Gravely Wicked (Robert George on the Murder of George Tiller)

National Review ^ | 5/31/09 | Robert P. George

[nickcarraway]

Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished. By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller's life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our "weapons" in the fight to defend the lives of abortion's tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the spirit.

— Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Hear, hear!

[Crim]

Bah...I dont play political correctness...i would no sooner cry for tillman than I would for the jeffery Dalmer...

Good riddence.

Hope he burns in hell....

[rvoitier]

Agree 99.9%

"We are a nation of laws."
...for the serfs.

[nickcarraway]

Did you read the article? It didn’t have anything to do with that.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Correcting the link:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDM5NGYyYWMxZDY3NWFmYjhjZmJiNTI2YmRjZmRlYWE=

[farmer18th]

A nation of laws? Ted Kennedy sits in the United States Senate after dumping a girl in a river and leaving her to die. Bill Clinton perjured himself, and our senate--full of lawyers--couldn't remove him from office. The bill of rights declares that no person shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," and yet what crime did 4,000 babies a day commit? Where was their due process?

A nation of laws. What a crock.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

What about von Stauffenberg?

[Crim]

“Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing.”

That’s all I had to read.

and it’s pure BS....

I would contribute to his legal defense fund and suggest he plead tempory insanity driven by the slaughter of the innocent....

as my gandfather used to say...tillamn shot dead?....sucks like dead japs...

[2ndDivisionVet]

I didn’t say to cry for him, but we shouldn’t encourage extra-legal execution without a judge and jury. Do you want someone gunning you down in church or your home because they felt you were a criminal of some kind? Many on the left feel that conservatives/republicans are complicit in “war crimes” because we voted for Presidents Bush, Reagan or Nixon. Do you feel that they should be allowed to shoot you or me out of hand?

[csense]

It’s very interesting that he attaches the terms “wicked” and “evil” to the acts of only one of the murderers.

[farmer18th]

A nation of laws? Our highest executive officer and commander in chief won't even produce his birth certificate. Our congress gives billions of dollars away without even reading the laws they draft to expedite the thievery. Our congress passes a law against late term abortion and our Supreme Court manufactures out of thin air a pretext (Roe v Wade) for disallowing it.

A nation of laws? What utter nonsense.

[nickcarraway]

St. Thomas More was a lawyer. His son-in-law, Roper, wanted him to break the civil law to stop the traitor Richard Rich from harming him. More says, “Would you cut a road through the law to get at the devil?” Roper replied, “I’d cut down every law in England to do that.” A roused and excited More declared, “When the last law was leveled and the devil turned round on you, where would you hide? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast - man’s laws, not God’s. If you cut them down—and you’re just the man to do it—d’ya think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?”

[bethybabes69]

"We are a nation of laws."
...for the serfs.

EXACTLY!
Now, get back to work and keep this Democratic façade in motion!

[bethybabes69]

A nation of laws?

Magna Carta 1215 and Global derivative statutes since weren't invented to protect you, rather to protect 'someone' from you.

what crime did 4,000 babies a day commit? Where was their due process?

The would have had hindered the efficiency of a committed, modern Serf.

"Between you, and whatever you call God, there is no authority, just an illusion of one"

[farmer18th]

There’s a cosmic struggle between God’s law, and man’s. The Hebrew midwives were commanded to kill children. They broke the law. I think Sir Thomas would have broken that law as well.

[The Duke]

I agree totally. I could not care less about the fate of Tiller. In fact, shouldn’t the resources spent going after his killer be better spent seeking many other murderers that I’m sure are on the loose?

[Crim]

I dont make my living killing babies...and I can defend myself quite well thank you.

A man can be judged my his enemies....my only enemies are jihadists,gangbangers and leftists...

Anyone else wants to pony up...have at it...

I wouldnt have done it myself.....but I could care less otherwise....

I dont condone murder....but in this case I condone the choice of victim...

I hope the guy gets off on an insanity defense....

