Good Enough For Humans But Not Good Enough for Dogs
How the United States Lost the Higher Moral Ground to Every Other County in the Western Hemisphere
Special Report and Commentary from the Creative Youth News Team

4/15/08

The American Veterinary Medical Association has condemned the use of two of the drugs in animals that they Supreme Court approved for use in humans.  The drugs it condemns are the paralyzing drugs that prevent the patent from indicating whether the anesthesia is working.  Instead, the AVMA has worked to ban the good-for-humane-only curariform drugs as inhumane for animals in favor of an anesthesia-only process of authanizing Animals.  It has even put its objection to the paralyzing agents in the Euthanasia Training Manual.  So while John Roberts, John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Steven Bryer,  and  Samuel Alito all voted that drugs too inhumane for dogs are OK for use in killing humans.  Though placing humans below dogs in his vote to side with the majority, John Paul Stevens did question the validity of the death penalty.

California's current ban is not affected by the decision as California's ban involves the inability to find an anesthesiologist willing to supervise the procedure.  Doctors feel assisting in any way with executions of humans violates their Hippocratic oath.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is working to build a new death chamber that he claims will not require an anesthesiologist.  It seems unlikely that a new set up with the same drugs would prevent problems like  the 40 minute execution of Tookie Williams that resulted in the courts requiring an anesthesiologist.

All nations in the Western Hemisphere stopped using the death penalty long ago.  In most industrialized societies it is considered immoral and barbaric.  Cuba, the last holdout besides the United States has not executed anyone in over half a decade.

This year, opponents of the death penalty tried to get abolition into the platform. A resolution amounting to a call for abolition was adopted by the Democratic Party in 2004.  However, Nancy Pelosi's daughter prevented the platform committee from allowing it into the 2008 platform - although it had been part of prior platforms.  Pelosi's reason for opposing the inclusion of abolition of the death penalty into the California Democratic Platform was that Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi all support the death penalty.  It is no surprise to Democratic delegates that Democrats are angry at a party that has become identical in philosophy with the Republican Party.  Many delegates to the California Democratic Convention vowed to assist Cindy Sheehan defeat Nancy Pelosi in November.  Their goal is to get out the word that Democrats don't want Pelosi running their party with an iron hand any more.  During the Chairman's reception, delegates were close to rude towards Nancy Pelosi,showing more concern about the fact that food ran out quickly than about what Pelosi had to say. 

Copyright ©2008 by the Creative Youth News Team.  All rights reserved.

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