution may be on the finer points of the trial process.

Now keep in mind, I'm a Democrat by registration. Please appreciate my position in the next paragraph.

SHAME on the Democrats for trying to wriggle out of this trial using flimsy excuses and TV politics. SHAME on them for trying to split the trial into two parts, one to decide on guilt and another entire trial to decide on removal. SHAME on them for tainting the impeachment process with partisan politics.

BRAVO to the Republicans for doing the right thing, unpopular as it may be. Though the Democrats attempt to sway popular opinion against "prolonging" the trial, the Republicans, in the face of a potential backlash at election time, are sticking by the Constitution and are committing themselves to seeing this sordid affair to its gory end. I won't get into the underhanded methods used by House of Reps. Republican Tom DeLay to push the impeachment articles through (threatening fellow reps if they didn't toe the party line), but the Republican Senators are doing what they must...

And BRAVO to the one Democrat who broke ranks and voted FOR the impeachment trial, Russell Feingold. I give this man a lot of credit for backbone. Here's a man that thinks for himself, who doesn't traffic with partisan politics. One more BRAVO for him.

The trial itself is now a reality. Drop the partisanship and TRY the man's innocence on the charges that have been brought against him. Get it over with, but do it!

And one last note about the "prolonging" accusating that the Democrats keep hurling about in public view: having a trial does not equate to prolonging it. On the other hand, if I'm ever arrested and tried for high treason, I will be sure to squeal during opening statements that the prosecutor is prolonging my trial by having it at all. Maybe it will work for me?

China

Well, this one certainly has been a long time coming, huh? I guess I tend to hammer out opinions that don’t really go with the grain. Is there anyone that likes China's anti-humanitarian policies? If there is, I haven't met that person. I've been to Hong Kong (just before it was turned back over to China) and I can tell you that no one hates China's government more than the Chinese themselves. Get them to be candid for a moment and they will go ON AND ON about how they hate the government. They'll tell you personal stories about how people's basic human rights are constantly threatened and often curtailed. From the horrible oppression of the Tibetan people to Tianenmen Square, China's old-boys-club style of crushing all opposition is a common ugly thread that is woven into every life fated to live there.

And now, they've started shutting down Web sites that allow free discussion of political views. Apparently there is a software firm in China that had a Web page with a discussion forum. The posters to this forum were becoming increasingly free with their feelings about their government, right down to discussing the 10^th anniversary of the Tianenmen Square massacre. Around the end of January, the government swooped in and shut down that forum and many others. Heaven forbid folks start discussing the crap their leaders have been foisting on them all these long decades…

HEY! YOU! Yeah you. The person reading this page. If you're part of China's Communist Machine, I've got something I'd like to say to you: You are pathetic. Small and petty. Sad. Evil, but sad. There are MILLIONS of Chinese people in your country and how many of you? The day will come when your threats will not be enough, when the soldiers in your army will be sick of hurting their fellow countrymen, when you and your rule will die at the hands of the people you've oppressed for so long. The Chinese love their culture like few people in the world, but they will eventually choke on your style of government, and they will rise up and crush you. And when they do, no one will come your aid. The people of the world will applaud, and they will reach out to the victors standing on the rubble strewn across your grave and help them to build some semblence of democracy that will heal the scars inflicted by the nightmare that was you.

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