Reasons to move to France, Vol II or maybe III:
On Thurs., Sept 23 at 9:00 PM, the Commonwealth of Virginia proved once again that vengeance is alive and well in America. Teresa Lewis, judged barely mentally competent to stand trial for the contract murder of her husband and stepson, was executed by lethal injection. Republican Governor Bob McDonnell denied a plea for clemency. Shocking!
Teresa Lewis did the crime. She confessed to it. The actual murderers who were hired to do the deed testified against her. Both are serving life, having bargained their testimony to avoid the gurney. So the happy conclusion here is that the prosecutors in Richmond decided to allow the actual killers to live in return for a slam-dunk capital murder case against a woman with the IQ of a bag of Doritos. See, the way that works is, we here in Virginia are so tough on crime and criminals we'll execute feeble women, children (except the wussy Supreme Court says we can't) cute dogs, even people already dead. Naturally, the civilized world is outraged. Wimps!
Still, when you get a lesson in double standards from Iran you might want to pay attention. Everybody's favorite pain-in-the-ass Mahmoud Ahmadinejad compared the lack of Western outrage over the execution of Teresa Lewis to that of the possible stoning of an Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery. Although it's hardly a parallel case, adultery isn't murder and stoning isn't lethal injection, he has a point. When the subject is state sponsored executions we have a serious blind spot. We kill our citizens for offenses deemed sufficient to warrant the punishment. Should we not also allow other countries the same latitude? As to the method of execution: beheading, electrocution, hanging, stoning; tomatoes-tomatos, right. Dead is dead. Face it, we have a lot more in common with Bedouin tribes and theocratic dictatorships than with civilized countries when the subject is law and order.
As to how the state-sponsored death of a mentally challenged woman glorifies any aspect of life in these United States or makes us better as a country, I'm at a loss to explain. Maybe Governor McDonnell knows. Tea-baggers want government to accept that America is a Christian country. Explain how being Christian squares with capital punishment.
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But all is not lost. Executions in Kentucky and Oklahoma have been postponed. Sadly, the reason for the stays is not compassion but a shortage of sodium thiopental, the anesthetic portion of the lethal cocktail. Considering the speed with which Southern States are ordering the drug, no one should be surprised. Hell, why not just bang the condemned over the head with a ball bat. That would really offend the Iranians.
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An American staff sergeant is accused of planning the killing Afghan civilians for no other reason than hating them. Staff Sergeant Calvin R. Gibbs supposedly led a team of five American soldiers including Specialist Jeremy Morlock in the random murder of people whose only crime was- wrong place, wrong time. Can't you just hear Lee Greenwood singing "I'm Proud to be an American"?
This story isn't fully written yet and trials are a long way off but, if true, America needs to forget our Status-of-Forces Agreement with Afghanistan and turn these fine examples of American manhood over to the Afghans for sentencing. If they wish to appeal, tell them to call Bob McDonnell.
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But enough about executions and murder, how about Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Baptist in Atlanta? Having started with almost nothing, Bishop Long currently boasts a congregation of 25,000, up from 300 in 1987. On his way to celestial glory, (his followers believe he is "anointed". By whom, exactly, we're not sure) Bishop Long has offered spiritual guidance to famous athletes and a few politicians. Unfortunately he has also used his powers of persuasion to seduce four young men in his congregation. The four are suing Bishop Long for sexual abuse.
Naturally, Bishop Long has been a vocal opponent of gay marriage and the homosexual lifestyle. Note to self: When a preacher rails against promiscuity, check his car ashtrays for condom wrappers. When he cries to God about the evils of homosexuality, search his desk drawer for his La Cage aux Folles keepsakes.
This is just another chapter in the mega-church fraud game. Another talented carnival barker using religion to feed his own lusts and lifestyle. Bishop Long is a caricature writ large. He travels with an entourage. His car is a Bentley. His 230-acre Baptist complex is one of the largest and most powerful voices in the Black Christian universe. No one would normally care about another self-aggrandizing bible thumper getting caught not practicing what he preaches except that these charlatans have influence. It was the black Christians of California that denied the right of marriage to gays in the Golden State. Please, people, stop listening to these false prophets. Worship at Burger King. At least you'll get lunch.
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This just in...a man shot and killed himself on the sixth floor of the University of Texas Library in Austin. WOW. Who would have suspected that a library in Texas would actually have six floors?
What? Too soon?
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