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Melvin's blog
Nshima & Curry
Melvin's Blog
Nshima & Curry
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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE D.C. SNIPER
Dear Mr. Sniper:
You thought you were so smart, didn't you? You thought you
could keep terrorizing us, keep shooting innocent people
through the trunk of your blue Chevy Caprice, while the
police searched for a white van with a ladder rack and
picked up unlucky illegal aliens whose only crime was
entering the country without first enrolling in flight
school.
You thought you could outwit the police, the FBI, and all
the people whose lives you were threatening, as though you
were invisible. You thought you could evade justice forever,
as though your last name were Simpson.
You learned to be a marksman in the Army, but
instead of fighting the enemy, you decided to become the
enemy. You bought a powerful rifle and began to hunt your
fellow humans, because deer hunting was too much of a
challenge for you. Far easier to stalk your prey at a gas
station than to wait futilely in the woods, while all the
animals, even the skunks, quickly disperse, wishing you had
taken a bath.
You "adopted" a 17-year-old and deputized him as Sniper
Junior. You were supposed to be a father figure, but the
only figure you could think of was $10 million. Enough cash
to acquire houses, cars and boats -- even an arsenal of
guns -- but no amount of money could buy what you needed the
most: honor, virtue and a whole lot of character.
You were so heartless, you made David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz
feel darn good about himself. He and other inmates exchanged
hugs, saying, "Oh heavens. How can anyone be so bad?
Thank goodness he's on the outside!"
You didn't care if your victims were young or old, black or
white, rich or poor. Who did you think you were working for,
the equal opportunity division of the mob?
The gun gave you a feeling of power, didn't it? So much
power that you called yourself "God," as though God would be
driving around in an old Chevy. Tell me something: If you
were God, how come you couldn't give yourself a good
haircut?
You must have enjoyed all the media attention, your 15
minutes of shame. You and Saddam Hussein dominated the
coverage, making some viewers think CNN stood for Crazy Nut
News.
It must have thrilled you that none of the so-called
experts -- psychiatrists, profilers, detectives, lawyers --
could sketch an accurate picture of you. You were so
confident, you taunted police about a shooting in Alabama,
not realizing they'd find enough evidence to nail you. You
thought you were so smart, but apparently not as smart as a
moose. Particularly Police Chief Moose.
In the coming months, some people will argue that you
shouldn't get the death penalty, that you'd suffer more in
prison, especially if they let you watch the Anna Nicole
Smith Show.
I've wavered on capital punishment myself. Is it a
deterrent? Is it cruel? Is it barbaric?
But every now and then, a killer like you comes along, a
cold-blooded, ruthless murderer who shows me what the debate
should really be about: electric chair, lethal injection or
special gas from Russia.
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