Author: hankkalet

Received this response (from someone called Zoom) to my death penalty column a little while ago:

Hi. I just saw your death penalty piece on Commondreams.org.

You know, I agree with much of what you say, and especially this sentence: “Capital punishment is essentially nothing more than premeditated murder, a revenge killing dressed up as an act of justice.”

But when you ask this question…

“On what ethical grounds can we send a man to death if there is even the slightest of chances that he was not guilty?”

…for me, it begs the question “On what ethical grounds can we send a man to prison if there is even the slightest of chances that he was not guilty?”

I’m curious how you might respond to that.

Well, here goes: The difference between life in prison and the death penalty is that there always is a chance with life in prison to free an innocent man. It would remain a tragic story, but not final. The death penalty can never be revoked.

It is, unfortunately, fine line.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

There are two narratives in the New Jersey Senate race.

The first is one being told by the national Democratic Party, one in which Democrats attempt to play on the anger and dissatisfaction over the way the Bush administration is handling the war. It is one in which the Democrat, incumbent Robert Menendez, has attempted to turn his opponent, Republican state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., into a surrogate for the president.

To that end, Sen. Menendez has attempted to make this election about several basic issues: The war in Iraq, the security failures of the administration, Social Security and the tax cuts. And while the voters of New Jersey are in tune with his stands on those issues, he is facing a far more difficult fight than he should in what has become one of the bluest states in the nation.

The reason is narrative number two, the one being pushed by Sen. Kean and his fellow Republicans: Corruption. Democrats in the state have earned a deserved reputation as being less than honest — the list, as Tom Moran points out in his Star-Ledger column today, is seemingly endless: Bob Torricelli, John Lynch, James McGreevey, Wayne Bryant, Sharpe James, George Norcross.

Robert Menendez, himself, faces corruption allegations that have the Republicans drooling — the U.S. attorney’s office has apparently subpoenaed records pertaining to an old rental agreement (Menendez, when a member of the House of Representatives, is alleged to have profited from some federal funding he directed to the tenants).

So the question is which narrative will New Jersey residents connect with? History says the Democrats have the upper hand (read David Rebovich on this) and I think, in the end, this blue state is likely to look into the face of continued Republican domination of the federal government and decide to keep Sen. Menendez in office.

I’m hoping that’s the case, anyway.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Dispatches on Common Dreams.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Finally catching up on yesterday’s papers after doing some running around. I wanted to point out this column by Tom Moran on the Lynch guilty plea.

He follows it up with another good one today, point out that while the Democrats maybe the ones caught with their hands in the cookie jar in New Jersey, it is probably only because they are the ones with access. Witness our friends in Washington (or Monmouth County).

That’s the key to understanding the pervasive quality of this. Unless there is real legal reform — campaign finance reform that takes private money out of the system and lobbying reform that erects a higher wall between legislators and Congress and the moneymen — this will continue to happen regardless of who is in power.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Got a mention on Crooks and Liars. Good Website and worth checking out.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick