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Mad, The (2007)
IMDB rating: 5.00
Plot: A horror-thriller in which a doctor and his teenage daughter are terrorized by flesh-eating zombies at a truck stop.
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Online Movies World
Directors: Kalangis John
Actors: Binkley James,Deslippe Matthew,Flock Evan Charles,Gray Rothaford,Gross Christopher,McPhail Ian,Orr Sean,Price Allan,Rhoades Michael,Scovell Geoff,Wilsher Steve,Zane Billy,Horror,Thriller,
This Speaks Volumes About Our Priorities : Dispatches from the …
It’s starting to look more and more like Texas governor Rick Perry orchestrated an effort to thwart a state probe into an arson investigation that may have led to the execution of an innocent man.
Sam Bassett — the former chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, who Perry declined to reappoint last month — is now saying that Perry’s aides tried to pressure him over the direction of the inquiry his panel was conducting into the steps that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for arson. Perry, as governor, signed off on the execution, despite clear evidence that the investigation was flawed.
I occasionally wonder how many of our politicians secretly have some sort of major mental issue that they’ve gone to great lengths to conceal.
Not that I’m speaking ill of the mentally ill, which I’m not, because a great many who are manage to live their lives as nice individuals; I’m saying the politicians may have anything from a mental illness combined with a sense of malice to just being phenomenally dumb.
To live in a civilized society, every individual needs to make sacrifices. This means, inevitably, that some individuals will have to be sacrificed.
As long as we have the death penalty in this country, innocent people (and guilty people who nevertheless don’t deserve to die) will be put to death. Given the great moral benefits of having a death penalty, this is acceptable collateral damage. I can see the argument for doing everything possible to reduce that collateral damage, but clearing the name of someone who’s already been executed will provide no benefit to the dead man. As Hutchinson wisely pointed out, all it will do is hurt people’s trust in the judicial system and hand ammunition to the opponents of the death penalty.
I stand with Perry. The man is dead; whether he was innocent or guilty, it’s time to let him rest in peace.
#10- The “great moral benefits of having a death penalty”. Care to enumerate and provide actual evidence that texas is more “moral” than Vermont or North Dakota or Canada or anywhere that doesn;t have a death penalty.
And even assuming there were a “great moral benefit” That would presumably mean as a deterrent to crime. But how does execyting an innocent person deter anyone? Isn’t that saying in effect, “You might get executed even if you DON’T commit a crime, so you might as well go ahead and commit one anyway?”
And what moral benefit would that be? If you are thinking of suggesting that the death penalty reduces murder rates, I will kindly ask you to do some fucking research and get back to me on it. Oh, let me guess – I bet you’re “pro-life” too. Killing innocent people and covering up so that people don’t ever question the authority of the justice system is ok, but the government providing health care to our citizens or protecting the rights of citizens is totalitarian? I remember you going off on a rant about corrupt, totalitarian government, but now you want to cover up the murder of an innocent man so that people will continue to blindly trust the justice system. It’s easy to understand your extreme homophobia and misogyny by your clearly repressed sex life, but now you just don’t make any sense at all. It’s like you’re disagreeing just to be disagreeable. Go drink some juice, take a nap, and get back to us when you grow up.
If I’m reading the forensic analysis in this case correctly, it is probable that there wasn’t an actual crime. Willingham was convicted of setting a fire and killing his children on the testimony of an expert witness who was incompetent to determine if arson had been committed. The forensic panel was set up to determine if there had been arson or if the fire was accidental. Not only is the question whether Texas executed an innocent person, the question is whether Texas convicted and sentenced to death a person for a crime that didn’t exist. And Hutchinson is saying – correctly – that this will undermine support for the death penalty. It’s one thing for people to be complacent about innocent people being convicted of a crime that happened; it’s another to be complacent about being convicted of a crime that was really an accident. Sort of like being executed because a frayed electrical cord started a fire in your house.
#13, et al.,
The great moral benefits of the death penalty are (1) following God’s law, and (2) killing those who deserve to die. Or do you really think that enough innocent people were saved by the brief Supreme Court moratorium on the death penalty to make up for the fact that Charles Manson is still alive and well?
A judicial system that kills innocent people along with the guilty is no different – and no more reprehensible – than a military that accidentally kills civilians while bombing a terrorist camp. We can’t have a civilized society without sacrifices; Deos suos agnoscet .
Dear Mad the Swine:
Since there is a considerable number of opinions on whether you are a poe, a satirist, or a braindead asswipe–and none of them have any real substance to base them on–I thought I would offer a suggestion.
Try posting under a pseudopseudonym-de-guerre like I am doing with this post. That way you can work on your snarkmojo without drawing quite so much fire. Otoh, perhaps you could just talk to your mental healthcare provider and have him up the dosages on your meds. That way you could actually be, like, snarky, sardonic, satirical instead of hatefully batshit crazy. I hope this helped.
While I appreciate your fine invective – it is really rather good – I think you will find that mad is an attention whore, and will take a position which he thinks will engender strong reactions from other readers. He has also written things that, from your reaction to his latest inanity, you would actually strongly agree with. It is therefore typically the best policy when reading mad’s ‘work’ to simply allow it to flow over one, and admire the swine’s ability to plumb the depths of bat-shit-nuttery.
I’m all the way in with Mad the Swine. There is an additional benefit to the death penalty, even if it’s used to execute those who aren’t guilty.
Given the condemned knows the time of their death, they have ample time and opportunity to fix their relationship with the Lord, securing their entry into Heaven rather than eternal punishment. They could even wait until the last minute, convert, and everlasting life would be cherry. That also proves why being pro-death penalty is part of the pro-life movement.
Since Madnanimous is okay with butchering innocent people and is 10-4 with Plastic J, I’d like to suggest he walk right down to his local police and confess to as many unsolved felonies as he can think of, preferrably 50+yo cold cases that are cluttering up the books. That way, files are closed, mysteries solved and batshittery…ahem…wins!
First, the Constitution forbids that from being a consideration in American jurisprudence. Second, which God? (which also ties back to the first point). Third, which of God’s laws? Finally, I observe that, if we assume that our resident sufferer of PSE is referring to the laws found in the KJV bible, the Texas death penalty does a piss-poor job of following those laws. It applies the death penalty in cases where the KJV bible says it does not apply, and does not apply it in many cases where the KJV says it does apply. Furthermore, the method of execution is not as prescribed, nor are almost any of the other modes of punishment. Simply put, American jurisprudence has almost nothing in common with “following Gods’ laws” and thus this is an empty claim.
BC: To be fair, he was also convicted because he liked heavy metal, had tattoos and piercings, and a history of assault. So, regardless of whether he actually started the fire or not, he probably deserved it anyway.
I seem to recall the judge or prosecutor in the case making an argument similar to that at some point, which goes to show how making these elective positions can have a negative impact on a judicial system’s effectiveness and decency.
*chuckle* Mad the Swine is back in full parody form. I was getting a little concerned MtS, you’d been rational and almost normal for a couple of weeks there. ;o)
Michael Heath: Nice assist and follow up for MtS. *tip o’ hat*
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I really have to argue though, if we’re going to sacrifice people, we better sacrifice a few to Quetzalcoatl, he appears to get really pissed off if you don’t sacrifice a few souls to him and, I believe, it’s been about 500 years…
#38 – It may have been here or at PZs, but somewhere they had the judge talking about his heavy metal music, and I think satanism was implied or brought up by the judge, and it was used to help the judge kill this man. Now, he’s dead and their ain’t no more, so bringing his killers to justice will do nothing for him, but it will do a lot for justice itself. The government and the judiciary especially need to be honest, and in this case they weren’t. Perry is a spineless traitor to the US, and I would really want to see him impeached and tried in criminal court. Too many of these maggots escape justice.
Jesse – Judge Death and his friends did just that (2000 AD/Judge Dredd) – they found that since life led to crimes being committed, it was itself a crime and everyone was guilty and the only punishment was death. Pretty good storyline if you like Judge Dredd.
“A judicial system that kills innocent people along with the guilty is no different – and no more reprehensible – than a military that accidentally kills civilians while bombing a terrorist camp.”
So let me get this straight, you’re perfectly okay with killing innocent people? I thought that killing innocent people was a crime that deserved death.
You can’t have it both ways.
(This all assumes that MtS isn’t a parody. Given the fact that his commentary is not funny, to me it doesn’t really matter if he/she is.)
the troll said: “I can see the argument for doing everything possible to reduce that collateral damage, but clearing the name of someone who’s already been executed will provide no benefit to the dead man.”
So the family of the victim, deprived of one of its members and slandered by the justice system, is not suffering any damage? you don’t think they at least would want to have his name cleared and remove the stigma that comes with being related to a criminal?
Julian, Badger: Judge Jackson (who was the prosecutor on the case before his judicial appointment) has said that he believes the Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin posters found in Willingham’s house may have been a sign of occult involvement. Jackson also believes that even if the fire were accidental, Willingham still killed his kids. Reading between the lines a bit, I suspect Jackson is hinting at Satanic Ritual Abuse, which was widely believed to occur back in the early 90s. IOW, he’s dog-whistling that Willingham was a pedophile who murdered his kids to keep them from disclosing that they were molested. Nice corticolimbic uncoupling technique there.
Add me to the list of people who really find Mad the swine fucking irritating. I am pretty damned sure that his/her comments of a more reasoned and reasonable persuasion are the reality – they are assuredly not over the top, while the “satire” is.
MtS -
Do us all a favor and just drop the MtS handle, use something else and join the conversation instead of playing games – trust me when I say that we would all be better off…
