One of these things is not like the other one

[Robin Landseadel]

 From "Outside the Beltway"

A Comparative Fact Regarding the Death Penalty that Gives One Pause
STEVEN L. TAYLOR

	Gallup released a new poll on US attitudes towards the
	death penalty and unsurprisingly finds that support has
	remained relatively steady since 2002:  In U.S., 64%
	Support Death Penalty in Cases of Murder.

	What struck me was the following observation:
	The use of the death penalty has been declining worldwide,
	with most of the known executions now carried out in five
	countries — China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United
	States.

	When dealing with issues of justice and human rights, that
	isn’t exactly the company I would think that the US would
	aspire to keep.  We are talking about three authoritarian
	regimes with questionable human rights records (China,
	Iran and Saudi Arabia), a pseudodemocracy in the context
	of an ongoing conflict (Iraq), and the country that sees itself
	as a beacon of liberty and democracy (the US).  One of
	these things is, theoretically, not like the others.  At a
	minimum this comparison ought to give us all pause for
	thought.

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