As Usual...BUT got pulled up short

As is my usual practice of rising early, and ya gotta or ya can't get the uppers on Elmer and his ilk, I grabbed a coffee and then sat before my keyboard and went to work in my daily and eternal search for something to make fun of right here in Blogger land.
But I got pulled up short when I read the McClatchy Article about Bush approving the death sentence for a soldier on death row at Leavenworth.

Normally, my non hopping friends and readers, I would rant, rave, have hard down dying duck fits over Dubya and his maniacally moronic actions in the White House, but NOT today.

Today, you will get a rare glimpse of my serious side.

A soldier, now convicted of rape and murder awaits his death at the hands of a government sanctioned executioner for his heinous crimes, well...bully for him.
I have to tell you folks, I am a proponent of Capital Punishment but only under under the strictest of conditions. Rape, Murder,Murder of a law Enforcement Officer, Child Molestation,Child Rape and/or Murder,Treason,Mass Murder, things like that.
Some of you may agree with me, some of you may not and that's alright, but in truth, if you or your family member was a victim of any of the above crimes , you would be the first in line to drop the offender through the trap door .

The taking of a human life, no matter whether it is done at the hands of a criminal or at the hands of the local governmental agency(the state)or by the government itself is a serious and delicate matter, and not one to be rushed into. This IS the reason we have the almost inexhaustible appeals process. Granted, there are millions of dollars spent by the state and Federal Government undertaking these appeals and yes, it is our tax dollars at work.
However, as much as it pains me to say this(And I am having cramps)this is the best sytem we have until something else comes down the road.

I can think of a number of times the death penalty has been applied unjustly and without forethought or applied with malice and that is shameful(Read:Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, for starters). To date, we have shot, hung,electrocuted and gassed criminals for their particular crime against society, now we put them down like mongrel dogs, and maybe they are mongrels of the humankind.

No, the killing of a fellow human is not pretty, just like the killing of a four legged creature is not pretty, is it necessary? Yes and No: By the way, I'm playing devils advocate here. The necessity of the death penalty is rooted in the belief that the Old Testament rules still apply to satisfy that blood lust for revenge. That necessity is also for the state or government to show that they champion the victim.

But do they, really?

On the flip side though, a nation is defined by several things, first, how they treat their elderly, how they treat their animals and how they deal with their criminals, and ya know what? we ain't batting a thousand in any of those departments. Dammit!

Maybe the French had the right idea by banishing the worst of the worst to Devils Island and maybe the English had it right by banishing the worst of the worst to Australia, but look what Australia has emerged as...need I say more?

Do I, the all knowing, wise and benificent Moon Rabbit have a pat answer for all of these questions surrounding this aspect of our judicial system, and it's right about here, I would normally have some smart ass answer, but as I take a deep breath and sigh heavily, NO I don't have an answer.

So, this rapist murderer will go to his death via lethal injection and that will be one less mouth to feed and one less criminal to waste tax dollars on and one less criminal to waste tax dollars on in the appeals process. Has his impending death solved any outstanding, long standing societal or social problems? NO! Has his impending death fed the bloodlust for our(collectively)revenge?YES! But is that good enough for us(collectively)Maybe...for now...up until the next one and the next one and then the next and...you get the picture...right?