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The McVeigh Circus

The McVeigh Circus
by Dr. Christina J. Johns
Law, Power and Justice Syndicate

May 8, 2001

I have come to dread the execution of Timothy McVeigh.

I dread it in the same way I would dread the purposeful taking of any life. I dread it in the same way I dread every execution.

But, I also dread it because I think it is a terrible mistake. I will try to explain why.

First of all, Timothy McVeigh did what he did, on the scale that he did it, to attract attention to his "cause." This execution is going to attract even more attention to McVeigh, his "cause" and the people like him who believe that only violence can redress violence. McVeigh was responding to killings at Waco and Ruby Ridge by killing those he considered responsible (even if peripherally) for the tragedies there.

Second, this execution is going to be a media circus. It has already started with interviews and specials and an endless beating of the story for all it's worth. There are expected to be several hundred journalists outside the prison, and I am sure we will be treated to countless hours of unedifying babble about the bombing and the execution.

Third, I think we as a society make a terrible mistake in turning what is essentially a political issue into an issue focused on Timothy McVeigh and his fate. I think it is an oversimplification to assume that killing Timothy McVeigh will solve the problem of dissent and alienation from the government. Timothy McVeigh is one person. He is neither crazy nor alone in his beliefs. There are other Timothy McVeigh's out there, waiting, watching and we ignore them and the depth of their commitment at our peril.

When members of a society come to believe in a cause so fiercely that they are willing to die for it, the society has problems. There is no way to prevent violence if those committing it are willing to die. Just think about India where people have strapped bombs onto their bodies and set them off when the bombers are near political figures. Unless the society starts to ask some serious questions about what motivates that kind of violence, the problems are only beginning.

No matter how much we may disagree with McVeigh, and condemn his tactics, he has acted within a long tradition of political violence. Americans are not used to experiencing this type of political violence so close to home, and are unfamiliar with the arguments used to legitimate it. People in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Israel, are more likely to understand that when people see themselves as working for a "cause" they can do some pretty terrible things. And, killing one person not only does not solve the problem, but often exacerbates it.

Fourth, by killing McVeigh, we do exactly what he wanted in the first place, turn him into a martyr who will go down in history and become an even more important hero to the far right. I don't want to have to worry about the next Timothy McVeigh a year from now, trying to figure out what building to bomb in order to commemorate the execution of the hero McVeigh.

Fifth, the execution itself panders to the lowest, most cruel and worst in our natures. I have no doubt that there will be people surrounding that prison cheering and celebrating and wallowing in their permission to focus their hate on one individual. I anticipate the same sort of display of crude viciousness and celebrator hatred we saw in the campaign against Saddam Hussein, or Noriega. When we were bombing Iraq, people who probably couldn't find the country on a map if they were threatened with death, were busily cheering and celebrating and crowing over the deaths that were caused. I don’t think we need any more unfocused, random hatred than we already have. And I dread looking it in the face.