when the death penalty means freedom, conviction, and opening day...

alleged cop-killer michael astorga was caught in juarez...so for those of you on the edge of your seat since his profile was aired on america's most wanted last week, you may now exhale. even though he got caught, he did a damn smart thing by heading to mexico. one of the things we never want to discuss when we talk about capital punishment in this country is the problems it raises when it comes time to extradite a serious criminal from another country. see, they don't like to send people to the united states that will be facing the death penalty...apparently most of the rest of the "civilized" world realized long ago that capital punishment is somewhat barbaric and unbecoming of an advanced society...so much so that they don't want any part of it. this means that many times, if they fear a prisoner will face the possibility of the death penalty, they will refuse to extradite him/her to this country. which means we never get our revenge, not even to the extent that they spend the rest of their lives in prison (which is a fate many would legitimately argue is worse than death). so what happens now if mexico refuses to send astorga, a cop killer, back to the states to face charges? will we use it as an opportunity to examine our policies and antiquated views on capital punishment? or will we simply go on an america knows best tyrade and bitch and complain about mexico meddling in our affairs? i'm guessing the later, followed by an evolution into mexico not being a nation of laws and encouraging illegal immigration and the drug trade. and we all know that terrorists use open borders and deal drugs...so perhaps it's time to clean up the situation south of the border.

i found myself watching part of this new amazingly bad drama...conviction. for those of you fortunate enough not to know...it is about young prosecutors in new york. (see, they don't want to do a show about old prosecutors, because the old ones are only still there because they weren't good enough to make it in the private sector...but that's a different story). if people actually watch this show, it will instill in them exactly the opposite attitude of what is helpful and needed in the criminal justice system. prosecutors are representatives of the people...all the people of the state. that includes all defendants, all victims, all uninvolved parties. their job is not to win a conviction, it is to see that justice is done. unfortunately, too many of them see their job as winning a conviction. in this show, one "mentor" informed a newbie they needn't worry about the defendant, only the victim. wonderful...here comes another generation of lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key, tough-on-crime assholes that do more damage than good. (insert your bullshit recidivism, dropping crime rates, philosophical argument here...not only do i not buy it, but i've probably argued it better than you in the past). that being said, i am going to go ahead and declare conviction the winner. worst. show. ever.

opening day finally arrived, which means for at least the next four or five hours, the cubs remain tied for first and us fans remain full of hope. if that hope is still there in two weeks...i will be amazed. mike royko said it best...being a cubs fan teaches you a lot about life, it teaches you that no matter how hard you work and no matter how hard you want something...you still lose. the calendar creeps towards the century mark...AC986103.

with my feet on the dash, the world doesn't matter...