After months of buildup, including a book tour, magazine covers and tons of posts on Plastic.com, Timothy McVeigh, or "the devil" as he is called in some circles (c'mon, if he was really the devil, he wouldn't have been so damn stupid), was to be off'd on Tuesday. The FBI, apparently confused about its role on the whole thing, brought forth a large amount of unseen before now information about the government's case against the Oklahoma City Bomber. In light of this, the new Attorney General postponed the hot needle injection until mid-June.

McVeigh, who believes himself to be a martyr for some huge church in his mind, gets a few more weeks to decide what to eat (after suggestions from some vegetarian groups that his death lunch shouldn't cause the death of more "peoples of the earth" like cows, goats or chickens) before he fades into the gentle goodnight.

I am pro-abortion, meaning that if a woman gets pregnant and she can't care for that eventual child, she should terminate it. Is this killing? Probably, but we don't need more kids putting unnecessary burdens on our society just because we don't want to kill something. This isn't revenge, this is just being practical. But it is a basic human right to have as many kids as you want, so there are no controls over this and there are millions of people in this country who are anti-abortion--most of whom, ironically, are in favor of the death penalty. As the old joke goes, it's all in the timing.

A few years ago in Albuquerque, there was a horrible multi-murder that happened in a Hollywood Video Store about a mile and a half from where I live. A friend of mine was asked to work the store that night, but as she'd just gotten back from vacation (and was tired), she declined--and lived. Everyone who was closing the store that night was killed. And two grandparents, waiting for their grandchild to finish working, were killed as well. All for about $3000 in cash.

There is a death penalty in New Mexico, but it is rarely invoked. No one has been executed in New Mexico for years, even though the penalty has been on the books since the U.S. reintroduced the "eye for an eye" doctrine in the 70s. And while there was plenty of evidence against the people who perpetrated the Hollywood Video Killings (as we affectionately refer to them here), the prosecutors did not seek the death penalty--merely life in prison without parole.

Those deaths changed the lives of the people living in Albuquerque in a fundamental way. No more 24-hour Wal-Marts or grocery stores. No more video stores that stay open until 2 a.m. Liquor stores close, for the most part, before 10 at night. We have paid the price of convenience with the deaths of three young people and two grandparents.

Before George W. became the Prez, he was proud of his use of the death penalty, offing dozens of prisoners in the years he was Governor of Texas. He has maintained that none of these prisoners who got the jack were innocent, even though, in most cases, they were not given adequate defense teams or allowed to appeal with new DNA evidence.

At the Oscars early this year, Gladiator, a movie where a general of the Roman army is turned into Jesus-with-a-penchant-for-violence, took Best Picture honors. Gladiators, for the most part, were prisoners, slaves and Christians who were meant to eventually die in bloody combat for the glory, spectacle and delight of the Roman Empire.

Obviously we've got some issues to work out in this country about the death penalty.

Those who are vehemently in favor of it swear the purpose is not revenge.

Of course it is. What other reason can you give for killing someone who has killed or even worse another citizen of the U.S.?

I'm not necessarily against killing killers. Revenge is fine. We have tons of movies to back this up. What were all those Clint Eastwood movies about? Revenge. Revenge against entire towns. Revenge against the savagery of the American West. The snot-nosed, beaten-down kid comes back as big bad gunslinger and exacts...REVENGE.

And that's why we're gonna kill off McVeigh.

Might as well. He wants to die. Most people want him to PAY GODDAMMIT! He desecrated one of the most sacred truths of the American people--that terrorists were infidels from outside our borders. After McVeigh, anyone could be that guy with a suitcase bomb. We, the American people, have paid the price of security for McVeigh's actions.

I can't say killing the guy is wrong. He's a dumb prick who should've been aborted. Not that going back in time and killing his mother (a la Terminator) would change anything. Another dumb prick would have risen to take his place. Maybe a different time or building, but it would have happened.

So we're killing him off for a little peace of mind. It's cheaper than nationwide therapy, trust me.

Matt Worley doesn't care about the death penalty, per se, as long as he can watch Payback and feel good about the ultimate course of human events.