Live By the Sword, Die By My Light Saber

Well they're building a gallows outside my cell - I've got 25 minutes to go

And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell - I've got 24 minutes to go

Well they gave me some beans for my last meal - I've got 23 minutes to go

But nobody asked me how I feel - I've got 22 minutes to go

Hi, I killed 4 people, played baseball with baby heads and shit on your dog. Afterwards, I decided to sodomize your cat, then cut your sister’s head off and skull fuck it. But that’s OK. You see, I am writing a book for children. It is about how bad prison is, and in it I urge kids to find Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I found Him here on death row. He said I don’t deserve to die. I have to agree.

Well I sent for the governor and the whole dern bunch  - With 21 minutes to go

And I sent for the mayor but he's out to lunch - I've got 20 more minutes to go

Then the sheriff said “Boy, I gonna watch you die” - Got 19 minutes to go

So I laughed in his face and I spit in his eye - Got 18 minutes to go

It is strange, but people always seem to reform when they are on death row. I don’t know why...

Of course I am talking about that nigger, Tookie Williams... See, he was an O.G. for the Crips, and he killed some gooks and a white dude back in the 70's. They just executed him on December 13th, this year. A few years to late if you ask me. As you can see, I am for the death penalty. To not have control over when your life ends has got to be the ultimate insult in my opinion. To have your life taken away by somebody else's hand... The ultimate punishment. But, of course, I am also a hypocrite, because I think that old people should perish in a natural disaster. But that’s just me. I guess acts of God are different.

Now hear comes the preacher for to save my soul with 13 minutes to go

And he's talking bout' burnin' but I'm so cold I've 12 more minutes to go

Now they're testin' the trap and it chills my spine 11 more minutes to go

And the trap and the rope aw they work just fine got 10 more minutes to go

It baffles my mind how some people will rally behind a son of a bitch like this guy, Tookie, or that coon, Mumia Jamal, and say that they are “innocent” because they have repented. Where were these forgiving people when the killer in question acted like an animal at the trial, and showed no respect for the court of law, or for the system we live in? Never mind the hideous crimes he committed. What about his obvious lack of respect for human lives? So, you repent, do you? Well, that’s between you and God. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still going to die for what you did.

I heard that in Norway, a life sentence is 12 years. Here, it is fucking LIFE... A life of an all expenses paid new shot at existence behind prison walls, where a new world quickly replaces the old one, often with the same players and characters, and they get to carry on with their shit as if nothing happened. But knowing the time and place of their death gives them a case of "OH SHIT", and so they claim to become better people overnight. The only one I can think of, who did not conveniently “convert” to better thoughts like that, was Tim McVeigh. Fuck that. There are no atheists on a plane about to crash either. I say, save the tax payer a bundle and just use a 36 cent piece of lead. Fuck free room and board! I am a believer of rehabilitation, and I know that people fuck up when they are young, but there are some people out there that are just plain fucking nuts.

Well I'm waitin' on the pardon that'll set me free with 9 more minutes to go

But this is for real so forget about me got 8 more minutes to go

With my feet on the trap and my head on the noose got 5 more minutes to go

Won't somebody come and cut me loose with 4 more minutes to go

Here are some excerpts from a conversation I had with my cousin on IM, while talking about the death penalty. This is the last half, but I gave Jeffery Dahmer as an example of Carman’s 36 cent solution to crime:

Carman says:

I belive in rehabilitation and second chances. People fuck up when they are young and I think that death should be used to punish the REAL Fuckheads, like the serial killers, the serial rapists, and the animal abusers. Yes, people who abuse animals deserve to die too.

Howard says:

And no, he couldn’t have been. And because he was a danger to society, he certainly should have been removed/restrained from it, but to take his life... that’s just hypocritical, wouldn’t you say?

To say, 'because you are a threat you should be terminated', then cars, planes, cigarettes, motorcycles etc... all should be removed.

Cigarettes have killed more people than Jeffrey Dahmer, but we don't terminate them, we restrict them.

Carman says:

But people CHOOSE to smoke, they DO NOT choose to be murdered in cold blood. People CHOOSE to drive, fly etc etc… They do not choose to be eaten by a homosexual cannibal.

Howard says:

So if people were to electively be eaten by Dahmer, should we have let him live?

Carman says:

Yes

Howard says:

Well maybe if Dahmer had a forum on the internet, he could have facilitated that idea.

Carman says:

He should still be punished, though. If they said to him: “Kill me, fuck me, drink my blood”, and he did, because the person WANTED him to, then it is still wrong, in my eyes. The fact of the matter is THIS: The human soul knows the difference between right and wrong, no matter what anybody SAYS. So, even if that person wanted it, the killer should still be held accountable for his wrong actions.

And besides, last time I checked, murder and smoking were two VERY different things anyway.

Howard says:

But if we are talking about threats to society, and their termination because of the risk they pose, well...

Carman says:

It does not matter what creed you are, or where you are from.

Howard says:

Well, more people die by cigarettes than by murder.

Carman says:

Murder is murder.

Theft is theft.

A lie is a lie.

PEOPLE CHOOSE TO SMOKE, THEY DO NOT CHOOSE TO BE MURDERED! People don’t have a choice if someone kills them and dines on their flesh.

And it's to dern pretty for a man that don't wanna die 2 more minutes to go

I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows 1 more minute to go

I just don’t know what to say... Except that I wish I had a light saber, but that has nothing to do with anything really... Or everything. In the end, I can change no one’s mind, and I am not out to do so. Grace & Co gave me a corner of the internet to talk about whatever was on my mind, and however scatterbrained it may seem, you, dear readers, know in your heart that I am absolutely right.

And now I'm swingin' and here I go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!

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(Excerpts from "25 Minutes To Go" by Johnny Cash)