"I'll be back."
No, not this time you won't.

Dear Friend,

Last weekend I was up in Universal with Anne and the kids on Saturday.  The weather was perfect, and I wasn't thinking about about work for a change, so I really had a relaxing time and we all got to kick back for a bit.

I was wondering, as we walked by the Terminator movie exhibit, whether or not many of the kids walking through the park were even born when this movie first came out, back in 1984.  That's a long time already, for an exhibit to still be around.

Arnold's famous trademark signature line from the movie, however, "I'll be back," is still VERY well-known, and often comes up in movies and on television skits, and from time-to-time, even as a part of your daily contemporary conversation.

Well, one man who probably isn't ever coming back, is a man named Stanley "Tookie" Williams.  And here's why:

Just a few hours ago, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denied Tookie Williams request for mercy, in his efforts to avoid being put to death by lethal injection.  In fact, if the newspapers are right, Tookie Williams may be saying his last words right now as you're reading this message.

You see, in 1981, Mr. Williams was covicted of murdering 4 people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he has been on death row ever since.  Although some people say the things Tookie Williams did to help people (while he was in jail, ironically) more than made up for these murders, Arnold didn't agree.

Here's some more background information.  Tookie was also the co-founder of the Crips, one of Los Angeles two most violent gangs (the Bloods being the other one) who spread fear violence and terror throughout California, during the 1980's and 1990's.

While he was in jail, Williams wrote children's books... became notably outspoken against gangs and violence ... and he has fiercly maintained his innocence during his entire time in jail.

And o ver the last 24 years, Williams case has been the subject of no less than 8 judicial opinions -- on the propriety of his orignal sentence, on how evidence was originally collected, and on the fact that his initial trial was biased.

Each of these opinions went against Tookie Williams.

I can see both sides of the argument here:

On the one hand, you can spin it so that you can see Mr. Williams has rehabilitated himself and how he's tried making up for the wrong things he did -- he does admit to founding the Crips and living a despicable life of violence and drugs.

On the other hand, I had a friend I used to work out with who was a cop, and he said damn near every single person who spends a long time in jail becomes "re-born" or transformed in some way, and even if that's true, why should their re-birth, come at the price of someone else's life, or someone else's son's or daughter's life?

My take on this is, as the governor, it'd be tought to endorse and believe in a legal system that costs the public millions of dollars -- give that system the power to make decisions -- and then yank that power away AFTER the issue has woked its way through the system..

Plus, if you read the actual statement issued by the Governor's office, here:  http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/Williams_Clemency_Decision.pdf , you'll see there are a number of other factors against Tookie Williams, that I haven't seen mentioned in this recent public discussion.

Believe me, the last place I want to be is inside of the legal system, because I know it doesn't always operate efficiently, or even fairly or effectively sometimes -- but I'm not so sure it didn't in this case.

Just some food for thought.  And if you have an opinion you'd like to share about this issue, by all means let me know.

And if you want to transform your life without spending time behind bars, then there's a much easier way you can do this right here:  http://www.informationmarketingexpo.com.

P.S. Want to transform your marketing without going to prison?  Easy, just check out "22 Ways", right here:  http://www.kingofcopy.com/22ways

Any comments?

Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!

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