Rita Cosby was a witness to the execution???!!!????

[VolcanoJen]

She's on CNN live, right now, describing the scene.

"Tookie died the way he lived... contentious. He didn't look at anyone in his final moments."

Just hearing her voice, GOD, that voice, that sanctimonious tone, takes any last shred of dignity any of this had left.

This woman is a pure ghoul.

There isn't a dead body she wouldn't globetrot for. Black, white, blonde cheerleader, black gangleader.

That's Rita's gig.

Chasing bodies.

[IcyPeas]

1. They were picked by a lottery.

She was just "lucky".

[Bluebear]

2. She mentioned it at LEAST10 times during her 'show' tonight.

"As you know, I was selcted to witness the execution...."

[bliss_eternal]

3. I've never understood how people can watch that--

it's not a fuckin' movie...

:shrug:

[FreedomAngel82]

16. Why can't they die in peace??

Why do they need to act like it's a fucking circus?

[bliss_eternal]

24. I know, I totally agree--

this is a very ugly side of the press, not they have many good sides. I would be offended as a reporter if I was told to 'cover an execution.'

A soul just left the earth--it should not be a circus.

[rawtribe]

4. And now she

has become Tookie. The cycle continues.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. She wasn't among the six media representatives

who had "front-row" seats. I just saw their press conference.

And even they said their vision of the process was obscured.

[tx_dem41]

It is very common for a few members of the media to witness...

executions. In fact, since it is state-sanctioned, I believe it is a necessity.

Its controversial, but I believe they should be televised. People need to see what a state does in their name.

[beam me up scottie]

7. Great.

Pay per view executions.

And I thought it would be a few years before we got to that point.

[tx_dem41]

10. It is a stance that many anti-DPers push for.

The thinking is that if people are forced to see it, they will reject it.

[beam me up scottie]

13. Only the civilized ones.

Trust me, I have been forced to listen to the freepers at work and on the local radio station that they play at work, gushing with joy at the thought of this man being executed for over two weeks.

Every. Fucking. Day.

They ALL had orgasms.

And they'd pay to have more.

[tx_dem41]

15. I guess I am lucky. I am surrounded by Republicans here in N. Texas...

yet, I don't really run across that many "freeper-types". It would probably surprise a lot of DUers up in the Northeast and West Coast.

I agree that the stance is a gamble, but it might provide the shock necessary.

[beam me up scottie]

25. You are very lucky.

I know there are decent folks in Texas, just like there are here.

But they are in the minority, unfortunately.

And I live in the bible belt, too.

Go figure.

I need to move, living here is extremely unhealthy.

If this keeps up, I'll need to be sedated by 9 am.

[tx_dem41]

26. I'm ordering you as your friend to sign off of DU and watch some..

stupid movie or TV show! (Hawaii Five-0 comes on here in 35 minutes...always fun to watch Jack Lord ham it up!)

Seriously, get away from here for a few hours and flush this from your mind at least temporarily. :hug:

[beam me up scottie]

29. Will do!

I've got some spreadsheets to finish before I go to work.

Sleep was not really an option tonight.

[Jax]

28. No 'freeper types' in Dallas?

bullshit.

n/t

[tx_dem41]

30. Well, aren't you the pleasant one!

Where did I say that there were "no freeper types" in Dallas?

[beam me up scottie]

31. He didn't say that.

Did he?

[Ex Lion Tamer]

45. I used to feel that way also,

but that was back when the death penalty was visibly barbaric because of the electric chair. Now it's so sanitized (but no less inherently barbaric) that I don't think there would be a shock affect. I'm afraid the response would be "well, that doesn't look bad."

Now, it's only when you stop to really think about the process--the countdown to death, the "last meal," the slow walk to the death chamber, the strapping down of the condemned, the insertion of the needle, the weeks, days, hours, and finaly minutes of terror--that the barbarity of the death penalty is apparent. This is state-sanctioned torture and murder. While it looks prettier than a murder scene, it isn't.

Period.

[lapfog_1]

37. I think that to have an orgasm, they would actually have to have

more than one neuron in their pea sized brains. Therefore, no orgasm (another reason they
hate anything related to sex).

[beam me up scottie]

42. 'tis true.

It's as close as they can get, though.

[Raine]

20. They won't reject it

they'll glory in it. People can really be ghoulish, majority of people gawk at accidents. Yeah I admit I look, but seeing an execution is something I don't want to see. :-(

[VolcanoJen]

9. Oh, c'mon

This is Rita Cosby we're talking about. She's no journalist. She's not sympathetic. She's tabloid all the way. She just doesn't have the, oh, I don't know, dignity to attend such a solemn and serious event.

I'm all for media attending the execution. I'm interested in the way they describe the horror of it all, and I think their accounts serve the people.

But, and this is just my opinion, Rita Cosby is not qualified to sit among them.

[tx_dem41]

11. Honestly, I don't watch Fox (or really CNN or MSNBC)....

so I don't really have any personal feelings (positive or negative) for the reporter in question.

I'm glad we agree on the beneficial role the media in general can play in this process.

[KansDem]

51. "but I believe they should be televised..."

I agree. But only if the execution was of the "old variety:” hanging, electrocution, or gas. Not that I'm a ghoul, but those scenes would repulse even the most "die-hard" DP proponents. The violence connected with those types of executions would turn anyone squeamish.

