Two Hundred Eighty-Nine

Posted on October 16, 2015 by John Swinburn

A few days ago, I read about three young homeless drifters who allegedly killed two people in San Francisco. Photos of the suspects, two men and a woman, caused visual memories to spring to mind, images of Charles Manson. If they murdered those people, I want them to pay with their lives. I don’t want them to die. I want them to live out their days in the bleakest of bleak prisons; I want their lives made dull and unsatisfying for a long, long time to come. That’s my flavor of vengeance.

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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2 Responses to Two Hundred Eighty-Nine

  1. John Swinburn, perhaps says:
    October 18, 2015 at 6:01 am

    Well, the guillotine is another story… Actually, my dislike of the death penalty has more to do with concerns about putting the wrong people to death than the act itself. I am afraid there are too many possibilities for “facts” to manipulate the real truth, allowing well-intended judges and juries to make live or death mistakes. However, if I were the sole decision-maker and there were not a shred of doubt of the guilt of the accused, I might be able to pull the guillotine cord. Maybe.

  2. jserolf says:
    October 16, 2015 at 7:18 am

    This is where my conservative nature comes out, because those types would too simply follow their punishment into some new, existential experience of freedom.

    Rather, we might consider re-instituting the guillotine. Interestingly, the US used it for a short while but the image of that machine was too much for many. There’s something weird that comes over us all when we try to imagine losing our heads via knife, sword, hatchet, or sliding blade.

    Of course the guillotine would be similar to the ones the Germans used before and during WWII: The overall structure would not need to be very tall, as most of the efficiency would be dependent upon the added weight and length of the moutan and blade.

    Down goes the blade and WACK, the head goes rolling conveniently into a disposable, plastic bucket!

    😉

    https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/germany-debate-exhibit-guillotine-nazi-era.html

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