A grim US milestone: 1,000th execution

"How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind."

Bob Dylan

I know this is an old and ongoing argument in the U.S. For myself, who earlier supported capital punishment (a nice term for execution) as a former conservative, I have come full circle on these arguments for myself and concluded once again that it is not only barbaric, but it does absolutely no good. It certainly does not prevent murders, as is obvious from the murder rate in the U.S. Nor is revenge or retribution a palliative for anything; quite the contrary. And we knew this from studies already in the 1960s.

My conclusion is that those supporting executions do so from an emotional standpoint, following and believing the hard right system of beliefs, which curiously enough includes many of the Christian faith, giving rise to logical contradictions. Executions certainly cannot be supported from factual evidence, let alone respect for life. Yeah, I know the rebuttal to that last one, and it does not hold water. When the State shows so little regard and respect for human life, it perpetuates and exascerbates the problem. And, not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of those executed are poor, and often have poor legal representation.

I also conclude that executions are intentionally promoted by those neocons running the present administration who use every opportunity to terrorize and divide the American people, furthering their purpose.

Early Friday morning, Kenneth Lee Boyd became the 1,000th prisoner executed in the United States since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. He died at 2:15 a.m. after a lethal mix of three chemicals was injected into his veins as he was strapped to a gurney in the death chamber of the Central Prison in North Carolina’s state capital, Raleigh.

Boyd’s execution brings to 57 the number of people put to death in the US so far this year,[b] surpassed only by China, Iran and Vietnam.[/b] His execution—and the grisly milestone it represents—evoked revulsion the world over. The vast majority of advanced industrialized countries have long since outlawed the practice.

Boyd’s IQ tested at 77.

[b]In addition to sending record numbers of people to their deaths, the US has the highest prison population in the world, both in percentage of its population and in actual numbers of people behind bars.[/b] The greatest increases in incarceration have been among women, juveniles and immigrants. Only China, with 1.5 million prisoners, even comes close to the US levels.

The analysis continues...