Davis execution spotlights US blood lust

after the state killed one of its citizens -- whose guilt was far from beyond a doubt -- the "victim's" family was able to rejoice and revel in the attainment of another's death as compensation for their own loss. while they can deny it, their crusade to see mr. davis put to death was nothing but a crude, cruel expression of their own moral bankruptcy.

Davis execution turns spotlight on death penalty: "Mr MacPhail's widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, said in a TV interview there was ''nothing to rejoice'', but that it was ''a time for healing for all families''.

''I will grieve for the Davis family because now they're going to understand our pain and our hurt,'' she said.

The officer's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, who said she was convinced Davis was guilty, said: ''I'm kind of numb. I can't believe that it's really happened.

''All the feelings of relief and peace I've been waiting for all these years, they will come later. I certainly do want some peace.''"

this woman, who claims to seek peace, has demonstrated amply that what she really craved was vengeance, without being overly particular about who should pay for her son's death. just as well one negro as another, she would no doubt admit, if she had the courage to say so.

with all the ambiguity about davis' involvement in the crime for which he paid with his life, and the demonstrably racist railroading of black suspects in the south generally, this is but another in a long and disgusting litany of crimes against people of color by a corrupt and decadent civil and legal system in the US generally and in the south in particular.

these people may think they've felt pain due to their loss, but they and their kind never take responsibility for the history of oppression, repression and aggression against people not of their race and class. they've never felt the pain inflicted by the system that maintains the wretched status quo that defines the american experience.