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Monday, December 12, 2005
The Moral Accountancy of Arnold Schwarzenegger 
| | As it happens, I'm staying on a hill overlooking San Quentin Prison, where in 40 minutes the state of California will kill a man. Shot that picture a few minutes ago. |
| | The man California will kill is Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who founded the notorious Crips street gang, and who was convicted many years ago of murdering four people. |
| | Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently added "and Rehabilitation" to the "Department of Corrections," denied clemency to Williams for a variety of reasons, among which are these: |
| | The dedication of Williams' book "Life in Prison" casts significant doubt on his personal redemption. This book was published in 1998, several years after Williams¹ claimed redemptive experience. Specifically, the book is dedicated to "Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Assata Shakur, Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, Ramona Africa, John Africa, Leonard Peltier, Dhoruba Al-Mujahid, George Jackson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the countless other men, women, and youths who have to endure the hellish oppression of living behind bars." The mix of individuals on this list is curious. Most have violent pasts and some have been convicted of committing heinous murders, including the killing of law enforcement. |
| | But the inclusion of George Jackson on this list defies reason and is a significant indicator that Williams is not reformed and that he still sees violence and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems. |
| | There is also little mention or atonement in his writings and his plea for clemency of the countless murders committed by the Crips following the lifestyle Williams once espoused. The senseless killing that has ruined many families, particularly in African-American communities, in the name of the Crips and gang warfare is a tragedy of our modern culture. One would expect more explicit and direct reference to this byproduct of his former lifestyle in Williams¹ writings and apology for this tragedy, but it exists only through innuendo and inference. |
| | Is Williams' redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders of the four victims in this case. Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption. In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do. |
| | I haven't read any of Williams' books. I don't know if he has redeemed himself. And I am not a lawyer. |
| | But it seems to me the governor is making a political judgement here, and not just a legal one; especially in respect to George Jackson, a charismatic Black Panther considered by many a martyr after he was shot in prison. |
| | I would find the governor's clemency denial much easier to take if he had confined his remarks to the facts of the case, and said Williams should die, as the courts ordered, for the cold-blooded murder of four people. But he didn't. He gave Williams a fatal book review. |
| | And a shallow one at that. Did the governor read past the dedications? |
| | What also bothers me about this case, aside from the usual arguments against the death penalty (which I would also make, but plenty of other people are already doing that), is that it seems especially ironic and poignant for the state to be doing exactly what countless gang members have been doing since the Crips and the Bloods started their street wars: payback. |
| | The state won't gain anything with Willams dead. It will, however, lose a soul. |
Wanted: dark fiber in the home
| | So we can't run conduit to future-proof the new house we're building. Too far along, too many rock and concrete walls. If we ever want to use fiber in the house, we've got to have the electrician pull it in the next few days. |
| | Which is fine; but there seem to be many kinds of fiber optic cabling. Which should we pull? That's the question on the floor right now. Or the walls. |
I got yer disruption right here, fella
| | David Isenberg: Fox, guard my hen house; I know your intentions are pure. |
| | Steve Gillmor: ...ownership by the user creates a gesture of profound disruption. |
| | More when I'm not in my car. |
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