Justice and honor

One of my heroes, Sister Helen Prejean has a timely and astrigent reminder in the New York Review of Books about George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzales, the death penalty, and the quality of mercy:

I already knew the substance of Bush's position toward Karla Faye, but I had never heard the last sentence of his press statement: "May God bless Karla Faye Tucker and may God bless her victims and their families."

Immediately after the statement, King turned to me for a response. When I heard Bush say, "God bless Karla Faye Tucker," I had to struggle to keep a vow I made to reverence every person, even those with whom I disagree most vehemently. Inside my soul I raged at Bush's hypocrisy, but the broadcast was live and global. With not much time to rein myself in, I took a quick breath, said a fierce prayer, looked into the camera, and said, "It's interesting to see that Governor Bush is now invoking God, asking God to bless Karla Faye Tucker, when he certainly didn't use the power in his own hands to bless her. He just had her killed."

I've never comprehended how the man can just mouth the words "Lord, Lord," and millions of good people will think he's godly. From Ricky Ray Rector to Karla Faye Tucker, W is no more moral than Clinton. I prize my autographed copy of "Dead Man Walking, and you can't just dismiss Sister Helen as a "liberal." Read her article.

In Idaho, by contrast, at the time the current president was living in Texas, we had a Republican governor with integrity and honor. In 1996, Phil Batt, to his eternal credit, and over the objections of the prosecutors and A.G., commuted the death sentence of Donald Paradis, a man who'd been wrongly convicted in 1981. But then, Phil was never seeking higher office.

(Bonus links to guitarist Bill Frisell and "Justice and Honor.")