It takes a particular kind of person to relish in human suffering, and an even more particular one to assume that others share the same sadistic tendencies. But that’s the foundational story of Donald Trump and those who work for him and support him. And few moments have made their barbarism and sadism as clear as the announcement that the execution of former Army Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in a Fort Hood terrorist attack, will be by firing squad, and live streamed to the public.
That announcement came shortly after the botched execution of Christa Pike, a Texas woman on death row for the torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. That phrase — “botched execution” — is itself a horror. That the United States government executes people, and that we sometimes “botch” that process, should make us feel ill and ashamed.
Hasan and Pike did awful, evil things. There are not questions about their factual innocence. You don’t have to pity them or empathize with them to conclude that the state should not use its power to kill them.
