Posted by Dave on 06/26/08 at 12:39:43 pm
Categories: Capital Punishment, Barack Obama

Barack Obama has disappointed me greatly.

Not because of the realization that he is a politician. We have all (hopefully) known that for a long time. He is as much of a politician as anyone else in the national political realm. He just happens to be a better one than most.

But what disappoints me this week, and I believe that it is in part related to his being a politician, is his recent statement on the Supreme Court's decision on the death penalty for child rapists.

The Supreme Court, earlier this week, ruled that the death penalty can and should only be used in the case of a death. A death sentence can only be the result of a crime where a death occurs. This was in response to a case that was related to a death sentence for a child rape.

Child rape is an awful, awful thing, and it is a crime that I hope to never have to come close to. There is absolutely not question about that, and I think that everyone reading this would agree. But the Supreme Court has correctly ruled that it is not a crime that demands to be re-paid with death.

For those of you who know my stance against the death penalty, you will not be surprised that this is a ruling that I agree with. Of course, I long for the day where the Supreme Court will rule that the death penalty IS crule and unusual, and it is not a sentence that should be administered for any crime.

But Barack Obama disagrees. A long time ago Barack Obama was opposed to the death penalty. As Obama has drifted to the center (for the aforementioned reason of being a typical politician trying to win an election), he has built a stance that is supportive of the death penalty for the "most egregious of crimes." And there is no question that child rape is one of the "most egregious of crimes." But he is wrong to assert that such crimes deserve death.

To assert that "egregious" crimes deserve death may be as "egregious" as the original crime.

To use death as retribution for "egregious" crimes may be as "egregious" as the original crime itself.

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