In the meantime. . .again. . .

I have a post in the works about humans and factory farms, but it's hard to write. I'm just not in the mood for researching right now.

At any rate, Sadam Hussein was sentenced to hang today. It's very creepy. It's not a question of whether he deserves to die. I don't really believe in the death penalty no matter what. The death penalty, as an immutable sentence, requires an infallible justice system. And the justice system cannot be infalliable as it is based on the judgments of men. Moreover, it erases any chance that the criminal might have to atone. Sure, their atonement during life in prison might be state-compelled rather than born of any true repentance, but I believe the balance needs to be redressed. Criminals should be put to work redressing the balance. Another failure of our justice system.

I am really bothered by Hussein's sentence though because it was inevitable. From the moment this trial started, I knew that he would be found guilty. I suppose I have a hard time believing that it was possible he got a fair trial. And it's just creepy knowing that someone is going to die at a designated time and place. It gives me a chill. And I suppose it also feels odd because at this point, Hussein is a dwindled man. It's easy, or easier, to think of killing a man when he's a horribly powerful dictator. But now he's an embattled defendant staring at his own mortality. I'm not saying this erases his crimes, but it certainly complicates my image of Hussein, and therefore complicates my feelings of comfort with his ultimate demise. I don't remember having this problem with other capital punishment cases. But maybe I was just much younger or they were much less publicized. I don't know.

I just know it's creepy.