Gov. Pat Quinn today double-crossed the voters of Illinois. During the recent election campaign he said he was in favor of the death penalty, as was his opponent. Given his razor-thin margin of victory, less than one percent, it seems obvious he would not be Governor of Illinois today if he had told the people he would sign a repeal bill.
This is a sad day for justice and democracy. If the new legislature repeals the repeal, will Governor Quinn sign that bill?
John Schwartz and Emma Fitzsimmons have this article in the NYT.
This is a sad day for justice and democracy. If the new legislature repeals the repeal, will Governor Quinn sign that bill?
John Schwartz and Emma Fitzsimmons have this article in the NYT.
Spare me your whiny and politically correct populism.
The United States is a republic, and not a democracy.
If you wish to be "spared" my opinions, you can simply stop reading this blog.
If you wish to be spared my opinions, you can simply delete my account.
By the way, congratulations to Governor Quinn on doing the right thing and not the populist thing.
Please, delete his account.
You completely missed the point, Abolish, as you so often do. You were the one who asked to be "spared."
"Spare me your whiny and politically correct populism."
Although support for the death penalty is the POPULAR position, opposition to it is the POLITICALLY CORRECT position. Need to get your facts straight.
"The United States is a republic, and not a democracy."
I'm glad to see that eighth grade still exists.
P.S. If a republican form of government institutes (or re-institutes) the death penalty, in the face of democratic opposition to it, will you be equally giddy about that? I mean, republicanism and all?
P.P.S. It shouldn't take the prospect of closing your account for you to converse with the people here in a professional and business-like manner. Simply being an adult should suffice.
Quinn is a Democrat. That really tells you all you need to know.
I wouldn't go that far. Some Democrats have been on the side of law-abiding folks. They do seem to be a shrinking minority of the party, though.
I actually could respect Quinn if he were up-front about his abolitionism--but he's a liar, and that, sadly, is par for the course for that party.
Come on, federalist, former Governor Ryan was a Republican and he cleared out Illinois' death row. It is true, though, that surveys bear out that Democrats tend to be more against the death penalty than Republicans. Personally, I am a pro-capital punishment Democrat who's liberal on lots of issues. I just draw the line on things like murder and rape. I, for one, won't be changing my mind on the death penalty.
Ryan was indeed a worthless Republican; on the other hand, he was pretty worthless generally. He went to federal prison, and I'm happy to say is still there, for selling his office.
Of course we can walk right past any possible partisan complications and have the people of Illinois decide in a referendum whether to have the DP. I'll agree here and now to be bound by the results. Any abolitionists want to take up the bet?
BTW, the one sure way to have foretold that Quinn was going to pull this stunt was when it came out that he "consulted" with Desmond Tutu. When one deliberately seeks out fact-free mush, one is quite likely to find it.
Gov. Ryan is plain awful--I'll grant you that. And I wasn't referring to Quinn's abolition--I was referring to his utter dishonesty in the campaign. Such blatant dishonesty is par for the course for many many Democrats in a manner that most GOP pols could never get away with. Charlie Crist was similar, and GOP voters unceremoniously denied him the nomination. Quinn, no doubt, is a hero to many Dems for this maneuver.
Governor Quinn is no hero to this Democrat.