Why were there only 2 posts on DU about the execution of Kenneth Lee

Boyd on December 2nd? He was the 1,000th prisoner executed in the U.S. since the reinstitution of the death penalty in 1976. Surely, this was a milestone that anti-DPers should have rallied around with the passion shown this week. Why no petitions posted? Why only 32 responses posted?

What makes Tookie different?

http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=53015

away from the path he'd followed.

If you'll recall, the original person scheduled to be the 1,000th execution was granted clemency (thanks to efforts by his attorneys, and others).

While there were letters and petitions in the Boyd case, they were not as publicized simply because his case was not as publicized.

High profile cases bring high profile responses.

state" is wrong, period. Where were those same people 10 days ago when the "state" of NC killed Kenneth Lee Boyd?

If you are against the DP you abhor the 552nd, the 719th, the 1000th, the one upcoming tonight.

So why is it so obvious that a large majority of the anti-DPers here didn't?

Similarly though, did pro-DP people say "FRY HIM! COOK HIM SNUFF HIM!" for that execution?

Crips and Bloods! The Gubernator! Self-redemption in the big house! Nobel nominee (of course if you AREN'T a Nobel nominee, then you don't get out enough).

Whereas Boyd was some sorry SOS who shuffled off into oblivion.

Life ain't nothin' like fair.

tookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookietookie

making him seem like he helped all these kids turn away from gangs when in actuality most people never heard of him until the movie or a few weeks ago.

I was just wondering the same thing myself.

There's may be something specific to the current news that's galvanized a lot of people on DU. I haven't seen this much outcry about an impending execution in the year-plus I've been here.

time.

Yeah, I'm fit to be tied over it. Life just ain't fair.

Some people live truly charmed lives when this is what they have time to ruminate about, and ponder.

celebrity endorsements and such. I know it doesn't make sense.

Tookie has a bunch of Hollywood types (Tookie Kookies) around him, and a very effective PR campaign.

so does Tookie's? (please note that this is a question)

I thought that the 1000th execution was disgusting and sad. Feel better now?

Just trying to understand the difference. Thank you for responding.

Some just get more play than others.

Mark Warner commuting the sentence of the man in Virginia that was going to be the 1000th executed.

The publicity of the 1000th execution of Lee vs. the coverage of Tookie Williams impending execution is what?
That somehow anti-DP posters were not loud enough then?

Your "DU topic density test" seems shaky at best, or am I missing the point?

"silent". If you are passionate against the DP, as so many are showing this week, where was the passion 10 days ago? Most anti-DPers are saying that they don't want the state killing in their name. Where were those people 10 days ago?

Do you know the difference between a person who is an anti-death penalty activist, and someone who feels opposed to the DP on all counts? I'm not an activist, I don't follow every execution. However I do feel responsible when the state does this act in my name. And that's not to say that *you* or other posters MUST feel the same way, or that I think you are evil or stupid for not having my same beleif that the DP is wrong in 100% of cases. Don't ascribe people's passion with some need to feel "morally superior" or some such BS.

Where were "those people" you so casually throw that phrase around, possibly betraying another nice wedge phrasing of us vs. them.

I am trying to understand what is the difference in the two cases that would result in such a VAST difference in reaction from anti-DPers. The 1000th milestone was a big event. It even got some advanced notice when Mark Warner commuted the would-be 1000th executed a week earlier.

Do you think that others on this thread have given reasonable answer to that question?

I think it's pretty obvious that his case has managed to galvanize alot of support from celebrities and that Schwarzenegger + Press Circus, to cover the execution; as someone else remarked succinctly Lee admitted what he did, Williams hasn't. I have never argued for anything other than the absolute conviction that death penalty is wrong.

See here's the thing, I think that there is common ground with the pro-death penalty folks who haven't thought through the mental exercise of truly deeply understanding the ramifications of state killing in your name, yet, but some of these DP supporters *can* see that the government screws up most of what they touch. Look at what happened in Illinois, where the death penalty moratorium was enacted by a republican governor.

You are implying then that the anti death penatly crowd's jumping onto the "tookie" bandwagon is indicative of something profound, that *gasp* they are "controlled by MSM coverage" or that they are really just what? sheep? what is your point? that the media controls what issues we are talking about on DU?

Again, I am not trying to make a point other than to note the vast difference. The main take is the publicity, which certainly is true.

is fake? like a fad and that most people are really ok with execution, and we Anti-DP DU'ers are a minority and should behave like a minority position?

10 days ago... hmm I remember I was eating a ham sandwich.

what is the difference? Passion can be red-hot today, and stone-cold 10 days ago? It just seems odd.

Not saying anything? your coy questions say alot. Your "it just seems odd." indicates a willingness to ignore what other posters have offered for your question, or to pose some unsaid ... to elicit... what... response... ?...

you're so puzzled about it.

I'm not so sure about any genuine puzzlement, but rather the question intended to impugn all anti-dp' posters as bandwagon jumpers.

And I will state again that the news of the 1000th felt like a sickening kick in the gut. I sometimes find it hard to believe that we can't evolve beyond this as a society.

The story from AP or something. It went down faster than a shot of scotch in the Oval Office.

It' easier to get everyone against the death penalty if you focus on a few exceptional cases. This one has star power and momentum. Most do not. For better or worse, it's a strategy.

The fact that Tookie's story in the eyes of some is compelling gives rise to there being more threads than that of an arbitrary condition like a nice even number. Then it irrationally snowballed from there.

I made a post about health care a few days ago and it sank like a rock. I doubt that this is an indication that DUers don't care about the issue.

(Edit for subject verb agreement)

It is, in large part, a matter of strategy. tookie is a higher profile convict in a higher-profile state with a higher-profile governor, so it makes sense that his impending execution would be a higher-profile forum for opposition to the death penalty. there also seemed to be a genuine optimism that arnold might commute his sentence as well, an optimism that, as far as i was aware (and i've been busy, so not following terribly closely) didn't exist for boyd, who doesn't deny his crimes, etc. The anti-dp movement picks its battles, of course (like any other political movement). I understand that those who oppose the dp should oppose everybody's execution, the fact that the organized movement focuses on cases where they think actual progress (either by swaying public opinion or by actually preventing an execution) can be made discounts the sincerity of those who oppose the dp.

Aside from that, other factors come into play as well. the tookie threads were certainly buoyed by DP supporters as well. Had they responded in kind to the boyd threads, perhaps they might have stayed near the top longer and spawned more conversation. Also, the fact of media coverage is hard to ignore ... the tookie case got a lot more coverage in the msm, from what i can tell, and while DU'ers don't simply blindly follow the mainstream media, it only makes sense that the issues most widely-discussed in the press will be most widely-discussed here as well, generally. There are plenty of people on DU who may oppose the death penalty--firmly and sincerely--but don't have the time to follow every case, so when they see a case they know about they are more likely to post in threads about that.

that's my take, anyway.

I always post when another person is going to have the state play God with their life. I will always maintain, that even for the worst of offenders, life in prison is far worse punishment.

Thanks for responding.

While I will also give you that certain cases do appear to garner more attention than others. I'm going for the kinder, gentler way of debating this.

:shrug:

Nixon

n/t