When it rains, it pours, as the saying goes. And that can be a good thing. Especially when we're trying to put an end in this country to that ancient, barbaric custom known as the death penalty. It's so Middle Ages. Like torture, except these days waterboarding replaces the thumbscrews. And lethal injection replaces hanging, drawing, and quartering.
This is the 21st century, and we, as human beings, should by now have evolved beyond the inclination to torture and execute other human beings. But take a look at those photos from Abu Ghraib, and the reports from Gitmo, and you know that we still torture. And take a look at the upcoming execution roster, and it's clear that we still engage in a lot of state-sponsored killing.
We kill someone in order to show that killing is wrong. Huh?!
So yesterday I wrote about the fact that the New Mexico House of Representatives had voted last week to abolish the death penalty in that state and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without parole. It's now in the hands of New Mexico's Senate.
And, I am happy to report, it seems to be catching on elsewhere in this nation. The reliably red state of Montana, for instance.
Yesterday, the Montana state senate endorsed a death penalty ban in that state. Montana's House still needs to vote on this measure.
My fingers are crossed.
Stay tuned.
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