Letters to the Editor
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Fear among "conservatives"
I'm 72, one of the people that supposedly got "conservative" as I got older. I watch o'Reilly for fun, not edification. Mostly he's a total asshole. But he reflects a great fear that is beginning to set in that the feet of our conservative leaders have more clay in them than the liberal Democrats. After all those who have found Christ (as if anyone can) must be good people. I'm sorry that Wheaton's father got so excited, but it's pretty fearful when you are discovering that your leaders are merely mortal. Our founding fathers knew that politics is a corrupt business, and tried to set up a system where its deleterious effects are at least somewhat ameleorated. If we can send young men and women to die for our "values" in Iraq, I don't see the problem in executing a scumbag like Tookie Williams, and if Arnold did it to recover his conservative base, well that's politics. Years ago I read a book called "Punishing Criminals". The authors thesis was that no man could be punished for committing a crime unless he volunteered for the punishment. The act of committing the crime entails the volunteering. Tookie volunteered for the death penalty when he committed murder. Just because the death penalty is applied unevenly is no reason to not apply it. Like all political activities it can and should be improved.