No Line Between Them

Everyone is in one hell of a tizzy all of a sudden. No, it isn't because Wendy's has brought back its cheddar lovers' burger (thought that's probably contributing to the pandemonium quite a bit). Rather, it's the imminent execution of the man who bombed the Murrah building back in 1995, Timothy McVeigh, which has caused the uproar. Apparently, the FBI flubbed things up big time and now there's a chance that McVeigh might appeal for another trial on the basis that all of the evidence wasn't used in his previous one.

Of course, this presents a large problem for the survivors and the families of the victims. There's already been a month's delay, I believe, on the execution which was supposed to have taken place this coming Wednesday. These people want to see justice run its course and know that McVeigh was killed. Making them wait any longer (remember, it's been six years now) for this closure on an already terrible tragedy is the equivalent of reopening a deep cut in your abdomen. I'm sure that, despite anyone's stance on things like capitol punishment are concerned, we can all agree that revenge is sweet. But that's where the problem lies - are these people looking for justice or revenge? You can argue this until pigs sprout wings and begin to fly and you'll never reach any kind of agreement.

Some people (even some of the surviving victims, apparently) think that McVeigh should just be incarcerated for life. Most others (especially the families of the innocent children) are sure that McVeigh should be put to death. But again, which way is justice? Which way is revenge?

Personally, I don't think there's a difference between the two. Any line which exists between them has been marred and is either there or not there depending on your view of things. In many cases when someone thinks of justice, they think of something like this kind of situation. A man remorselessly killed an inhuman number of people - himself acting in revenge. Clearly, the majority of people believe in the "eye for an eye" system; and while it's very tough to kill one person 168 times (I think you'd have to be Caniprokis' father to be able to pull it off), there's that other group of people who don't see any point in capitol punishment. Make no mistake, though - Timothy McVeigh will be executed no matter how much death penalty opponents try to push otherwise. You can't really argue against the fact that McVeigh, to this day, does not feel remorse for the deaths of all those innocent people. He said himself that were he given the chance to do his life over again, he'd make the same choices. I mean, how do you explain to someone who suffered greatly from this man's actions that he deserves to live? If it's not impossible, it's as close to impossible as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are to ever having another .500+ season. We're talking difficulty, here... because it's hard to be rational with irrational people.

And that's what these victims are: irrational. They're still letting their anger control their thoughts and emotions. They were taught that things like capitol punishment are to be expected as punishment for someone evil. In our country's history, we used to have public hangings and stonings. Because of this, most people lose sight of one important fact - that no human ever deserves to die. If you are a living, breathing human being, you should be able to live until either old age or disease (or a combination of both) take you from this mortal coil. Nobody else should have the power to say whether or not you live or die. Unfortunately, we have people like Timothy McVeigh or our government who feel they have the right to take that kind of power into their hands. And again, in McVeigh's case it's very tough to dissuade someone from thinking that he deserves to die. It's a matter of rational thinking. If you are the kind of person who holds grudges for long periods of time (i.e. Lio Convoy's 5-year one I was so pissed about a few rants back), you're not thinking rationally about this kind of thing. You're blinded by the terrible things this person has done and are ignoring the fact that s/he is still a person and is still covered by the same basic, ethical laws he broke.

McVeigh, in my opinion, should be locked away with no outside contact except for the occasional meal. But in all actuality I don't really care if he is killed or not. The Murrah incident had no effect on me, much like the U.S.S. Cole bombing failed to faze me. The whole situation is old and stale and I'd prefer to think about important things.

Things like how much a cheddar lovers' burger combo at Wendy's costs. Mmm... cheddar lovers' burger... Goodnight.