I would still be opposed to the death penalty if we executed prisoners by tickling them to death. Now, thanks to Oklahoma's governor rushing an execution, more people now know that "lethal injection" is not as neat and civilized as it sounds, regardless of what you think about the death penalty. After the recent botched execution of Clayton Lockett, we're learning more about what goes into a condemned person's veins and how it gets there.
Personally, I've never bought the argument that killing people reinforces the concept that killing is wrong. (Not to mention executing prisoners is expensive and is definitely not a deterrent.) Seems like no matter how hard we try, we just can't seem to kill people in a moral, efficient way. Go figure.
Enjoy the cartoon, and be sure to check out some of the links behind the cartoon either in this blog post or in the News Behind the Toons section of my website.
[Pokie the Punisher]
Hi everybody! You may know me as "Pokie the Punisher," but if you're an inmate who needs to be killed, you know me as "Slashy the Vein-finder" or "Jabby the Screw-up!"
See, everybody makes mistakes-- even good people killing people to show people that killing is wrong!
I'm sure you've heard about the little mishap in Oklahoma, "Oh, man," is right!
But don't worry, that sort of thing is perfectly normal.
It's what happens when you've got a really bad guy, secret, weird and wonderful chemicals mixed together so they kill people, and a governor running for re-election!
I mean, even Bill Clinton took a break from campaigning to go home and kill a prisoner who was missing a chunk of his brain.
"Lethal injection" sounds so civilized and calm, but it's really a lot more fun than that! Interesting things happen all the time!
Like the other botched execution in Oklahoma just a few months ago!
Some say "botched," I say "creative!" Oops!
Creative in Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida, Georgia . . .
And sometimes you can't find a vein so I get to poke poke poke poke poke!
And if that doesn't work, just jab 'em in the groin or slice 'em open and find a vein deep in there somewhere.
Then let the mysterious mix of untested chemicals do their thing!
Hey, mistakes happen!
Just ask Oklahoma, who, ah, mistakenly had three innocent people on death row.
Or the 140 others who were mistakenly on death rows across the country! Oops! My bad!
But that's the price we have to pay, so we can show people killing is wrong . . . by killing people.
Like, you and you and you and, oops! And you and you, oops! And you, oops!