Death, demagoguery

Death as punishment, relief; demagogues past, present | Doug Bandow

It is said Bill Clinton's final political quest is his place in history. Certainly Mount Rushmore is safe, but to whom does Mr. Clinton compare? It's hard to name anyone who comes close. Historians may mention him in the same breath as Warren Harding and Ulysses S. Grant, whose administrations were noted for their corruption.

Another possibility is Louisiana's Huey P. Long. Although Mr. Clinton is not a crass demagogue like Mr. Long, the latter had nine political lives and seemed to overcome every political adversity. Historian William Hair captures Mr. Long's simultaneously fascinating and frightening political career in The Kingfish and His Realm.

Death comes in many ways--assassination in the case of Huey Long. The state also bears the sword, and the death penalty is one of the more contentious issues that we face. Should we give today's corrupted government the power to kill? Philosophy professor Hugo Adam Bedau has collected a score of essays and court opinions in The Death Penalty in America. Mr. Bedau weights the volume against the death penalty (he personally accounts for several of the critical pieces), but he includes Ernest van den Haag, one of the most vocal proponents of capital punishment, as well as a chapter by H. Wayne House on the New Testament and moral arguments for the death penalty.