The Governator

The Number Of The 'Beasts' - 666


Arnie says he is ready to Terminate again, and by that we don't mean he's going to star in T4.

Governor Arnie is trying to resume some executions in California, - apparently there's a backlog of deathrow inmates that has hit 666 - so it's time to resume the executions. There's been a moratorium on executions in California since last year when a judge ruled the lethal injection system in california was umm, inhumane. Well, maybe executions in of themselves are inhumane, but there was no mention of that.


Anyway, here's the lowdown:

"I am committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that the lethal injection
process is constitutional so the will of the people is upheld," Governor
Schwarzenegger said yesterday.

The moratorium on capital punishment started in February last year, when Judge Jeremy Fogel halted the execution of Michael Morales, a condemned rapist and murderer. Judge Fogel ruled in December that California's lethal injection procedures were "cruel and unusual punishment".

Yesterday the state said it would build a new "Lethal Injection Facility" at San Quentin. Officials said changes to the lethal injection protocol would result in the "dignified end of life" for the condemned inmate. California said that it would stick to a three-drug combination for executions. The first, sodium thiopental, renders prisoners unconscious and keeps them in that state before the injection of ancuronium bromide, which induces paralysis, then potassium chloride, which sparks cardiac arrest. The training would include lessons on mixing sodium thiopental, a powder that must be mixed with a liquid for use in the process.

Executioners would have to monitor inmates more closely to ensure they were unconscious before the two lethal chemicals would start to flow. Both he warden and the person dispensing the drugs would stay in the new, expanded execution chamber to monitor the condemned prisoner for signs of discomfort and distress before death.

Governor Schwarzenegger said he was confident the changes would enable xecutions to resume. "I am confident that the plan submitted to Judge Fogel will address his concerns and allow the state to enforce the law of the land," he said.

Yep. I can remember the moment I became a true fan of Arnie. It was during the the production of 'Commando' whereupon he did an interview for Entertainment Tonight. He claimed he was generally cast in 2 types of roles:
1) He plays a completely brutal killing machine, like the Terminator.
2) He plays a loving father who halfway through the movie turns into a brutal killing machine like the Terminator.
He said it with a knowing smirk, so clearly he understood the irony of what he was saying and enjoyed it. That's a man who has considerable self-knowledge - certainly enough to make Plato or any Greek philosopher proud. It's nice to know he's still willing to go by type 2 of his typecasting. Can't say I have an opinion on capital punishment, but I'm satisfied that the Governor of California is acting in his best faith. :)