tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938588970505675187.post1663783919581949263..comments2012-01-30T16:51:50.201-08:00Comments on Candy and Cigarettes: The End of the WorldJoe Cliffordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292903377618770678noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938588970505675187.post-42134482085269365582011-09-22T10:01:15.224-07:002011-09-22T10:01:15.224-07:00Well done, Duane, avoiding the politics. Yeah, it...Well done, Duane, avoiding the politics. Yeah, it is funny. I know about Brewer, but wouldn't even think about writing about him. Why? If I cared to examine my own prejudice, which I don't, I'd probably discover it goes against my core beliefs. No one wants to argue to keep a Brewer alive. Even if he/she is agains the Death Penalty, he/she prefers to use a case like Davis. But in the end I'm with you, 1 innocent man is too much (and I'm not saying Davis was), even if means a scumbag like Brewer gets to live (then again, I don't think prison is preferable to death...).Joe Cliffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00292903377618770678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938588970505675187.post-63944117121419884692011-09-22T09:40:17.238-07:002011-09-22T09:40:17.238-07:00Wow, I am going to struggle with my comment here. ...Wow, I am going to struggle with my comment here. On several levels too. I will struggle not to go to long, because as some asshole on the Buffalo Bills Message Board the other day responded to one of my posts tl;dr, which for those of you not in the know, means too long, didn't read. So, brevity is apparently good.<br /><br />Also it will be hard to avoid politics and a side of religion as well.<br /><br />I will start though with REM. Never was much of a fan, liked a few of their songs, but you aren't the first I have heard to make this leap. In fact, I seem to recall a story in Rolling Stone, back when I actually read that piece of shit rag, calling REM the American Beatles or something like that. <br /><br />I find it somewhat interesting that the death penalty is one of the staples of the GOP/Conservative values. Ironic in away, after all they are all portrayed as Christians who pray for rain amongst other things. So, am I the only one who finds it odd that a Repbulican who claims to be God fearing could support something that clearly goes against the teachings of Christ. <br /><br />As some know, I reside in Texas. A state where they execute prisoners with the efficiency that Larry Bird used to knock down threes. Texas is not a state where you want to commit capital murder.<br /><br />Now if there is a God and blast me all you want, I tend to believe there is one. I think he has an interesting way of speaking to people.<br /><br />I will get to Troy Davis in a second, but I want to talk about someone else first. Lawrence Russell Brewer. For those who don't know who he is, the state of Texas executed him yesterday. Brewer and two of his buddies dragged James Byrd Jr behind a pickup in Jasper TX, because of the color of his skin. Reports are that Byrd was most likely alive for most of the dragging until he hit a culvert and he was decapitated.<br /><br />When Brewer was interviewed the day before he was executed he was asked if he had it to do all over again, would he. His response was basically that he would not change a thing.<br /><br />I don't know much about the Troy Davis story other than the fact that many people believe that a mistake was made. Here in lies a big problem with the death penalty. We make mistakes and in my opinion executing one innocent man is too many.<br /><br />I wonder if it is coincedence that these two individuals were executed days apart. Brewer was clearly an evil person and I think a lot of people will not shed a tear at his passing.<br /><br />It makes me wonder, because it seems to me the pro argument and the anti argument for the death penalty, just had inmates executed in consecutive days.DSobczakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07976339457830712923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938588970505675187.post-84430390188784211182011-09-22T09:34:25.160-07:002011-09-22T09:34:25.160-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.DSobczakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07976339457830712923noreply@blogger.com