The Death Penalty: A Threat to Our National Conscience

Many argue that we need the death penalty because it deters future crimes. Some say that we need it for the victims, so that they may achieve "closure"; others claim that with an eye for an eye, those who kill deserve to be put to death. Some even claim that it is cheaper than life imprisonment.

The death penalty has been the source of an incredible amount of attention within the past few years, followed by an equal amount of controversy. Politicians cannot address the death penalty without eliciting strong opinions and heated arguments. As a result, we are left with an un-intellectual political debate in which the public remains largely un-informed.

The United States is a world leader in putting its citizens to death. The U.S. ranks within the top enforcers and promoters of the death penalty, alongside human rights gurus like China, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. [Full Article]

Bowling for Columbine

Four Stars

Bowling for Columbine is Michael Moore's most brilliant documentary, which is no small feat for the master of the form who revolutionized documentary-making with his 1989 classic, Roger & Me. Only Michael Moore can turn a true story about tragic murders into the funniest film of the year.

Roger & Me was about economic despair in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and in Bowling for Columbine, Moore returns to Flint, where he once won a National Rifle Association junior marksman award, and where homicide is now the leading cause of youth deaths. Moore tells the story of a tragedy: a six-year-old boy who found a gun in his uncle's home, brought it to school, and killed a six-year-old girl in America's youngest school shooting.

Moore offers a scathing critique of the "gun nuts." A visit to the Michigan Militia, which Timothy McVeigh once attended, shows the members shooting bowling pins because of their humanlike shape. The militia members defend themselves against criticism, and even show Moore their "Militia Babes" calendar, telling him, "It shows a level of sophistication you wouldn't expect from a militia." [Full Article]

Against the Death Penalty:

From the Family of a Murder Victim

It is when our society is most desperate that we must exercise greatest discipline and restraint lest the impulsive actions of gentle people cross the line into injustice. We are a generous people who can pull together in times of trial and trouble for the benefit of all. Yet, we are a disparate people who can easily distrust each other, with or without cause. Above all, we are a people who assuredly prefer to live in freedom. Free to offer opportunity for immigrants. Free to assemble as we please without forcible dispersal. Free to speak our minds publicly without reprisal. Free to change the governing members of our society with votes rather than bullets.

But when that freedom and its innate vulnerability are betrayed, fear and terror invade our communities and minds. This fear drives us to take desperate, even obsessive measures in enforcement, pre-emption, and punishment, tirelessly rooting out the perpetrators, whoever and wherever they may be, requiring hurt for hurt and life for life in a brutal, even barbaric desire for revenge.

Even now, states are jostling for position to see who can win the prosecutorial prize of executing the accused sniper suspects. How dare they kill citizens at random! How dare they hold an entire region of this country hostage to the fear and terror of who will be next! How dare they take another breath if they are guilty! [Full Article]

Noam Chomsky: interviewed by the Indy

Noam Chomsky is a master linguist and prominent political dissident and social critic. He teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is the author of over 70 books relating to politics and linguistics. He tours the nation and world lecturing about U.S. foreign policy and related issues.

Anthony DiMaggio is co-editor and writer for Bloomington-Normal's independent newspaper - the Indy.