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On December 3rd, the United States military will publicly livestream the execution by firing squad of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.
I’ve made my strong support of the death penalty — and specifically of public executions — abundantly clear over the years. (For a primer, you can listen to this episode of the now-defunct Motte-adjacent Bailey Podcast, my first and to date only podcast appearance.) My initial reaction to this news was jubilant: talk about getting what I voted for! While my preferred method of execution here would be hanging, a firing squad is certainly a step in the right direction in terms of de-medicalizing capital punishment and emphasizing its fundamentally violent and retributive nature.
My observation of the discourse around it has given me pause, though. The apoplectic relationship from the political left has been predictable, and was unfortunately always priced in; the reaction from some on the right, though, has been sobering. Professionally Christian commenters have lamented what they see as the barbarity and vulgarity of the live-streaming aspect. (“This makes us no better than Al Qaeda! We aren’t some third-world dictatorship! This isn’t Who We Are™️!”) Many have warned that this will generate photogenic martyrdom propaganda that will inspire and energize future jihadists. (We’re giving Hasan exactly the attention and validation he always wanted!”)
These arguments give me pause not because I agree with them, but because they highlight the way that this is a rubber-meets-the-road moment for my ideology. To what extent have I allowed myself to become so radicalized by hermetically-sealed online discourse, such that I imagine my beliefs to be far more popular than they are in reality? Is what I imagine to be a broadly common-sense perspective actually going to prove deeply unpopular and massively polarizing once implemented publicly? Scott Greer, generally a reliable barometer for where the normal Middle American opinion sits, thinks so.
Personally, I am concerned that the Trump administration will, yet again, find some way to botch the aesthetics of the occasion, reveling in low-class pandering and/or ostentatious cruelty. (There is also the possibility of visible corruption: perhaps viewers will need to pay for a bespoke streaming platform which will put revenue in the pockets of Trump, Trump’s family, or a consortium of Trump donors.) There is a part of me that wishes that the first public execution in America since 1937 should be postponed until it can be overseen by an administration that is less inherently polarizing than this one. To some extent, about a third of the country is fully committed to hating whatever Trump does, no matter what it is; perhaps under a future administration with a higher baseline level of public trust, this event could serve as an opportunity for genuinely restrained public discourse about capital punishment, rather than an opportunity for retrenchment of existing political fault lines. If done incorrectly, this event has the potential to set back the political hopes of death penalty maximalists such as myself for a generation or more.
I’m still planning on tuning in to watch this execution. As someone who discovered the snuff film parts of the internet at a relatively young age, I’m pretty thoroughly desensitized to images of death. (And frankly, having seen a number of videos of firing squad executions, they’re a lot more mild than you might think.) I hope that perhaps there will be some small number of individuals who might find it inspiring — and that there may be others who are in some way deterred, even marginally, from future criminality. The executioners need to strike a delicate balance during the proceedings: solemnity and restraint, acknowledging the humanity of the condemned while also not getting bogged down by mawkish faux-contrition about having to end his miserable wasted life. Keeping the proceedings focused primarily on the victims, including testimony by survivors such as this guy may help to quell any instinctive sympathy for the condemned that viewers could otherwise experience.
America has no collective moral standard. So what else can one expect than complete chaos?
To put things in perspective, the eugenic argument for killing violent criminals is simple and straightforward. The argument for reveling in their death is different. As someone who has always been vary of group pathologies, this event and the surrounding characters make it feel like we are skirting the line.
As an example, killing a child rapist is just. But making a spectacle of the event where the intent is to invoke some emotional gratification or celebration goes beyond chasing the mere utility of ending a bad life. Good people don't enjoy suffering. The true celebration of ending the lives of criminals comes in the form of safe and happy societies that are free from the terror of living with bad people who allow themselves to cause undue suffering.
This should be especially obvious to those of the 'Christian' persuasion. Of which, one has to conclude, most Red Tribe Americans are not. If you feel anger or hatred for someone, the 'Christian' thing to do is for you to forgive them, if only to save yourself and those around you. Wrath is a sin. And if your conception of these events differs greatly from this Christian framework, you're probably not 'western'. That does not mean letting criminals go free, you should still seek justice. But beyond that justice you have a life to live.
