sponsored by

Hosted by
eROI

Boring Into the Issues
Webcasting McVeigh: it’s all in the execution
by Chris Olsen

The other day I received an email from our esteemed editor saying that he had a couple topics for an article that he’d like me to consider writing. One was something about the prospects for mobile commerce. The other topic was about the performance of dot com stocks over the last year. My exact response to him: "Yawn." I suggested he come up with an interesting idea and I would be happy to write something. A few minutes later he replies with a link to an article about a web porn site that was suing for rights to broadcast — sorry, Webcast — the execution of OK City bomber/freedom fighter/potassium chloride sponge Timothy McVeigh. Porn and Technology? Now there’s a combination of great interest to me. OK, I really don’t give a shit about technology, but you get the idea. I agreed to write on the subject. Naturally I started thinking about constitutional rights, free speech, etc. Why do the victims families get to watch but the government won’t let the rest of us? How does that phrase go? "Government by the people, for the people" or something like that? Hmmm. That sounds like something McVeigh himself might ask. Nevermind.

Anyway, the constitutional rights issue is old news. Others, including talk-show host Phil Donahue, have sued unsuccessfully in the past for rights to broadcast executions. So in addition to having legal precedent against them, the porn clown’s suit is really self-serving. They have two motivations: money and publicity and couldn’t care less about the constitutional implications. They want to make the execution a pay-per-view event (is Vince McMahon behind this somewhere?), and even when they lose the lawsuit, they will still have earned publicity for their porn sites. So, to my dear friend and respected editor, I must say "Screw this, I’m not going to write about this subject either — its not even news."

I know the Anvil is supposed to be about the Internet and related tech trends. But frankly, lets be honest with ourselves. The Internet is just a little boring. Lets think about something interesting. Lets think about what goes through the mind of a human being who knows that he will have his life methodically extinguished at a precise date and time, by a force much greater than himself (society), and there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it. How does it feel to know you are completely helpless and can do nothing about preserving the only true thing of value to you - your life. How important does the Internet seem in that context?

I have little sympathy for McVeigh — he’s getting his. Dog eat dog, right pal? I’m not arguing one way or the other about the death penalty, I’m interested in the thoughts involved in being a death penalty recipient. You gotta wonder what is going through his mind. What’s it feel like? Would you be scared to be in that position or would psychosis mercifully set in to numb the reality? I suspect that may be the case because I don’t think the human mind could really deal with it.

What does it feel like to know that you will no longer exist? As humans all we know and cherish most is our existence. That’s it. When that’s gone, its all gone (Religious beliefs notwithstanding of course). But in T-Mc’s case, I doubt if any religion would help him after killing 168 innocent people.) Think about it. What does it mean to no longer exist?

What’s it like to imagine being strapped to the table, looking up at the lights and the solemn faces of the doctors, rigidly, clinically plugging you into a simple IV that will kill you. What does pure futility and hopelessness feel like? As humans we instinctively fight for and preserve our lives. But what if its purposeless to fight? How does it feel to sit in that cell and wait for the definite, inevitable end?

Well I’d continue, but I have to go and check the stock price of Yahoo on my cell phone and order a pizza on my Palm Pilot.