Executions and Terrorism

There is an irony in the nature of the American political arena, we briefly explored this awkward juxtaposition of Evangelical Christianity and the support of the death penalty.  President Obama has walked this very fine line between life and death, between executioner and the accused.  Kudos to Nicholas Schmidale for his piece "Getting Bin Laden" in the August 08, 2011 edition of the New Yorker.    Schmidale details an compelling account of a Commander-In-Chief over seeing a prominent military operation design to effectively neutralize the enemy. 

The task was established from the very beginning, Bin Laden had been marked for dead and this was his final night.  There is a small but important difference between President Obama's and say, Gov. Rick Perry's comparative oversight of the purpose of state sanctioned execution.  President Obama was enforcing the will of much of the world in removing an active executive in several prominent terrorist organization.  These hostile organizations were responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives around the world over the last two decades.   Gov. Perry, the GOP, and the Tea Party support and condone a justice system that actively pursues the capital elicited from enforcing criminal codes and maintaining prison populations.  Conservatives prefer keeping the criminals, criminals, as opposed to offering legitimate methods of reform in order to turn a massively alienated segment of the American population, into productive citizenry.

Just ask Gov. Perry about Cameron Todd Willingham?  Mr. Willingham was the unfortunate man executed despite an overwhelming burden of proof towards his innocence, that Gov. Perry had little problem ignoring.  Conservative ideology, especially its fundamental brethren, embrace a vindictive, bloodthirsty form of jurisprudence.  Thankfully the United States has true leaders, like President Obama, who can take the necessary steps to ensure that justice is served and innocence is given yet another day to flourish in an unforgiving world.