Governor?

For two days running the Governator has scheduled a statement on the clemency appeal by Stanley Tookie Williams, and for two days running the statement has been canceled. Since Tookie's last act is scheduled at 12:01 tomorrow morning, the Gov has got to make an announcement pretty soon.

There was other news this weekend in the case:

The California Supreme Court late Sunday refused to grant a stay of execution for convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, meaning the former gang leader who became an outspoken critic of gang violence will be executed early Tuesday unless the governor grants clemency or a last-ditch federal appeal succeeds.

Williams' supporters also made another pitch directly to the governor Sunday to spare his life, telling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a letter that they had a new witness who could help prove Williams' innocence.

"All we need now is time to investigate to make sure this story is real," said NAACP California President Alice Huffman. "We're hoping and praying for clemency, but we're not going to leave any stone unturned."

[...]

The state Supreme Court ruled 6-0 against staying his execution, saying Williams' last-minute appeal lacked merit and was untimely. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Brault had implored the justices early Sunday to dismiss the petition, writing that it "is without merit and is manifestly designed for delay."

Imagine that, after 26 years a new witness shows up. I'm sure that was legit.

The film of the day was a group of retards standing in front of the governor's Catholic church in Santa Monica singing "All we are asking, is let Tookie live...." - in harmony, no less. The spokesidiot told us that we should have the "courage to doubt", and if we only had that courage, we would have to let Tookie live. Morons.

Did you realize that despite having hundreds of people on death row, California has had only 11 executions since 1977? Do you think maybe something's broken in our justice system? Capital punishment is supposed to be a deterrent, but if it takes 26 years to carry out the sentence, I'm guessing the deterrent value is pretty much diminished.

And that may be the best argument for denying clemency to Tookie. As a high profile case who was unable to get off due to celebrity (or celebrity endorsements), it might cause some gangbangers to think twice about what they're doing. In other words, if Tookie couldn't get away with it, what makes them think they will?

Stay tuned - the governor can't delay his decision much longer.