Toasted Tookie

Yes, I know the headline is in bad taste, but how much taste does the soon to be executed Crips founder deserve?

Gov. Schwarzenegger did the right thing today and denied Williams' clemency petition:

"Clemency cases are always difficult and this one is no exception," Schwarzenegger said in a statement released at 12:31 p.m. today. "After studying the evidence, searching the history, listening to the arguments and wrestling with the profound consequences, I could find no justification for granting clemency. The facts do not justify overturning the jury's verdicts or the decisions of the courts in this case."

The AP account goes on to say:

In his five-page statement of decision, Schwarzenegger recounted the grisly details of the slayings and testimony that Williams, after the Feb. 28 1979 shooting of Albert Lewis Owens, told a witness, "You should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him" and that he then laughed about it.

The governor also mentions in his decision that Williams referred to the Asian victims of the March 11, 1979, motel robbery-murders -- Tsai-Shai Yang, 63, her husband, Yen-I Yang, 76, and their daughter, Yee-Chin Lin, 43 -- by the racially-derogatory term of "Buddhaheads."

Schwarzenegger said Williams' conviction has been upheld through both state and federal courts, and the governor raised questions about Williams' purported in-prison "redemption" as a transformation that is belied by the condemned killer's refusal to apologize or admit to the slayings.

"Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption," Schwarzenegger said. "In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do."

Schwarzenegger also said that the dedication of a Williams book entitled "Life in Prison" mentions convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and the one-time "Soledad Brother" prison activist George Jackson, the accused killer of a San Quentin correctional officer who was killed trying during an escape attempt from the prison in which three officers and three other inmates also died.

"(T)he inclusion of George Jackson on this list defies reason and is a significant indicator that Williams is not reformed and that he still sees violence and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems," Schwarzenegger said.

It is good that Hollyweird rallied around Tookie. Let them go on the air defending this piece of garbage, then use the same airways to knock down our president, our servicemen and women, and our efforts to spread freedom.

People will see them for what they are, just as Schwarzenegger saw Williams for what he is.