The following letters were sent in response to our June 13 article “Execution Day in America” [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jun2001/exec-j13.shtml]
My Dear Friends,
With the dehumanizing murder Monday of Timothy McVeigh, the first step toward full-blown Fascism has taken place in the United States! To no one's surprise, this execution was carried out in a timely fashion and without a glitch. The populace for the most part seemed to be in total agreement with what was happening, and therein lies the gear put in motion for total acceptance of the government carrying out its first killing since 1963. It gets very scary when the masses start condoning state sponsored killing, as the Jews from the WWII era can surely tell you! Had the evidence withheld from defense attorneys been allowed to be inspected, I have an awful funny feeling some well-kept secrets may have been brought to light, but I now feel we will hear no more about these documents!
While I agree McVeigh should have been punished for his part in the bombing, what sinister force is being allowed to walk among us, waiting for another opportunity to do it again? The attorney general, Mr. Ashcroft, a phony who lost his Senate seat to a dead man in the last election, then was given a political reprieve by an even bigger phony, could have conducted an investigation into the FBI's handling of the documents. Certainly he poured over the documents possibly discovering government involvement in this ordeal. Judge Matsch made the comment that he “wasn't putting the FBI on trial.” I think that lets it out that there was more to this than meets the eye! He could well have had reason to put the FBI on trial had the law been followed!
If it should ever come to light (and I honestly don't think this will happen) that there was government participation in this crime, then the entire fraudulent Republican administration should be tried for treason and punished accordingly!
RL
13 June 2001
The gross banality and denials of the mainstream media coverage surrounding the McVeigh execution remind me of something that Hannah Arendt said of Adolf Eichman of “Master Plan” notoriety: “Eichman did not hate Jews, and that made it worse, to have no feelings. To make Eichman appear a monster renders him less dangerous than he was. If you kill a monster you can go to bed and sleep, for there aren't many of them. But if Eichman was normality, then this is a far more dangerous situation.”
What will finally make everyone realize how deadly the social situation in the US has gotten? Civil war? It seems a real possibility now.
AX
13 June 2001
I wanted to commend WSWS analysis of the McVeigh execution and how it relates to the right-wing elements of government. I am a staunch anti-death penalty supporter; I wish I could say the same for most of the rest of the US. I spend every morning reading the updates I receive from the site. I was also most impressed by the coverage of the 2000 election debacle. Yours is the only news source that covered the issue with even remotely an ounce of truth (outside of Greg Palast). Thanks again for your honest and forthright discussion. I will be a reader for years to come!
JC
New York, NY
13 June 2001
Dear Editor:
When the Oklahoma City bombing occurred, I was a stay-at-home mom to a beautiful toddler who is now a beautiful eight-year-old boy. I wept and wept and wept for those children and their parents. I was glued to the TV and totally devastated by the images and what had happened.
I did not watch TV yesterday or today. I've felt so sad that yet another horrible thing has come to pass with the United States' killing of Timothy McVeigh. I applaud the World Socialist Web Site for their excellent coverage and analysis of what's really going on.
PG
Paso Robles, California
13 June 2001