The only conservative in Western Massachusetts - Email Eric Lindholm: ealindholm -at- msn -dot- com

 
Three thousand Americans dead – Moussaoui gets life

From Fox News - “Moussaoui evades death, receives life in prison”: “Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole on Wednesday for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "America, you lost. I won," Moussaoui said, clapping his hands as he was led out of the courtroom after the verdict was read.”

The “at-least-we-denied-him-martyrdom” argument is not playing well at Hot Air. But if you gotta live, existence in a Supermax prison might be as bad as it gets.

My only concern is how this plays out among the Islamofascists; that is, is it more or less likely to encourage terrorists attacks? Unfortunately, I think there was marginally less to fear from the martyrdom angle and this judgment may be perceived as a sign of weakness. As somebody once wrote (Samuel Johnson?), nothing sharpens the mind like a hanging in the morning. A caption reading “THIS is what we do to terrorists” would send the right message in the “weak horse/strong horse” debate.

Apropos of nothing – Remember when serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, convicted in the capital punishment-free state of Wisconsin, was bludgeoned to death by a fellow inmate? That was, ah, rotten luck.
posted by Eric at 9:36 PM