You just stood there grinning
Stanley "Tookie" Williams was executed this early this morning. Williams founded the Crips, killed four people in 1979, and has spent 24 years in prison. He gained notoriety because he has since published several books decrying gang violence, but never admitted his crimes. Celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, Jesse Jackson, and Mike Farrell have been publicly calling for a declaration of clemency. After 24 years of appeals, Williams' convictions were upheld at every level, and Governor Schwarzenegger denied his final pleas.
Because I am an insomniac, I watched the late night coverage on Fox News. There were hundreds of protesters, and speeches and musical performances highlighted the final several hours before the execution. The Fox News reporter on the season, appropriately named Jim Hammer, was amidst the crowd, who were pretty well behaved until a very bizarre moment a few moments before Williams' death was announced. There was some pushing and shoving to get in front of the cameras, and a woman attempted to put her sign between the reporter and his cameraman. A production assistant stepped in, and in response, the woman hit the reporter in the head with her sign pole. At the exact same time, a man wearing a "Save Tookie" shirt was on his cell phone, smiling broadly while waving at the camera. A few moments later, his female friend joined him and they laughed and joked.
The surreal nature of the moment was difficult to internalize. It played much like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch, with a rowdy protester clashing oddly with a news crew and a complete dipshit bragging to his friends that he made it on Cable television while a man was being killed a few hundred yards away. I suppose that it was just people being people.
I tend to overreact. I tend to get angry very easily. I tend to take things way too seriously. But I was mortified, and rightly so. Is there any time, any place, any situation, any circumstance, where human beings are able to behave correctly? The answer is no. My faith in humanity decreases each and every day.
Because I am an insomniac, I watched the late night coverage on Fox News. There were hundreds of protesters, and speeches and musical performances highlighted the final several hours before the execution. The Fox News reporter on the season, appropriately named Jim Hammer, was amidst the crowd, who were pretty well behaved until a very bizarre moment a few moments before Williams' death was announced. There was some pushing and shoving to get in front of the cameras, and a woman attempted to put her sign between the reporter and his cameraman. A production assistant stepped in, and in response, the woman hit the reporter in the head with her sign pole. At the exact same time, a man wearing a "Save Tookie" shirt was on his cell phone, smiling broadly while waving at the camera. A few moments later, his female friend joined him and they laughed and joked.
The surreal nature of the moment was difficult to internalize. It played much like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch, with a rowdy protester clashing oddly with a news crew and a complete dipshit bragging to his friends that he made it on Cable television while a man was being killed a few hundred yards away. I suppose that it was just people being people.
I tend to overreact. I tend to get angry very easily. I tend to take things way too seriously. But I was mortified, and rightly so. Is there any time, any place, any situation, any circumstance, where human beings are able to behave correctly? The answer is no. My faith in humanity decreases each and every day.
posted by quint at 1:25 PM
1 Comments:
the terminator finally got to terminate.
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