The death of number 1,000
Posted by Moonage on 01 Dec 2005 | Tagged as: Opinions
Here’s the headlines:
- Man Who May Be 1000th Execution Visits Kin
- US set for 1,000th execution
- Clemency forestalls nation€™s 1,000th execution
- 1,000th execution slated for next week
On and on and on it goes.
The media also acted like the 1,000 soldier death in Iraq was going to lead to massive social uprisings. It didn’t.
The 1,000th execution won’t change a thing either.
What does the most likely 1,000th execution have to say about all this?
You read it here first. A common criminal set to die has more common sense than most media any more.
And for what it’s worth, he’s right. 1,000 is just a number. That’s all it is. There is nothing more significant about the 1,000th person than the 999th. Quick, name the 1,000th soldier that died in Iraq. Count the headlines about his life and who he was. Then, count the headlines about the 1,000th soldier death.
One year from now no one will remember who the 1,000th person executed in the US was. And even more likely, they won’t remember a single headline any of the major media wrote about it. People just don’t make it a point to remember a number.
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4 Comments »
on 01 Dec 2005 at 11:02 pm 1.spaceman said …
Yeah, a number is just that, a symbol.
But the slated execution in SC, whether it be 1000 or 1001, doesn’t matter as long as it happens. The innocent victim died over 12 years ago and changed the lives of an entire family forever.
That day when Shawn Humphries walked into the local Max Saver convience store and shot Dicky Smith to death he sealed his own fate. He should have put the gun to his own head and saved us the trouble… the bastard.
I knew of the Smith family and met Dicky a few times when he was dating a cousin. He was a good guy who came from a poor family that worked hard for everything they had… and then this scum comes along. The entire family has been affected ever since. I’ll drink a toast to Dicky when Humpries is no longer among us.
So while executions are only numbers to most, each one has a tragic tale behind it with real victims who suffer… some, the rest of their lives.
Did I say the Smith family has suffered? About 3 years ago, at the Max Saver #2, another brother was robbed and killed after closing by a crackhead punk employee and his junkie friend… what luck… the family is still regressing. I’ll drink another toast for that execution too… in about 10 or more years.
on 02 Dec 2005 at 8:52 am 2.Moonage
said …
Hopefully it will be sooner than 10 years.
That family merits a lot more media attention than the losers they’re promoting with the 1k fry fest. That’s one of my beefs with media right now. They’re more interested in their agendas than they are people. All of these people on death row killed at least one person. Let’s see a story on the 1,000th execution’s impact on the victims’ families.
on 02 Dec 2005 at 5:23 pm 3.spaceman said …
Fox is one of the worst but I have to give our local Fox station some credit in this case since they had the decency to interview some of the Smith family. No mention was made about the second brother’s death though. I haven’t heard yet but I assume Humphries execution took place. A toast tonight to Dicky for an ounce of justice done.
on 04 Dec 2005 at 4:00 pm 4.Red Peters said …
We won and it will happen again in’08! HAHAHAHAHA!