I may never have the opportunity to say this again, so listen up: I agree with Pete Hegseth.

The Secretary of Defense has announced that the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Hasan, will not only be executed, but that Hegseth intends for the event to be available for public viewing.

It almost goes without saying that Hegseth is remarkably unqualified, a dangerous Christian Nationalist, an embarrassment to his country, a louse, and a lout. For reasons far beyond the topic of this post, he should be dismissed (and preferably indicted) asap. But let’s set that aside for a minute.

Here’s My Offer
Capital punishment is wrong, and if we are to have it, it should be carried out in the public eye. Hegseth’s pronouncement reminded me that I’ve felt this way since I was a teenager. What I suggest is a grand bargain to settle the matter:

— All state, federal, and military executions are available for public viewing — let’s say for five years.

— If the homicide rate does not go down by at least 15% over that period, then all of the above parties eliminate the death penalty. Permanently.

Time for a capital punishment rock-and-roll break, full-band Electric Nebraska style.

After all, proponents like to say that the death penalty is a deterrent. (Guess what? It’s not.)

“Death Penalty Information Center and FBI Uniform Crime Reports show that U.S. states with capital punishment consistently have higher average murder rates than states without the death penalty.”

But hey, maybe we just haven’t livestreamed them yet, you know? So let’s get to the put-up-or-shut-up part and put this policy debate to bed once and for all.

That’s not even considering that killing someone should be the most obvious example of cruel and unusual punishment ever.

Nor is it considering the reality of every once in a while killing an innocent person. The hard stats on executions and exonerations indicate that for every 8.2 people executed in the U.S., one person on death row is exonerated. That’s not a great ratio. In fact, it’s deplorable. And it doesn’t even factor in the already-executed people who were innocent.

(If you know someone who supports vote suppression with a “not a single ineligible vote!” attitude but support the death penalty, feel free to ask them to reconcile those positions.)

If the death penalty is a deterrent, then we need to get it out from behind the curtain to give it a fair shake. The occasional Christina Pike-style change of pace will only boost viewership and clarify the reality of the issue for the audience. In the end, we learn if executions are really a deterrent or not, and we make policy accordingly. Yay, America!

Unless, of course, the whole deterrent thing is just a fig leaf, and a whole bunch of Americans harbor a basic bloodlust they can’t (or won’t) rise above, while in many cases claiming to be more moral than their neighbors.

Nah … surely not.

Way back on the Dead Man Walking soundtrack, Lyle Lovett contributed a song called “Promises”. It can easily be heard as a song from the perspective of the criminal. It could also be heard as a belated reflection by, say, a hangman. Or a nation.