I would very much like to spend this Christmas holiday season in the company of Dolly Parton. I suppose it would be alright if her family too were there, but really, to be upright and honest about the whole thing, I just need her to be there.
Tonight, I think that the State of Georgia put to death a man who was most likely not guilty of the crime he was convicted of. And to be even more open and forthright, I am a better than 50% proponent of the death penalty in cases where the evidence is overwhelming in favor of guilt. Like as in OJ Simpson guilty and Jeffrey MacDonald guilty. But that is just it. How do you separate the two. So, now, for the record, I am no longer a proponent of execution by the State. Granted, some people Need to be killed, and if this is to happen by its own accord, then all the better. But, for now, it is better for a guilty man to walk the streets in pure joy at the murder he has gotten away with, than to put to death an innocent man who was wrongly accused.
Along these lines, and while the subject is at hand, I will also say that I am opposed to the abortion of a fetus (unless the mother is in danger of death, etc, etc). This is not to say, at all, that I would pass judgment on any person, who Chooses to abort a pregnancy for personal reasons. Pro Choice is not Pro Death. For this is not my business: to be concerned with the birthing procedures and manifestos of the greater public. Facing facts, babies may be a pain in the ass at times, but goddamn are they fun.
And nor should it be anyone's. How can our so-called government be smaller, when its highest ruling components want to set aside fiscal policy as a forbidden territory, and make the personal details of our citizens' love lives public policy? What is more personal and private than who we share our lives with and who we allow access to our innermost secrets and desires, than that which may occur in a bedroom, closet, elevator or Honda backseat? And by that same argument, how many IRS accountants, auditors, supplicants, concubines and digital tape recording flow through machines have had access to my annual tax information?
I'm not sure what Ms. Parton is planning for the 2011 yuletide season, but I can offer a vast array of bread, cheese, wine and festive merriment. In the end, I just want to receive a long hug from Dolly Parton, and think for a second that even though Troy Davis is dead, that somehow, I can look forward.
