Public execution by guillotine

It's no secret that I oppose capital punishment and live in a country that abolished the practice in the sixties. That some states adhere to the penalty and DU polls have shown roughly half the respondents support capital punishment, it is obvious that the USA still has strong support for the death penalty.

The trouble is, I think you are doing it all wrong. Hideously botched executions resulted in prolonged and agonising deaths in the gas chamber and on the electric chair. Prior to that, hanging was a rather hit or miss method, depending on the proficiency of the executioner and the method of hanging.

To soothe the bruised sensibilities of those who preferred not to read or hear about burning hair, convulsions and worse, a new, warm and fuzzy method was invented. A little needle, just like putting a sick pet 'to sleep'. The trouble with this was the ethics of medical personnel being involved and supply of the drugs, not to mention physical problems of administration and the still-present spectre of a botched job and lingering agony.

I suggest that those who support execution start rallying for a return of the guillotine. There was rarely a bungled guillotining and death was practically instant, notwithstanding the more lurid tales of heads that moved their eyes and sighed.

And for those who cry Deterrent! Would the best deterrent not be a scaffold in a public place, a sombre parade of the condemned in an open truck, photographs and tales to recount to the young?

Anything else is pure hypocrisy.


Edit to repair typo in subject.

Sorry


:evilgrin:


:hi:

they would be like groupies on a road trip, driving from execution to execution, and standing in line all night to get the best seats.

Pretty soon this crowd would get become impatient that the executions aren't happening often enough. They would demand that the speed of death row pick up the pace. FOX would also be broadcasting the executions, getting awesome ratings, and they would be lobbying for more executions.

Would that be enough for the USA to retire the death penalty?

It would make for "end of an empire" legend. Like how the Romans threw christians into the lion pit.

using 'threw' figuratively.

This is a thread based on speculation and what-ifs, do you not agree?

try to restrain myself henceforth.

:toast:

No worries. :hi:

Edit to say, the 1st and 2nd people who post on a popular thread get the most scrutiny.

execute anyone accused of a capital crime without a trial. My modest proposal, if enacted, would go a long way to satisfying the death groupies' need for a faster pace of deaths.

We executed OBL without a trial and Obama's approval rating went up 10 points. So I think it would be a win-win situation for all concerned (except, perhaps, the accused)

It's there, underlying it all....as we drive to work and put on a happy face. Not so much for me, because I'm a sweet lady, but anyway...

so he can watch it fall. The bastard.

Julie

:popcorn:

A very painless way to go that doesn't pollute the atmosphere like Cyanide gas?

I don't support the death penalty, but I'm amazed that a completely painless and humane (ha) way of executing someone hasn't been implemented as of yet.

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:) :)

and erect the scaffold in front of their headquarters.

See: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1084811#1084998

and then shutter forever the entire criminal conspiracy that is GS.

We can even get some corporate sponsorship for it. Sponsor: Crisco!

And for those holy fundamentalist types, we can have the Sunday-Morning-Send-Us-An-Offering-Praise-Jesus-Evangelical HUMAN BONFIRE at halftime! Sponsor? Bridgeford Charcoal!

If people decide they want to see it faster, we can the speed round. How about we take a catapult, put a guy in it, and launch him...RIGHT INTO A BRICK WALL! Rapid fire capital punishment!

((Okay, I confess...all credit for the above to the immortal (Reverend) George Carlin))

But one of Carlin's salient points has always stuck with me. How many corporate executives and white collar schmucks would we have to kill before they started getting the hint about corporate crime? Maybe, just maybe, Asia has a good idea on business and responsibility. I'm not 100% against the death penalty (nor am I 100% for it). I think there are occasions where the death penalty is warranted, although they are few and far between. The guillotine is just as good an instrument in those rare occasions as any other, and is one that is, on the scale of things that can go wrong, pretty damn hard to mess up.

in an article called "Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?"

Someone he quoted in the article - can't remember if it was a Congressional aide/staffer or an ex-prosecutor - observed that if two or three of the top Wall Street criminals "had been sent to real prison, I mean ass-hammering prison" (that is a verbatim quote from the article, not my embellishment or paraphrase, and my first choice would be that scumball Blankfein from GS), all of this bullshit would have stopped on a dime and the plutocrats would have started behaving much more benignly.

But they got away with it, which only emboldened them to broaden and deepen the whole process of systematically destroying the US middle class.

These guys know they have ~nothing~ to fear. A couple nights in Riker's or San Quentin should nip that problem in the bud. Even more so for a multi-year sentence.

And, for comic relief, we could do a little bear-baiting for the amusement of the crowds.

I know it is macabre to think about, but I am absolutely convinced that for some time period after the head is severed, it retains consciousness and knows exactly what is happening.

I've never heard anyone try to explain why this wouldn't be so.

It would have to be one of the most horrific ways to die, imho.

However, it can't feel pain either. After that length of time, the last random firings of neurons have lost coherency.

Yes, it would be a horrible way to die for sure.

The phantom limb phenomenon tells us that one needn't have a physical correlate in order to experience pain in the brain!

The Smash-o-tine. Let's replace the blade with a 500lb concrete block. When the block hits bottom, it simply squashes the head like a grape, causing INSTANTANEOUS death. I could venture a guess that it's painless as well.

