Public executions WTF?

Iain said:

If the people rebel then great - declare a state of emergency and send the troops in to stamp it out, after all the Republicans are the party of "law and order". No need for elections ever again.

This right here terrifies me the most.

I’m not here to argue if Charlie Kirk got what he deserved, but him being publicly murdered and Trump getting a new ear piercing did nothing but bolster the MAGA cause. Kirk is legitimately treated as a martyr here and I’d argue that the failed assassination may have had a hand in Trump winning more voters in 2024. Rebelling against them violently only serves to make them stronger.

If a major rebellion were to happen… Godspeed America. Not only would the troops be mobilized for that incident, but his administration would then have an excuse to “preemptively stop any threat to the nation” with armed forces from that point on.

(Oh! Btw, I have a close friend who is convinced that the assassination attempt on Trump was staged by the Republican Party. I don’t think so myself, but the plausibility that they would go that far still disgusts me.)

TheCatWoman said:

What do you think of public executions?

I disagree with them personally but I was thinking about the people who are pushing for them and why they are likely to succeed.

Imaging the popularity of the president amongst his MAGA base if he could publicly execute his political opponents. He controls pretty much the whole justice process now and will happily replace any moderate leaning judges given time, and this will give the opportunity for giving his supporters what they want.

Are these victims guilty? It doesn't matter if the president says so. He will have entrenched himself so much in power and surrounded himself with sycophants that it is largely a formality, and even the press seems to be scared of him.

If the people rebel then great - declare a state of emergency and send the troops in to stamp it out, after all the Republicans are the party of "law and order". No need for elections ever again.

I looked at this before deciding to post as it seems quite an absurd stretch to think it could happen, but when you look back over the last 2 years then this sort of absurdity had come to pass time and again in other areas. Nothing seems to stick to these people in the way of consequences.

Now I don't doubt it would come to pass it the president says so.

I am so glad I don't live in the USA.

Martin said:

Trump and his regime are barbarising the US, presumably burning at the stake will be the next thing revived. 

I’ve been on a kick the last few months trying to uncover the absolute worst method of execution ever thought up. Burning at the stake is way more dreadful than we imagine. Boiling and brazen bull are similarly horrid because of the pain and length of life. Crucifixion is insane and way worse than even Passion of the Christ paints it. Wheeling, impalement, and gaunching are all definitely close to being the worst possible deaths. However, with all of these there is at least a chance you pass away fairly quickly.

The worst in my opinion though? I think it was used in England. The oubliette. Complete abandonment in a cramped space has to be the absolute worst way to be executed by the state.

What in the world is wrong with us that we have so many miserable ways to dispose of each other?!

Lol I misread this as you were actually there prior to 1868 and actually saw a hanging. Honestly? I wouldn’t be all that surprised if you are immortal and that’s where your wealth of wisdom comes from.

You weren’t a certain Count of St. Germain, were you?

TheCatWoman said:

What happens if someone young or vulnerable see's it?

So somehow yesterday I fell down a particularly weird rabbit hole from articles describing the situation in Yemen to suddenly I was reading about Saddam’s execution. They officially recorded his procession to the gallows, but cut out before he was roped. However, someone recorded the whole thing via a cell phone and it was widely spread from that source.

[WARNING: Potentially distressing information inbound]

Worldwide there is something like 7+ accounts of “copycat” incidents immediately following the spreading of that video, most of which sound as if it was young children attempting to mimic what they saw and I read at least one account of a teen doing it because she was deeply upset by what she saw. No, these copycats weren’t in Iraq where you’d expect: It was everywhere from India to Texas.

All that to say, yes, we will absolutely have vulnerable individuals seeing that. A ton of them. Saddam’s execution was a big deal, but I’d think the rough, unofficial cell coverage of it wouldn’t be as easily accessible to young audiences as an official American live stream.

There is a special circle of Hell for whoever thought this was a good idea. Maybe the Ninth Bolgia of Malebolge?

I’ve been following the case of Christa Pike, if she had been a few months younger, she would have got a life sentence with the possibility of parole. There is documented history of abuse and bipolar disorder yet the sentence was still attempted. I’ve followed many death row cases and don’t think capital punishment is the answer.

The current state of affairs has Senators calling for the return of the electric chair, another has forwarded a motion to reinstate hanging, it’s all to attract votes. I don’t think shattering someone’s chest with bullets is any better, it’s all very barbaric.

Albert Pierrepoint stopped executing people as he said, “If execution is a deterrent for murder, then why am I still executing people?”

I think capital punishment is abhorrent, and this proposal to live-stream this execution (if it goes ahead…… on the news just now Vice-President JD Vance has suggested it might not) even moreso. It's tacit approval for every other regime on the planet where public executions are performed, since there's way the USA could chastise them if it does likewise. Trump's threatening of the International Court of Justice (again) suggests his administration is just fine with joining that club. 

I have been in a room where the condemned were brought, usually in a group, where they could speak to a clergyman. They were then led outside through a door to a raised platform in the open where the gallows was. There they were hanged by strangulation, without a drop (technically a 'short drop'), in public. This was prior to 1868 when public executions were ended in the UK. In the room was an original hangman's rope. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.

Trump and his regime are barbarising the US, presumably burning at the stake will be the next thing revived.