ah, ah, eee, eee, Tookie, Tookie!

I don't know what the furor over Stanley Williams is all about. Despite what hizzonor Snoop Dogg, or his pastor, Jessie Jackson, or his doctor, Mike Farrell (OK, he's not a doctor, but he played one on TV) may think, if you do the crime, you have to be ready for what comes next.

I can't say I'm a huge advocate of the death penalty (for the same reason I don't like abortion, but if someone has to meet his or her maker, I'd pick Stan over an innocent baby any day). I go back and forth on that issue, but that isn't the argument here. The issue is taking responsibility for what you do, and from what I've read, Stan doesn't seem ready to do that. I'll grant you that he's done a lot of work to lessen gang violence, but if you grant him clemency, you're sending the exact opposite message to those same gangs. Murder, rape and pillage all you like and if you get caught, well....just do a little community service while you're behind bars and everything's all better. Try selling that line to those whose lives you ended, or ruined. I'm sorry, but when you commit a crime, you don't set the punishment and decide when you've done enough, and neither does your buddy the rap artist. People get upset when one guy is the judge, jury and executioner. How much worse is it when you get to be perp, judge, jury and executioner, or non-executioner in this case?

I'm willing to listen to arguments to the contrary, but come with something strong enough that you'd feel good about looking the families of those he killed in the eye and selling it to them.