I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. I've never done much here on capital punishment because i'm not likely to change anyone's mind on it. That said, i concur with attorney general ashcroft's decision to make timothy mcveigh's execution available on closed circuit tv to the victims' relatives and survivors.
It's hard to put oneself in their position. I think i'd be satisfied just knowing mcveigh was being executed. But i think there's a special place in hell for bombers, zealots who murder indiscriminately and intentional destroyers of large groups of people. Mcveigh now proudly claims responsibility for the oklahoma city deaths, and his own death is just retribution.
But for those who lost a love one? If they need to see mcveigh die i don't begrudge them the opportunity. And have you noticed how quiet anti-death penalty activists have been on this one? Perhaps even they sense that for someone like mcveigh, who so completely breaks the human bond, the ultimate price is justified.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, a broken IRS.