Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Chan, Sukumaran's impending executions a consequence of their actions

Really getting sick of all the sanctimonious hand-wringing in relation to the impending executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Some of the coverage is so one-sided it's just embarrassing. If you didn't already know that they were found guilty of smuggling heroin you would not be able to tell from some of the recent reporting. Would look like Indonesia had just decided to choose a coupla Aussies at random and decided to brutally murder them.

The selectivity of the outrage is also nauseating. If you're gonna arc up about how barbaric the punishment is, then why only do so when it's about to be meted out to your countrymen? Why not campaign against it every time Indonesia executes a drug smuggler (or other kind of criminal, for that matter)? They have done it numerous times, including to their own people.

And all this talk about how Sukumaran has redeemed himself through art is just rubbish. Neither the creation nor the appreciation of art ever made anyone a better person. History is littered with renowned artists who were also A-grade arseholes. In any case, Sukumaran seems pretty mediocre as a painter, although he certainly improved greatly (and good on him for that).

I mean, Hitler was a crap artist. Are we gonna give him cool points for that? (Not that Sukumaran's deeds were anywhere near as ghastly, of course. But the point still holds. It's a truly piss weak argument to say that someone's nascent "sensitivity" should be some sort of get out of jail free card.)

As to whether it's a fair punishment? Well, my own belief is that killing someone for smuggling drugs is certainly OTT. But I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it either.

These guys knew what they were getting into. They were fully aware they were committing a serious crime and that Indonesian law demanded that drug smugglers be executed.

There were historical precedents, too. Barlow and Chambers were executed in Malaysia back in the eighties. Another drug trafficker called Michael McCauliffe bought the farm there in 93. More recently Van Tuong Nguyen was offed in Singapore for the same crime.

Yes, none of these executions occurred in Indonesia. But the context is still relevant. If a nation says they'll top you for doing something they really don't like, best to take them at their word.

Which brings me to the "if only" argument beloved by child-brained pinkos:
Well, if you're gonna say "if only", why stop there? Why not say: If only Chan, Sukumaran and the other members of the Bali Nine had decided not to smuggle the bloody smack in the first place! None of this would have happened, and we'd never have even heard of them.

But of course lefties will never go that far. That would require a sense of responsibility and morality as well as some common sense. And you just have to give all of those things a wide berth if you wanna build a career out of wringing your hands and wagging your fingers, now don't you?

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