Timothy McVeigh

* Amen to Norah Vincent’s “Watching McVeigh Die Is Victim Culture Gone Awry” (Commentary, April 23). By granting Timothy McVeigh’s wish to be executed and turning his penalty into a spectacle, we allow him to have the last word--and the easy way out. As a society we are no better than the bloodthirsty Romans portrayed so perfectly in the movie “Gladiator,” where even old men, women and children exulted in public killing.

To suggest that this is all the victims “need” in order to bring “closure” to this tragedy is not only a slap in the face of everybody who has experienced such a violent loss but diminishes our standard of grief to the most primitive level of “eye for an eye.” That indeed makes all of us--those eager to watch and those tolerating it in silence--not only savages but guilty of a crime against humankind.

ERIKA BLOS

Santa Barbara

*

I am not in favor of allowing people to view the execution of Mc-Veigh because that elevates it to a level not deserved by such a despicable piece of humanity. However, the absurdity of Vincent’s article and some of the comparisons she makes deserve comment. When she mocks our justice system as one that can be described in one word--payback--what, pray tell, is justice if not payback? To pretend it’s not is ridiculous.

When Vincent says Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft can no longer claim to be pro-life because he is allowing the victims’ families to witness the execution, whose lives are now more important and in need of help? If these people think they will feel better seeing him die, what business is it of hers?

JACKIE WARNER

Orange