Letter to the editor: Aileen Wuornos and the death penalty

Last words can give hope to many.

I feel better about everything reading what sage murderer Aileen Wuornos said before lethal injection: “Yes, I would just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back, like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I’ll be back, I’ll be back.”

Things being what they are now, she deserves a medal for leadership in badly needed coping skills. To this day, I have only warm feelings toward the late blithe spirit.

Wuornos has been a posthumous bright, bright shining star on true crime shows since Oct. 9, 2002. A firebrand among fringe role models, she was one of those few convicts who insisted that she get the capital punishment she felt she should receive. That’s another reason Aileen is aces in my book. Capital punishment is interesting.

Whether mass murderers plan on returning here or heading to other glories, wouldn’t it be swell if they were all so amenable to the death penalty? To gentle civilian ponderers, it is good sense to eliminate from society the most dangerous individuals. Current trends in terminal jurisprudence are a mite timid in the area of deterrence to heinous crime. After the execution takes place, recidivism is impossible. No exorbitant housing cost. More resources for people who can be successfully rehabilitated. I think Wuornos would like that.

Bruce Reisner

Perry South