[bethybabes69]

It’s very interesting that he attaches the terms “wicked” and “evil” to the acts of only one of the murderers.

Linguistic programming, it's everywhere, and after decades of it, younger people are brainwashed.
This is how they're winning the fight, people absorbing this programming.

[Crim]

I see little differnce between killing a baby outside the womb...and killing a baby inside a womb...

And I dont morn baby killers...

[Crim]

BTW....for me to say otherwise would be to lie to you...

I may be many things... a liar is not one of them...

[bethybabes69]

Couldn't agree more, I would never make that judgement myself, and take someone else's life without me or mine being in imminent danger, but I don't object to what tillers assassin did. Serf Law would have only protected tiller further, and let him carry on with his murderous crusade.

Karma is an unstoppable entity, that seems to hold a perfect balance sometime, and Mr tiller got his.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Two wrongs make a right?

[HiTech RedNeck]

cat fight! cat fight!

[csense]

Linguistic programming, it's everywhere, and after decades of it, younger people are brainwashed. This is how they're winning the fight, people absorbing this programming.

Ain't that the truth. When I stop noticing distinctions like that, is the day I'll start worrying about my own mental health:)

But seriously, I'm surprised that National Review chose to frame the argument like that.

[farmer18th]

Two wrongs make a right?

It's more like "with a million wrongs a year, another wrong just doesn't seem that wrong anymore."

When the law is selectively enforced it simply becomes impossible to use as a defense in the way the good professor would hope. You can't kill 50 million peasants and then scold Stalin's rat-poisoning assassin with the sanctimonious admonition: "heah, buddy, we're a nation of laws."

The thinking person would respond. "Laws? What laws?"

[HiTech RedNeck]

meow!

[behzinlea]

In the wake of this murder, commentators are invoking a variation of Stalin’s infamous statement: one death (Tiller’s) is a tragedy—60,000 abortions (by Tiller) is a statistic.

[bethybabes69]

I can't speak for the US media Csense, but here in Britain, I absolutely do not accept anything I read in the media, and I decipher the wording of any articles I read.

Here, all media entities have an agenda, it's way deeper and more sinister than Political persuasion too, I don't absorb any of it!

[Crim]

“Two wrongs make a right?”

Two rights make a U-Turn...And three rights make a left...

The point I’m making is that for me to say otherwise,would be to make a bold faced lie...

I’m not running in a popularity contest....I’m the captain of my own ship...it sails where I decide...and no other place...

I hope he burns in hell.

Straight up.

[OldCorps]

Spare me the phony sanctimony. What goes around comes around.

[farmer18th]

Of course he’s burning in hell. The most compassionate thing we could do for believers is to remind them that’s exactly where people like Tiller go.

[pillut48]

What Mr. George said!

[farmer18th]

Amen. Nation of laws. What utter crap. We’re a nation of procedures.

[csense]

Pretty much the same thing here. The biggest problem is their control of Elections. Most people get their info from the mainstream, and the media manipulates information like you wouldn’t believe. It’s absolutely disgraceful.

[farmer18th]

Our national hypocrisy is almost suffocating. On a completely unrelated note — Gold is up to $988. Silver is shooting through the roof.

[farmer18th]

..or maybe that WAS a related note.

[mvpel]

No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence.

Lawful violence, such as the slaughter of over 60,000 unborn babies that Tiller committed, also breeds lawless violence.

[timetostand]

The culture of death makes one thing very clear - no life is precious. If we continue down this lawless road things will get bloody indeed! God save us all!

[OldCorps]

...has done a gravely wicked thing...

Is it just me or does this guy sound gay on top of the sanctimony?

[nathanbedford]

Was von Stauffenberg justified in his attempt to murder Hitler?

If you are inclined to say he was and you anticipate the next question which is, why then is not the murder of Tiller equally justified, you will have already prepared your response. You will say that Nazi Germany was a rogue nation without the rule of law and therefore there was no regular way to stop Hitler from murdering except to murder him. The United States, you would say, operates under the rule of law and therefore the two circumstances cannot be equated even if the iniquity of the men might be.

