As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
First Lady Nancy Reagan was a different mix of politics, but in her politics was always the driving force of her family. She was her step father's daughter in being Conservative, and yet when her husband Ron was almost assassinated, Nancy Reagan immediately went left and advocated for some gun control.
Likewise when she desired a legacy for her husband, out went the hardliners in Bud McFarland and in came George Schultz with detente with the Soviets which almost got rid of all nuclear weapons.
Politics are a matter of always what is happening in the home, and it might surprise you that Nancy Reagan was an advocate of the death penalty as found in her memoirs, My Turn.
On pages 143 and 144 Nancy Reagan records the sound reasoning for the death penalty. The reason this matters is that conservatives like Fred Barnes always stated that the death penalty did not deter crime, when in fact the reality is the executed never committed another crime from the grave.
The basis of this is Ronald Reagan as Governor in his first term, had an execution come up of an Aaron Mitchell who was a cop killer. Governor Reagan could not find a reason to stop the execution so it proceeded with the doo gooders in silent protest outside the Governor's home and little 8 year old Ron Reagan jr. wondering what those people were doing outside his house frightening him.
As Nancy Reagan stated, would it not have been better to pray for the souls of the murdered, than the murderers, as no one was praying for the dead police officer or his family.
This is where the punchline appears in this quote:
It was shortly after this that Ronnie received a letter from an elderly man in San Francisco who ran a little mom and pop store with his wife. He had been robbed a few days after the execution of Aaron Mitchell, which had been widely covered in the press.
When one of the robbers tried to stab him, he had shouted out in desperation, "If you kill me you'll get the gas chamber!". When his assailant heard that, he hesitated for a moment and then ran off.It isn't always that simple, but this letter did reinforce our feeling that the death penalty really is a deterrent to crime.
The Reagan's were no strangers to violent people. Once a man was arrested in Tahoe after his wife turned him in, as he was on his way to murder the President and the Governor of California.
Another instance a criminal threatened to decapitate Nancy Reagan unless another criminal was released.
This is why the death penalty matters and should be a matter of sentence, a timely 7 day review, no appeals, and then execution of sentence. Some always whine that innocent people are put to death. Sometimes this happens, but the innocent have nothing to fear from God, and innocent people get killed with guns, knives and cars, and none of them should be banned either.
This blog has advocated for the expansion of the death penalty to pedophiles and rapists. Assaulting children is something which can never be reformed, and when one has a serial rapist or a rapist who uses a weapon or battery is involved, that violence must be answered with the death penalty.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan were firm believers in the death penalty with reason. It is the most effective deterrent in society. The worst promotion of violence in society is the violation of a not speedy execution of sentence and leaving everyone think that they can get away with murder with a life sentence or endless appeals.
Speedy trials, swift judgment and timely executions are the necessary reform of the US Justice system to return it to it's purpose in protecting the Citizen from the criminal.
Nancy Reagan's own words and her husband's agreement for the death penalty, because it did save a life and it saves lives when readily enforced and promoted.
Nuff Said
agtG
