July 29, 2006

White House vows to capture so-called "PUNISHER!"
Mood:  on fire
WASHINGTON, D.C. - White House spokesman, John Snow told reporters that federal authorities are "closing in on" Frank Castle, the so-called "Punisher," and added that "the President is committed to shutting down this killer once and for all."

Castle (originally Castiglione) is a war veteran, who became violently unstable after seeing his family was gunned down in an alleged Mafia hit. He has been in and out of prison for years and is widely believed to be directly responsible for dozens, if not hundreds, of murders of people he (ironically) considered lawbreakers. At one point, his targets even included former S.H.I.E.L.D. head, Nick Fury.

Spokesman Snow's comments came as, post-Stamford, the natiowide hostility towards vigilantes of any sort has forced the Castle issue back into the limelight. While many claim that authorities-from the President to the local police-have turned a blind eye to Castle's activities, Snow denied such allegations.

"You are talking about a man, who learned how to be a brilliant tactician in Vietnam, who has broken out of the prison on numerous times and who once even managed to survive a visit to the electric chair," Snow said. "[Arresting him is] not that easy...but it will be done."

"After Stamford, people want accountability from so-called heroes, let alone gun-toting maniacs," Snow continued, drawing an unfavorable parallel between Castle and another fugitive of justice, Captain America. "If this [desire to accountability] is true with regards to a man like Steve Rogers, who has given so much to his country, then it is specially true of a man [like Castle] with a history of mental illness, whose actions have led to hundreds of deaths and millions of dollars in property damage."

Castle, who wears the emblem of a skull on his chest, symbolic of the death he routinely deals out with seemingly endless supply of illegal firearms, has become something of an odd icon to the American public. His emblem is frequently seen adorning the clothes of an alienated youth, and recent polls have indicated that as much as 53% of the public support him. But has Stamford changed that?

According to Snow, it has. "This is new America, with a new mind-set and new priorities. A nation that has redoubled its efforts to end the lawless vigilantism that was allowed for so long. The capture of Frank Castle will be one of the strongest examples that the Stamford victims did not die in vain."

Source: The Daily Bugle, 19 July 2006. Story continues in Punisher War Journal #1.