If you wanted to defend the use of capital punishment — let’s say you were in a high school debate class -- you could probably make a reasonable case that relies on historical and legal traditions.
What you wouldn’t do unless you wanted to get an F is say that we have to keep capital punishment because -— wait for it -— Jesus.
But that’s what passed for debate in the Wyoming Legislature, which was considering whether to repeal capital punishment. Wyoming, which has no one on Death Row at the moment, has not executed anyone since 1992. So some Republican legislators figured why spend $1 million a year to maintain a system to execute inmates. Let’s spend that money on useful things instead.
Nope.
Sen. Lynn Hutchings, R-Cheyenne, argued that without the death penalty, Jesus Christ would not have been able to die to absolve the sins of mankind, and therefore capital punishment should be maintained.
“The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and me,” she said. “I’m grateful to him for our future hope because of this. Governments were instituted to execute justice. If it wasn’t for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope.”
Yep. Jesus was executed by the Romans. If the Romans had sent dissidents to prison for life instead of torturing them to death slowly on a cross, Jesus could not have become Jesus. After all, you can hardly be a messiah if you die alone in a prison cell.
So Pontius Pilate is now the inspiration for our legal system. I wonder if anyone in Wyoming pointed out that the Romans executed Jesus on trumped up charges.
And then there was this gem:
Several senators had other reasons for voting against the bill. Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, said that while the death penalty could be used as an effective tool, it was also a means to keep the state’s justice system from turning into the type seen in other states. He then noted that states like California — in some cases — have allowed inmates to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
So … let’s execute inmates so we won’t have to pay for gender reassignment surgery.
Surprisingly the Wyoming House had approved the repeal bill. So did a Senate committee. But the full Senate voted it down.
Ya know, this story actually explains a lot about Trump Nation.
If folks can make these kind of horseshit arguments with a straight face, they can certainly have no trouble believing that God sent Donald Trump to save America from scary brown people.