By Madison S. Hughes (09.21.2011)
For Troy Anthony Davis, tonight is the night that the lights went out in Georgia. No doubt, “Tea Baggers” across the nation are cheering for yet another execution of which they so shamelessly demonstrated broad support for during a recent Republican clown show under the guise of a primary presidential candidate debate. Ironically, these same knuckle-draggers lost one of their own earlier today as a white supremacist met his Maker at the hands of the State of Texas. The mental midget, and Texas Governor Rick Perry must be so proud as he added yet another notch to his lipstick case of the growing record number of executions under his reign. No doubt, he will sleep almost as well as Troy Davis this evening.
The recantation of seven of the nine eyewitnesses that testified under oath in the trial against Troy Davis was apparently insufficient to sway the Supreme Court of the United States to stay the execution of a black man in Georgia. The State of Georgia killed Troy Davis by lethal injection at 11:08 p.m. Eastern Time, two days shy of the 2011 CE autumnal equinox. With the exception of the United States, the civilized world has long since banned the death penalty.
One may simply add this execution to the litany of unconscionable wrongs committed by this country, both foreign and domestically. If, in contemporary times, one is proud to be an American, then they are either uninformed, ill-informed, or misinformed, and obviously spend little to no time in serious reflection. But then again, the patriotic knuckle-draggers of today are mostly of the reactionary persuasion to begin with.
As for me, I cannot expatriate to Europe fast enough. Autumn in Paris, who could ask for anything more?
Always Question Authority 
Madison,
I abhor capital punishment and continue to be amazed at the many rational, compassionate and humanitarian people who advocate for it. Permit me to challenge your suggestion that the countries who retain the death penalty are not “civilised”. By what determinants are you measuring ‘civilized nations’? Is there some underlying assumption of the USA being more developed than India, Japan and China, for example? If we take a look at the countries and states that still persist with this barbaric state sanctioned murder, then perhaps we might find more similarities between the values of the USA and many of these other allegedly ‘less civilized’ nations.
Regards, cinova
Just as Germany was at one time lauded by other nations for standing for high moral principles
then reviled after the excesses of Hitler became better known I am very much afraid that many of the comparatively recent actions of US authorities send a message that for those of us outside the US we should look elsewhere for moral leadership. The Gun lobby, the refusal to surrender the death penalty option, the actions in the Middle East, the lack of concern for the poor in the US as well as elsewhere, the earlier support for torture in central America and more recently the rendition programme send a message that anything is permitted so long as it is done in the name of freedom and democracy. Unfortunately when those like Cheney, Bush and Perry assure us that God is on their side perhaps the real damage is done to those who might otherwise look to Christianity. However having said all of that, I have also encountered Christianity in its finest form from others in the US. My real concern is that their voice is being drowned out by the unkindness of the self righteous.
People hungry for revenge cannot be better than the same criminals they wish to take their vengeance from. I agree that the absence of medieval ways of punishment must make the autumn in Paris beautiful, yet that doesn’t change the facts here in our land.