Could get messy though...

(but lol anyway)

It would be like a Gallagher routine.

and no pain. Sudden pressure drops are often seen (and not near the pressure loss from decephelation) and subsequent unconsciousness.
You may have experienced a lesser case upon standing up or getting out of bed quickly.

pretty much close down all the circuits?

That's where I got my 'doesnt feel pain' part from.

I can't cite a study or claim that this is verifiable fact -- it may not be. The poster I responded to challenged someone to prove that there wouldn't be lingering effects, and my assertion was that such a proof was impossible because, to the best of my knowledge, it's known that it is possible for that last firing of neurons to linger on just a bit. There was a discussion on it years ago in my history class in High School, and that's where I drew my thoughts from.

Yeah, it's got to be horrifying spending your last conscious moments like that, but I think it's better than slowly suffocating to death or being electrified to death. I don't support the death penalty, but I think so long as it's in existence, we should utilize the most humane way of going about it.

Before the renowned scientist was sent to execution he asked a friend to count how long he blinked after he was decapitated.

He wasn't killed by guillotine.

that a human head can survive for up to 30 seconds without its body?

So, whenever I have one, I like to hold it up, and show it its body.

It's just a little something extra I like to throw in.

I have to admit, it makes me laugh every time."

Quoted, more or less, from Exorcist III.

that would mean that the brain cells and synapses would survive for a short time. Taking into account hypovolmic shock to the head and the almost certainty that said cells would survive until oxygen deprivation took hold the very real possibility of consciousness after decapitation could ensue for a short time. Anyone who has been in extreme pain or fear knows that 10 seconds can seem like 10 weeks, so while death might seem immediate, one can not be sure.

As a societal situation, we can look to history to see just how people react to such things. The French Revolution shows us that there appears to be an inherent fixation on such bloody spectacles. Crowds grew quite large whenever there was use of the guillotine. In out own country, hangings and lynchings brought out some pretty hefty crowds. Spectacles tend to draw on our baser fears and emotions. In Rome and it's outlying cities,Gladiatorial games were bloody and executions before and after the "Main Events", were a great way to "warm up" the audiences.

We like to think of ourselves "above" such base emotional level, but the reality is, we are animals, and we appear to have a penchant for such things, we need be outright sadists, often we are merely "curious", and when we see such things, we tend to become jaded to the point where view these occurrences as "every day events".

The last man to face the Guillotine in France in the 50's was filmed in secret from behind. When that short flick was shown, people rose up and stopped the process. It can be seen on YouTube after a quick search. It is quick, but I cannot imagine what went through that ma's mind before losing his head.

Then again, Life in prison w/o parole solves the dilemma...and if, one or two are proven innocent, (as has happened in the past), and they are spared death, it is something society can make up for. Once a person is dead, and then we find that person was innocent, there is no recourse

that would mean that the brain cells and synapses would survive for a short time. Taking into account hypovolmic shock to the head and the almost certainty that said cells would survive until oxygen deprivation took hold the very real possibility of consciousness after decapitation could ensue for a short time. Anyone who has been in extreme pain or fear knows that 10 seconds can seem like 10 weeks, so while death might seem immediate, one can not be sure.

As a societal situation, we can look to history to see just how people react to such things. The French Revolution shows us that there appears to be an inherent fixation on such bloody spectacles. Crowds grew quite large whenever there was use of the guillotine. In out own country, hangings and lynchings brought out some pretty hefty crowds. Spectacles tend to draw on our baser fears and emotions. In Rome and it's outlying cities,Gladiatorial games were bloody and executions before and after the "Main Events", were a great way to "warm up" the audiences.

We like to think of ourselves "above" such base emotional level, but the reality is, we are animals, and we appear to have a penchant for such things, we need be outright sadists, often we are merely "curious", and when we see such things, we tend to become jaded to the point where view these occurrences as "every day events".

The last man to face the Guillotine in France in the 50's was filmed in secret from behind. When that short flick was shown, people rose up and stopped the process. It can be seen on YouTube after a quick search. It is quick, but I cannot imagine what went through that ma's mind before losing his head.

Then again, Life in prison w/o parole solves the dilemma...and if, one or two are proven innocent, (as has happened in the past), and they are spared death, it is something society can make up for. Once a person is dead, and then we find that person was innocent, there is no recourse

Hmmmmm..... This has possibilities.....

When done right the individual goes unconscious immediately by the force of the neck snapping.

Give the condemned a lot of valium and oxycontin then strap him to a gurney with a removable head support. When he's zonked out of his skull, take him into the guillotine room and remove his head.

There are two good things about executing people this way. One is it's almost impossible to fuck up. If the guillotine is correctly working, it clips off the guy's head and the guy dies right away. If he's stoned on benzos and opiates he won't feel a thing.

More important is it will end capital punishment in the United States, because no jury, even in Texas, will vote to cut a man in half. France never adopted lethal injection; they always used the guillotine as their method because while there was support in the abstract for capital punishment, in the last few years the sentence was available no one would sentence anyone to beheading.

very large tax-supported sports stadiums.

and proceeding directly to execution by executive decree. Trials and juries are such encumbrances to ridding the planet of evil doers and people who need killing.

:sarcasm:

Guillotine: You're doing it wrong.