I don't know about "probably innocent." It does seem in question, but he was convicted, and, in 26 years, there hasn't been compelling evidence to overturn the ruling
( Read more... )
I think it's less a question of whether he'd shown remorse so much as whether he felt it. I can SHOW remorse about a lot of things. I can appear to be remorseful for slamming the door in my neighbor's face when she woke me up in the middle of the night to beg for money. Doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again in a heartbeat, and definitely doesn't mean I actually felt bad about it. Same situation in reverse... she "sincerely" apologizes every time she bangs on my door in the middle of the night to beg for two dollars. But the fact that I can even say "every time" tells you that she obviously doesn't FEEL remorse, or she wouldn't keep doing it.
What I am tremendously sick of is the whole "this is a race issue" argument. That's bullshit. The only people turning it into a race issue are the black people who think this murderer was some sort of hero and deserved some kind of treatment different than what any other death row inmate gets. If the governor were black and the inmate were white, no one would be trying to play the fucked-up, overplayed, bullshit race card. And before some other commenter comes along and says something about how it sounds like I'm a bitter racist, I'll go ahead and get my "fuck you" out of the way. I believe all races are equal, but not necessarily all people. And I firmly believe that the more people of different races try to blame everything on being black/white/red/yellow, the more they contribute to the divide. The hypocrites need to shut the hell up and let the rest of the people who really DO want to get along get on about the business of doing so.
--I think it's less a question of whether he'd shown remorse so much as whether he felt it.--
Exactly. Exactly, exactly, exactly. Was he just showing it, or did he feel it? What pisses me off about that quote is that it purports to answer that question, but really just dodges it. It assumes the answer instead of giving reasons.
Of course, my complaint is really more with the Assoc. Press than with Schwarzenegger - his full statement does contain actual reasons for his assertion that Tookie's remorse wasn't "real," none of which were given or even summarized in the news articles I read. I think his reasons are still bullshit (see unended01's example), but at least they aren't really circular.
As for the race card, I haven't really seen that - least of all from Tookie himself. If racism was involved, it would have been in the conviction of the original crime. Rather, at my most cynical, I suspect Schwarzenegger is simply guilty of politics - granting clemency would have made him appear soft-on-crime, an image that would further disintegrate his Republican support, which he cannot afford to do right now.
Whether you see the race card or not depends on where you're at and who you're around. On the buses and train into work, and at my actual workplace, all I heard was "it's because he's black"... my response of "or it might be because he murdered four people and founded the Crips" wasn't very welcome. :P
What I am tremendously sick of is the whole "this is a race issue" argument. That's bullshit. The only people turning it into a race issue are the black people who think this murderer was some sort of hero and deserved some kind of treatment different than what any other death row inmate gets. If the governor were black and the inmate were white, no one would be trying to play the fucked-up, overplayed, bullshit race card. And before some other commenter comes along and says something about how it sounds like I'm a bitter racist, I'll go ahead and get my "fuck you" out of the way. I believe all races are equal, but not necessarily all people. And I firmly believe that the more people of different races try to blame everything on being black/white/red/yellow, the more they contribute to the divide. The hypocrites need to shut the hell up and let the rest of the people who really DO want to get along get on about the business of doing so.
Reply
Exactly. Exactly, exactly, exactly. Was he just showing it, or did he feel it? What pisses me off about that quote is that it purports to answer that question, but really just dodges it. It assumes the answer instead of giving reasons.
Of course, my complaint is really more with the Assoc. Press than with Schwarzenegger - his full statement does contain actual reasons for his assertion that Tookie's remorse wasn't "real," none of which were given or even summarized in the news articles I read. I think his reasons are still bullshit (see unended01's example), but at least they aren't really circular.
As for the race card, I haven't really seen that - least of all from Tookie himself. If racism was involved, it would have been in the conviction of the original crime. Rather, at my most cynical, I suspect Schwarzenegger is simply guilty of politics - granting clemency would have made him appear soft-on-crime, an image that would further disintegrate his Republican support, which he cannot afford to do right now.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment