A Debate on Justice (Video)

By Nicholas Stix, Elizabeth Clothier, and retroguy9494

“Truman Capote Talks about In Cold Blood on The Tonight Show, Starring Johnny Carson – Part 1 of 3”
Airdate: 11/27/1972





N.S.: The death penalty is the ultimate punishment for the ultimate crime. It’s not meant as a general deterrent, although it does serve as a specific deterrent. No killer has ever been known to come back from the dead, and kill again.

@elizabethclothier3267
2 years ago

If I’m reading your comment correctly, I agree that punishment for a crime is perfectly acceptable. There's nothing wrong with using the penal system for punishment, as not everyone is redeemable, nor should they be trusted to be back in a civilized and law-abiding society. Just imho :-)


@retroguy9494
1 year ago

“What do you consider ‘the ultimate crime’ and who decides what that is at any given point and time in history? Plus, how do you reconcile it with religion? Many of the people in the judicial system and legislative bodies which pass the laws which dictate criminal punishment are Jewish and Christian and ‘thou shalt not kill’ is STILL a commandment from God. It doesn’t say “thou shalt not kill unless it is done by the judicial system to punish a crime in the United States.” Now, were you to trace that commandment back through the languages into the ancient Hebrew when it was first written, you would discover the word ‘kill’ back then actually meant ‘murder.’ And aren’t executions State sanctioned murder?”

@retroguy9494 “Now, were you to trace that commandment back through the languages into the ancient Hebrew when it was first written, you would discover the word ‘kill’ back then actually meant ‘murder.’ And aren’t executions State sanctioned murder?”

N.S.: No, they’re not. You were fine until your conclusion, in which you committed a classic, democrat non sequitur. (Postscript: Actually, he was also bad at the beginning, when he also engaged in sophistry that he later contradicted.)

The point of capital punishment carried out by the state was to replace vendettas carried out by the family and friends of murder victims. When people like you call justice “State sanctioned murder,” you fancy yourselves as being morally superior to people like me, who believe in simple justice, and seek to confuse matters.

The consequence of your line of sophistry is that no one may kill, except murderers. You intended said consequence, because you support murderers. And the reason you do, is because the vast majority of murderers in this country are blacks and hispanics, the racist cut-throats whom you call “persons of color.”

However, the logical consequence of your line of reasoning is to permit the return of vendettas carried out by the family and friends of murder victims. Yes, I’m a mind-reader, but it’s not hard to read your mind. It’s been renting a room in mine for many years.