Shame, Howard, Shame.

So, the kid is dead and Howard is going to the cricket.  Sums us up quite nicely.  Ruddock called hanging ‘barbaric’.  Well, he should know.  If it were anyone else but him, I would applaud the plain speaking.  I suppose I should acknowledge that when a person renowned for barbaric acts is shocked into making a statement like that then they should probably be respected for it.  

That’s the problem with credibility; once it’s gone, it’s gone.  In another life we, as a country, could have applied more pressure.  After all, all killing is wrong, whether it be by an individual or the state.  Now we can’t take that line.  Once we invaded our third largest wheat market for no better reason than our ‘mates’ asked us to, internationally we have lost the moral high ground that credibility is based on.

Hanging people is not a deterrence, it just make a political point about the people who we chose to govern our country on our behalf.  If governments were serious about dealing with the problems that lead to people ending up on death row, they’d be spending more time and money on fixing the root cause rather than penalising the minnows who always get caught.

The best way we can show we are a mature, civilised nation is to begin the global campaign to abolish the state sanctioned death penalty, where ever it occurs.   It’s a long haul and won’t save the kids in Bali or any of the other Australians cooling their heels in jail on drugs charges, but it may save some from firing squads, hanging or lethal injection.