Every time a drive-by shooting takes place, it should be seen as a public execution. Each instance in which a child raises a gun in a schoolyard or library is a public execution. Not to see this truth is nearly to promise that another such event will occur. Sadly, McVeigh is a bit player in the panorama of violence and executions in America. Nor will his example be our last.
Truth is, almost nobody knows what to do about such behavior.
I am unalterably opposed to the death penalty. But if ever I were to waver, I'd put Timothy McVeigh first in line. His uniquely stolid defiance makes him one of the most pathetic people ever to walk the earth. His very existence has caused some of us to regret being a part of the human family. Our government has committed some heinous acts, but few ever equaled the deliberateness of McVeigh's.