Shawna Forde gets death penalty

[kinvore.livejournal.com]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/22/arizona.double.killing/?hpt=T2

I don't advocate the death penalty but I shed no tears for this woman. Here's the crux of the story: an anti-immigrant militant attacked a Latino family, killing the father and 9-year-old daughter (as she begged for her life), and shooting the mother who only survived because she pretended to die from the gunshot.

The murderers thought the father was a drug dealer and they wanted his money to finance their budding hate group. I guess that would have been a nifty recruiting tool for extremists, their willingness to kill Mexicans to get things done. Nevermind the fact that the victims were American-born citizens, such details are irrelevant when racial bigotry is concerned.

This is the sort of thing that happens when you fan the flames of hatred, dehumanization is the predecessor to atrocity. I'm surprised this didn't get more attention from the mainstream media, I guess they aren't as liberal as so many seem to think.

Comments

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

Stupidity is not as widespread as most would like to think in the Western world. Where someone says "Oh, that person must be stupid.", I often find the supposition to be incorrect. Often, the person knows EXACTLY what they are doing and its effects. They just don't care; it fits their quest for personal power and/or wealth, they don't give a shit about what happens to people outside of those they prefer, lack morals and/or ethics and just pretend to them - the list is endless.

People are always surprised at how, once you scrape away the veneer of civilization and etiquette, people are callous and selfish brutes, capable of the worst atrocities. There should be no surprise; history shows us how the worst atrocities are often committed by the most mundane people. I just choose to learn from my history instead of saying "Oh, those people must be stupid/crazy." The Assyrians were neither stupid or crazy; neither is Forde.