2:20 a.m. and it's already a sad day. They went ahead and did it. The first execution in Tennessee in 40 years.

This has been a powerful topic here with clear lines drawn in the sand. "Kill him!" "No!" "Kill him!" "How could we be doing this?" "Let me pull the switch!" It evidently continued after the deed was done ~ some despicable people had the unmitigated gall to cheer as if it were New Year's all over again.

I'm somewhat surprised by my own reaction to this whole thing. I can't help but wonder how anyone could even think of this as 'justice'. It strikes me as nothing more than a primitive form of retribution and it seems that the human race should be so far above this.

Tonight, the execution was the hot topic on the radio. I couldn't believe how many people actually said, "Let me pull that switch!" So many people willing to kill. So many people thinking in anger and out of balance. One wonders what would happen if they actually got the chance. How would they deal with the loss of their blood innocence? the guilt? Could they really pull that switch?

Yes, this man ~ Robert Glen Coe ~ committed some truly atrocious acts. I will not even try to justify that. I guess the one question that bothers me the most is this: why does the State bring itself down to his level by doing the same thing to him that he did to another human being?