December 02, 2005
Farrell vs. Sliwa on Tookie
I was at my mom's tonight. Just before my leaving, she was watching Scarborough Country on MSNBC, and called me in to see Mike Farrell and Curtis Sliwa talking about the possibility--or not--of Stanley Tookie Williams having his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
I only caught the end of the segment, but it was enough to entertain me. Farrell was blabbering on about how Tookie has redeemed himself and become a role model for our youth. He also mentioned how a belief in religion and faith should play a role in how we treat prisoners who have been convicted of murder. (Funny how religion is brought up when it's for a cause near and dear to the left's heart.)
The whole time Mike Farrell was speaking from his location (I presume California), Curtis Sliwa was grimacing and squirming in his seat in NYC. His disdain for Farrell's point of view was evident before he even opened his mouth. When he did, he brought up an interesting point. He wondered why, amidst all of the talk about Tookie's life as a model prisoner and the fact that he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he (Sliwa) is unable to find the names of the four people Tookie was convicted of murdering. (Tookie, you may remember, is a co-founder of the Crips.)
Think about it: so many people are talking about the fate of Tookie. What about the fate of his victims, not to mention their families and friends? As Sliwa put it, the victims are "out of sight, out of mind." Is their fate unimportant?
To use a British phrase, what a load of bollocks.
On a related note, check out this link about a Tookie Teach-In (teach-ins are usually a load of bollocks too), where one student thought Tookie is only taking the high road now in order to get out of what the student calls a "bad situation."
The funniest bit here is when Stefanie Faucher, the woman praising Tookie to the heavens, had this to say about Arnold Schwarzenegger:
Then Johnson asked Faucher, "Does Arnold even have his citizenship?"
"No," Faucher replied. "He doesn't."
"How can he be our governor then?" she asked.
Faucher took a step back and reconsidered. "I don't actually know if he's gotten his citizenship," she conceded. She looked to the other adults for help. There were no takers.
And we're supposed to take her and her position seriously?
Show Comments »
Has any asked Mike Farrell, Stefanie Faucher, et al, if Tookie's victims had a commutation of their death sentences? Oh, that's right, Tookie already carried out their sentences. My bad.
Posted by: joe-6-pack at December 4, 2005 05:23 PMFarrell looked his best in the M*A*S*H finale when he was pained orange.
I heard part of Sean Hannity taking on Farrell on the radio. Farrell has a real warped sense of reality.
As anyone asked any of the Tookie flacks if any criminals they've campaigned for were paroled to their neighborhood? Get ready for crickets chirping in response.
Posted by: PCD at December 5, 2005 01:18 PMActually, the funniest part is when Faucher asked the students why Snoop was supporting Tookie. She didn't like the response the kids gave.
Posted by: Ontario Emperor at December 6, 2005 04:14 PMthis whole debate certainly offers up a solution to the 'i've turned my life around in my 20 years on death row' argument. maybe we should shorten the appeals time to 5 years...
Posted by: nola at December 12, 2005 11:57 AMI agree...these things are drawn out so long that the felon is more likely to die in prison of natural causes. On our dime, of course.
Posted by: Pam at December 12, 2005 12:47 PMEvery criminal is always sorry after the fact once they have been caught. Of course he was "frontin'" about how he had changed, what else would keep him alive or maybe get him a pardon? He should at least had the nads to apologize to the relatives of his victims. They're all "innocent" on death row. But then, every bleeding heart liberal knows that!
Posted by: TuPackin' at December 13, 2005 06:01 PMIndeed, TuPackin'. Some murderers actually feel guilty for their crimes and apologize (although that shouldn't automatically get them off the hook). Not only did Tookie never apologize, he never admitted guilt. To add insult to injury, witnesses said he even laughed at the manner in which his victims died. To kill someone for $100 is sad. What's sad as well is that so many people were taken in by his "redemption." It's too bad they didn't feel the same pity for his victims. He deserved his fate.
Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by: Pam at December 13, 2005 07:24 PM