Indeed, you might say that Tiller was brought to justice and acquitted.

There are, however, some factors to be considered in the American situation which move it away from our ideal and closer to von Stauffenberg's moral dilemma. These are matters of degree.

The first is the legitimacy of the opinion in Roe vs. Wade. If Hitler found a court to ratify every one of his crimes, did that make von Stauffenberg's attempt unjust? These courts tried and convicted von Stauffenberg's conspirators, are we to look behind the legitimacy of these courts to examine whether we will give the German court system deference? If so, may we look behind the court's decision in Roe vs. Wade for the same reason? If we do not give the constitutionally ordered court of Nazi Germany due deference is it because 7 million people were put into ovens? If 30 or 40 million American babies are put into dumpsters, does that give us warrants to repudiate our courts?

Does the court decision in Roe vs. Wade stand inviolate merely because it comes in the regular order of business from our constitutionally ordained court? Do we apply the same standard to Dred Scott? In fact, was not the holding of Dred Scott simply set aside by the national executive and even before that by Yankee generals in the field without due process of law? If Dred Scott can be put aside by unelected generals, what can a citizen do about Roe vs. Wade?

When John Brown was apprehended, tried, and convicted for instruction because of his opposition to slavery and Dred Scott, did the nation not thereafter turn them into a martyr? What effect did the calculated transformation Ossawatamie John Brown from a murderer to a martyr have on the rule of law? Did it grow respect for the rule of law in the South? In the North?

Did John Brown believe he was justified in committing terrorism and murder for the same reasons that motivated von Stauffenberg? What do these three individuals, Tiller's murderer, John Brown, and von Stauffenberg have in common? Certainly all three were appalled by victims in their millions. Certainly all three believed that the political system as it was organized and operating offered no redress to save these millions of victims. John Brown and von Stauffenberg have in common that they were adjudged and executed. They also have in common that history has exonerated and rehabilitated them.

Why is it so far-fetched to think that when the body of the murderer of George Tiller has lain a moldering in the grave for a decent period of time, that he too will be rehabilitated?

Let the reader be advised that even George Tiller's life is precious. That his murder must be condemned. That the murderer must be punished. But let us not deify George Tiller and certainly not make a martyr of a man who could comfortably be compared to Dr. Mengele. Let us not avert our eyes from the truth that our political/juridical system is complicit in the murder of 30 to 40,000,000 babies. Let us not assume that our system is perfect, that the victim should be deified and made into a martyr, and that those who oppose abortion are the real murderers.

[Caipirabob]

No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished.

Explain that to the socialists.

Feh...

Sorry, but we are no longer a nation of laws. We are a nation of biased preference for protected classes. Ask soon to be "justice" Sotomayor. If you are lucky, you can redefine yourself to be a victim, and maybe you'll get "protected justice".

The rest of us, included the innocent unborn, are consigned to the imagine of justice our government wants to impress upon the serfdom.

But it is hardly "equal justice". That crap doesn't fly any more.

[Caipirabob]

Brilliant post, sir. Again...

[carcraft]

If Tiller was going to be murdered, perhaps a trocar stuck into his skull and his brains sucked out, or left naked in the cold to freeze, starve or die of dehydration...

[carcraft]

If Tiller was going to be murdered, perhaps a trocar stuck into his skull and his brains sucked out, or left naked in the cold to freeze, starve or die of dehydration...

[nathanbedford]

Thanks.

[y6162]

“Good riddance.”

Looks like he needs another. Shoot him again.

[lmc12]

about Tiller, he aborted babies with Trisomey 13, 18, Polycystic Kidney Diisease primarily. This country has to come up with an alternative for these parents who are terrified of having a handicapped child. Without that there are other Tillers waiting in the wings and they will convince themselves they are doing this procedure “out of compassion”.

[dixiedarlindownsouth]

AWESOME response! Got my blood pumping pretty early this morning!

[reg45]

Re: Tiller

There will be a beatification ceremony on NPR this morning.