2026-10-10
I'm sure you are aware of the rhetoric surrounding Nidal Hasan, the man who shot and killed thirteen people during the 2009 Fort Hood Shooting. But if you aren't, Pete Hegeth, U.S Secretary of War (I was not aware of this interesting title change until recently), has called for the live-streamed public execution of Hasan.
Keep in mind, this tragedy was more than 15 years ago. When they bring him out to be executed, he will not be a powerful, intimidating figure. He will be a man unable to walk. He will be an elderly man wheeled out in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty spectators. To me, this doesn't read like justice.
So, here are my questions to you: How can we differentiate between vengeance and justice? Can we claim any moral superiority over this man? Is violence the proper response to violence? Have our politics reached the point of no return of sensationalism?
I don't believe this action represents the values of the country in which I was born and taught to love.