Texas Executes 400th Convict

Last week, the state of Texas executed its 400th prisoner since 1976, when execution was ruled constitutional. What do you think?

Jane Davidson,
Secretary
“I commend Rick Perry for having the courage to protect his constituents. Well done, Governor, and please don’t kill me.”

Craig Baker,
Systems Analyst
“I hope that once the prisoner was brought into the death chamber, the guards surprised him with confetti, balloons, and an oversized syringe.”

Darren Pertwee,
Road Resurfacer
“I’m really conflicted about this. While I’m against the death penalty, I’m a huge sucker for milestones.”

Today’s photo of the day reminds us of the Katrina disaster that occurred two years ago today. Given the current Michael Vick controversy, this image is particularly provocative. Maybe FEMA would have come sooner if more dogs were endangered….

Today’s video of the day is “Drivin’ Me Wild” by Common. I enjoy this song a lot more now that I’ve seen the video.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

Dr. Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963.