American Politics Journal -- Dubya -- Will He Be the Latest Victim of the Texas Death Penalty?



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Dubya -- Will He Be the Latest Victim of the Texas Death Penalty?
by Dave "Doctor" Gonzo

Thursday, June 22, 2000 -- LAS VEGAS (AmpolNS) -- If it weren't for the fact that one Gary Graham stands likely to be executed in Texas early this evening, The Doc would be laughing long and hard at the way in which George "Dubya" Bush will himself become a victim of the Lone Star State's death penalty.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee has been saying, time and again for the last week, that Graham has had "full access to the courts."

Allow the Doc to translate:

If you are not able to afford a top-flight criminal defense attorney, "full access to the courts" means getting an arguably incompetent public defender who doesn't even lift a finger to pose anything resembling a legal defense.

"Full access to the courts" means falling victim to machinations of the Texas "justice system" that essentially block new evidence from being allowed into the justice system.

"Full access to the courts" means a death row warden who will use any excuse to deprive you access to individuals, including legal counsel, attempting to make last-minute appeals and maneuvers to postpone the execution (as MNBC reported just minutes ago).

"Full access to the courts" means falling victim to a "tough-on-crime" Governor gunning for another lethal injection notch in his belt, making a conscientious effort to see if he can top Tim McVeigh's body count as he blithely dismisses any possibility that he may well have signed the death warrants on people suffering from mental illness -- or sane and innocent individuals.

Remember, this is a Governor dogged by the shadowy situation surrounding his having "served community service" himself -- around the time he apparently went AWOL from Air National Guard duty in Alabama. Which raises the question -- did Bush get paid for his Guard service during that time? deposit taxpayer-financed Guard paychecks to his bank accounts during the period when he was, to put it delicately, "no-show?" spend that money on "other women" or "nose candy?"

Oh, gosh -- I did it -- I digressed...

At any rate, should Governor George W. Bush sign a death warrant this afternoon, it will in fact be on any hope for finding himself in the White House.

'Nuff said.