Never Enough Death Penalty Opposition Department

It appears that, for the first time since Michael Dukakis' disastrous run against George H. W. Bush, the Democratic Party has removed pro-death penalty language in their platform. Gutsy? Yes. Risky? Yes. But I dare the GOP to try to use the death penalty against Kerry.

Why the dare? Because Bush's record on the death penalty while serving as Texas Governor was so heartless that there is a web site dedicated to documenting Dubya's mocking, heartless attitudes towards the condemned--many of whom, on pure statistics alone, were certainly innocent.

Americans may be overwhelmingly (still) in favor of capital punishment for egregious crimes, but even the most stringently law-and-order conservative has to admit that Dubya has shown a remarkable lack of respect for human life. Should the Republicans thus try to use Kerry's opposition to the death penalty against him, they will find themselves hoisted by their own petards. Electrocuted by their own chairs. Injected with their own needles. The metaphors, and the deaths, go on.