American machismo, in all of its zeal, has had quite a few shining moments. An example would be, say, dumping all that tea into Boston Harbor, or winning those two World Wars. The most troubling manifestation of American macho stupidity in the world today, however, is capital punishment.
For the first time in 40 years, a state has abolished the death penalty. It is a heartening sign, but why don't more states follow New Jersey's lead? Why is New Jersey's move more of a historical oddity than an indication of a wider trend? Because the American psyche craves blood.
Whenever the death penalty comes up in conversation, it releases a minor patriotic blood-rage in the average, pro-penalty American. Bill Clinton was actually able to raise his approval rating as governor of Arkansas by executing a mentally impaired man during the '92 presidential campaign, and George W. Bush executed 155 people as governor of Texas, more than any other American governor since the Supreme Court ended its brief moratorium on the death penalty in 1976. Undoubtedly, Clinton and Bush's blood-stained death warrants were justified to many Americans. Their pro-punishment agendas proved that these presidents-to-be were straight-talkin' kinda guys.
There are numerous reasons for opposing capital punishment; one of the most obvious is the element of uncertainty. Since DNA testing first became widely available, over 15 death-row inmates have been exonerated; just imagine how many innocents were executed before DNA testing existed. With this in mind, it seems that every reasonable person must ask himself which he values more: the life of one innocent, or the deaths of numerous guilty criminals. If you lean towards the latter, your support of capital punishment is fully warranted. But if you do believe that the lives of a small number of condemned innocents languishing in prison cells are more precious than satisfying our national urge for retribution, it seems that there is no defensable stance but to oppose capital punishment.
Most developed nations have seen the light. The list of countries that retain the death penalty reads like a roll-call of America's worst enemies: Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, etc. In all of western civilization, only one nation still shares the death penalty with us -- Belarus, an autocracy our State Department has consistently condemned for human rights violations.
Yet, despite our persistent bloodlust, opposition to the death penalty has had a long tradition in America, albeit one checkered with failure. Even Thomas Paine, a founding father, opposed it. And during the 19th century (a more pious time) several mid-western states abolished capital punishment upon gaining statehood. It is only within the last 40 years that we have seen a significant regression. The Supreme Court's phony 1972 ruling in Furman v. Georgia should not be considered progressive; it did not actually overturn anything, but merely stalled executions so the Justices could make up their minds at a later date.
The death penalty is the only form of orchestrated bloodshed that the United States still manages to execute with any aplomb or pride, as evidenced by current events. Whereas in the past we killed for values -- waging war against colonial tyranny, slavery and fascism -- today we condemn murderers to death merely for the sake of public opinion, to wave a bloody flag around that any part-time patriot can rally.
We do not consider the toll it takes on the soul of the man or woman who flips the switch, on the family members of the condemned or on the small number of wrongfully convicted.
Why spend so much time and energy rushing a small number of us toward the inevitable? Death comes when it will. Why hurry?