It might be the case that the modern western person is simply too sheltered and cowardly to face the reality of what the third world necessitates. And that the 'spectacle' of the act is necessary in some way. But until such arguments are made, this feels like another slip towards barbarity. If this guy was to be executed, walk into his jailcell in the middle of the night and end him. Everything else is degenerate. I mean, he is paralyzed from the waist down, no? Are you going to shoot a guy in a wheelchair?
And as has been overviewed, the third worlder is no stranger to public executions. And dying a martyr for your cause is not something you should fear. So the only people not understanding what is going on from any angle are the 'westerners'
Listening to this person made me sympathize with the soon to be martyr. It could only be deduced from this interview that some Americans are incapable of understanding the suffering of others.
An American saying this about a middle Eastern terrorist is beyond a joke. America has no moral currency in that part of the world. It was all spent on the graves of children. 'They should not shoot our soldiers when they are not prepared' is laughable, and further serves to highlight just how morally lost America is.
This is true inasmuch as "wrath" is, when used technically, the sinful version of anger, but anger is not itself sinful in the Christian tradition.
Doing this is how the Soviets did it. Secret executions are the tool of repressive governments everywhere, and breed secrecy and fear. The Western tradition is one of public executions. The condemned also has, in the Western tradition, certain last rights that would be abrogated by executing him in his cell while he slept. As far as I know it is routine for other executions in the United States allow outside witnesses to attend.
You can argue that these are outdated ideas but understand that in the Western tradition you reference shooting someone in the back of the head in their cell block pattern-matches onto totalitarian regimes, whereas a public execution is pretty much the staple Anglo-American tradition.
Now you can also argue, I think, that livestreaming it is a bad idea. But it seems to me that we can address the question of if executions should be public and if they should be livestreamed separately.
Why? He killed a pregnant woman who was his comrade-in-arms.
Nidal Hasan is not a Middle Eastern terrorist, he is an American citizen and soldier, born in Virginia, who shot his fellow soldiers to death when they were unarmed in a place of trust.
I think the fact that this sentence exists demonstrates the weakness of the 'American citizen' bit in being the sole definition of who is (or should be) an American.
Clearly, calling this man is a terrorist, that's not a partisan statement. And clearly he is Middle Eastern (which is why his parents called him Nidal instead of James). His attack was motivated by his Middle Eastern religion and his attachment to his fellow Middle Easterners. He may have had American paperwork, and even an American accent, but he clearly did not consider himself American in a meaningful sense of the word.
The definition of a "terrorist" is famously almost always a subject of contention. I don't particularly mind applying it to Hasan.
Oh, so you think that if he doesn't consider himself an American, then he's not? Interesting. Do people get to pick whatever citizenship they want, now? Does this mean that someone who does consider himself an American is? Maybe the whole world is American (except Nidal Hasan, who is a "Middle Easterner")? I think the answer to all of these questions is "no." So Hasan is an American.
I understand the idea of being (let's say) "spiritually American" or saying that Hasan is "not a true American" – very reasonable rhetorical statements – but this guy had the rights, privileges, and duties of an American, by virtue of being an American citizen. He is, legally, an American citizen. And in terms of his behavior, he deserves to be treated as one, because to do otherwise cheapens his crime.
If you think that citizenship is not something to be cheapened by importation and dilution but rather a sacred bond held between fellow-citizens with attendant rights and duties, then you believe in holding people to that.
Palestinians are special. They're internationally considered Palestinians even if they acquire another citizenship, and so are their descendants. Once a Palestinian, forever the line is so attainted.
They aren't that special, they're just using the same standard as Jews.
Not even in the slightest. If you convert away from Judaism, you are no longer a Jew and if you are a woman your future children aren't automatically Jewish either. Also Judaism is a religion and not a nationality; while Israel has the law of return, it only says Jews can become Israeli citizens, not that they ARE Israeli citizens.
If you convert to Christianity or Islam then you're no longer a Jew but if you become an atheist you still count and can apply for your "Right to Return". Inversely, if a Palestinian converts to Judaism their requests to become Israeli will be rejected and they're just as liable to be gunned down at a checkpoint as any other goy. The only religious requirement is defiance of Christ.
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Plenty of cultural-only Jews at this point who'd still be considered thoroughly Jewish by the outer world. Most of the Seinfeld cast are the platonic example of New York Jews and I believe they don't actually practice.
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