It has now been nearly a week since the execution of that monster known as Timothy McVeigh. And for the last week I have sat back and listened to all of the anti-death penalty people, media pundents, and everyone under the sun. During this time I took the time to digest all of these stories and a few things still bother.
The first of which is where the hell do all of these anti-dealth penalty people get off on saying that he can be rehabilitated or he should just serve a life sentences? Now I know that McVeigh's death will not bring back those 168 souls from the dead but McVeigh's execution is not to do that nor is it some kind of deterent to others. It is punishment, pure and simple. These people that would protest his death are probably the same people that would be waiting in line to take his head off if it were a loved on of their own and that double standard is one of the things that bothers me the most. We could spend all kinds of time and money on housing and feeding monsters like McVeigh in our prison system but for what? First off he would have been sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. And furthermore, to allow this "man" to continue to live would be in many ways condoning what he has done. And let us not forget about his "message". McVeigh wrote a number of articles, manifestos and whatnot while waiting for his execution. Continuation of his life would have only subjected his victims survivers and us, the public at large, to have to deal with this creature.
Then to make matters worse we have other heads of state telling President Bush that we should do away with the Death Penalty. Television interviews with people from European countries that are here in the US with their 5 second sound bytes about how "barbaric" of a country we still are. Well, this brings up a number of issues. Most important among them is who are they to tell us anything. We are the foremost powerful nation on this planet. We have the strongest economy on this planet. As a nation we have done things that no other nation has done in the history of mankind. And we are the nation that people come to when in a time of crisis. So to all of these deomcractic-socialist countries out there that think they know better then us: Until you are the top dog, zip it. Because I for one am sick and tired of listen to people of other nations telling us how bad we are yet they are the first ones in line waiting for a hand-out.
Perhaps the biggest thing that bothered me the most about this whole ordeal was the statements that McVeigh's lawyer made after his execution. He stated that "we did not only execute Timothy McVeigh, but also Sergent McVeigh" and continued to run a list of award McVeigh received while in the Army. Now I want everyone to listen up and listen up really good:
Timothy McVeigh was a TRAITOR. It is that simple.
I served my country as a member of the United States Marine Corps and my with is currently serving as an officer in the United States Navy. On both sides of our family we have military served that dates back 3 generations. We have had members of our family fighting in World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf War, boarder patrol, chase after drug trafficers in the Carribean and many other situations. And this is just my family alone. There are many others who have and are serving. And then there are those who have died in the line of duty. And to say that we just executed "Sgt. McVeigh who took up arms for his country" is in insult to us all. When I heard this it made me sick to my stomach as I am sure it did to many other veterans.
What McVeigh's lawyer failed to really say was that he took up arms against his country. Because that is what he did. No Soldier, Marine, Sailer, Guardsmen, Airmen, or member of this country would take up arms against his country and not be considered a traitor. Those of us who have served out nation faithfully know this. And while I have been out for a little over 5 years now I would take up arms again if called. A traitor would not. And that is what the actions of Timothy McVeigh. That of a traitor.
That being said, there is one last time that I feel needs to be addressed. McVeigh's death. Many have said they take no joy in his death as his is still a human life. I beg to differ. When I saw the names of those 168 people on the television screen roll, I wanted to cry. It was difficult to hold back. And when the announcement of McVeigh's death came, I will tell you I was glad. I know there are those who would say that this makes me no better then McVeigh. They would be wrong.
The difference between someone like myself and McVeigh is that I did not kill 168 people and call that 21 children that died in the blast "collatoral damage". McVeigh's death was justifed punishment for the horrific crime that he committed. I for one am glad there is one less monster in this world of ours. May the souls of those 168 people rest in peace.
