There were things both men said that I didn't necessarily agree with, and there were some things said that I outright thought that the person speaking was completely off his rocker. I don't want to go into which one it was, or what he said as I need to spend my time focusing on my calculus and not a heated debate or flame war brought on here in DD by my opinion. Those of you who know me well will know who I'm referring to, and possibly which statement that ignited my response.
The one thing that stands out more than any other, that I'm somewhat disturbed by was the statements regarding finding terrorists.
The Bush administration has consistently stated that "terrorists must be brought to justice". Twice that I caught last night in listening to the debate (there may have been more than twice but my attention was divided between keeping the peace between the kids and listening to the debate) Kerry stated that terrorists must be found and killed.
Not brought to justice, killed.
The way he stated it sounded like he intended to find these people and have them shot without going through any type of trial.
This bothers me a bit. It's not that I don't think the death penalty is not an option, but the American in me has had it's feathers ruffled at the thought of not allowing someone a fair trial.
If a suspected terrorist is found guilty during a trial, I have no problem whatsoever with the death penalty, but don't you think we should be sure we have the right person before we execute him or her?
I will admit that it is possible that Kerry misspoke, and his intended message was that the terrorists should be brought to justice, and receive the death penalty after a trial. But if that is the message he intended to send, shouldn't he have said just that? I can't help but have a problem with someone who states outright that he wants to find and kill anyone.