I remember a showing of "In Cold Blood" at my college dorm. The final scene made everyone in the room gasp and shudder. At that was Hollywood!

But now days we have ejection, by which the condemned is simply "put to sleep," like some unwanted stray dog. I don't think it would have near the effect of someone's neck breaking...

[beam me up scottie]

6. I bet she had an orgasm.

[angee_is_mad]

8. That BIT#H!

another faux reporter said that Tookie was trying to intimidate the reporters during the execution.
We all know how a intimidating big black man can be, irregardless of the fact that he is strapped to a table with a needle in his arm!

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Oh good grief!

Racism is a live and well in this country!

[angee_is_mad]

22. I agree

thank you for stating that fact.

[VolcanoJen]

12. Rita: As in his life, he was trying to control the room.

Other reporter: He was intimidating.

Rita: Yes, he tried to intimidate us. I think he was trying to be proud... he wants to keep some kind of reputation intact. He wanted to go down as a proud man.

End of press conference

See, this is what I could do without... Rita's interpretation of the actions of a man who is about to die.

[saracat]

17. So, he shouldn't die proud? What?

Should he have been a whimpering coward? What about facing death with dignity, or isn't that for people like Tookie? Did she not realize this guy was nominated for a Nobel Prize? How would she have had him face death?

[Dorian Gray]

47. Just because he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

does not mean that he is a stoic man with dignity and grace. Anybody can be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Having said that, I don't get why people are so upset about Rita. You know her reporting style. It's not a surprise. The only reason I would possibly watch her would be to feel a sense of righteous indignation, a feeling that I don't particularly want to feel right now.

[Guaranteed]

44. Yeah, he was always trying to be the center of attention. nt

[PA Democrat]

46. Sounds like Rita was hoping for a dramatic breakdown, crying, screaming,

kicking and dragging all the way. How dare Tookie disappoint her!

[bliss_eternal]

14. However she is there--she's fuckin' sick!!!

Only one guy on this panel was human enough to say that watching it made him feel ill--he thought he was going to be sick. That was the most human thing I've heard thus far.

I love how Rita Crosby thinks she can speak for a 50 year old,black, former gang member. Gawd I wish I had that smiley giving the finger right now...

[Webster Green]

19. Seems fitting!

A piece-of-shit pseudo-journalist bearing witness to a piece-of-shit act of barbarism by the state of California.

This fucking country is a shithole!

[Leilani]

21. Sad that no one here ever mentions the victims' families.

[VolcanoJen]

23. This is really more about Rita Cosby as a witness.

There's plenty of time to talk about the victims' families, and Tookie's family. There are plenty of threads about that, really.

But I intended this thread more as a commentary and discussion about media coverage of the execution, and Rita Cosby's role in all of that, in particular.

I certainly did not intend to diminish the feelings of the victims' families by starting this thread.

I think it's important in these times of heightened emotions to make intentions clear, clearer than ever, really.

[Leilani]

32. Thanks for your reply!

I have avoided most Tookie threads because people are so emotional & overwrought, & the few discussions I saw turned so ugly.

There are many opinions & voices on this subject, & I wish people could agree to disagree in a reasonable manner.

[sandnsea]

27. They did not support this

Why is it that those who claim to care about the families NEVER mention that. The only one I've heard who fully supported this was Owens' step-mother.

[VolcanoJen]

33. It's interesting, the way the warden smacked down Rita's account...

... as well as that of other journalist-witnesses, who claimed that Tookie was trying to "intimidate" them.

The warden didn't see that at all in Tookie's last moments, and instead told the media in his own press conference that the witnesses were more likely intimidated by their surroundings.

I found the warden to be gentle in all of this.

[Leilani]

34. I stopped watching the coverage

The media is like sharks at a feeding frenzy, & it sickens me.

[tiredofthisstuff]

48. WTF... Even if he was trying to intimidate them....

...the man was about to die. If I were him I probably would have had an intimidating look on my face.

On a side note, Rita's clam that she was intimidated by Tookie further highlights what weak pussy's the right really are. Even a man shackled and tied down scares her and these other journalists. Or did they mistaken a slight feeling of remorse for intimidation. Easier to embrace fear then to accept emotion.

[JetCityLiberal]

35. All I saw were white people watching the black man be executed

sick.

[malaise]

36. I guess they miss

lynchings.

[xchrom]

38. there's a little somethin to that, isn't there?

[bliss_eternal]

39. more than a little...

sadly.

:(

[Chipper Chat]

41. Can you imagine the fundie clamor and mirror reaction

if there had been a room full of black men watching Timothy McVey die?

[Hubert Flottz]

40. Let's strap Rita down and see if she shits her pants!

What a crock of shit that her even being on TV with that horrid voice is. * MSNBC is TIRED!

[Punkingal]

43. I agree with everything you said...

Unfortunately the first thing I saw when I got up this morning was her talking about it, and like an idiot I sat and watched it. And I am so pissed at myself for doing so. I feel like I am no better than she is.

[Loonman]

49. Raspy-voiced twat

I despise Rita.

[Zomby Woof]

50. Hurricane Rita

Vile sore-throated-sounding horse-faced scumbag. No, that isn't harsh enough. I can't post what I really think and stay inside DU's rules.