ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

THE LADY IN THE BLINDFOLD

A scabbard blade beckons forth a sacrificial lamb
The letting of the life blood is as the Gods demand
Barbaric acts of cruelty so that humanity prevails
The lady in the blindfold tips her scales

The electric chair is readied in the stillness of the night
The prison chaplain administers the sacramental rite
The sanctioning of murder so that rectitude prevails
The lady in the blindfold tips her scales

The vestments and anointed cloth conceal a hidden truth
The abuse of power rips away the innocence from youth
Canonised brutality so that sanctity prevails
The lady in the blindfold tips her scales

The elected office bearer stands to represent us all
But backroom power broking, secret meetings in the hall
Sanctimonious corruption so party politics prevails
The lady in the blindfold tips her scales

Do you wonder if the blindfold hides her red and swollen eyes
Do you think the blindfold's there so we don't see her as she cries
Will there ever come a time when justice truly will prevail
The lady in the blindfold tips her scales

Copyright (c) Allan Cropper January 2015

If you met the victims of merciless criminals as I have done many times, you might begin to understand what the real barbaric acts of cruelty are, and what justice really is.
I only have to look at a photo of Anita Cobby and I know why any bleating about the fate of vicious criminals misses the truth. If they don't pay a heavy price for their deeds, then we are accepting that the lives they ruin are of no value.
By the way, murder is an unlawful act, execution by judicial sentence is not murder, it is a lawful act.

I know you're not writing about it, Alan, but I couldn't help thinking about Ronald Ryan (and Henry Bolte) there.

Cheers, Marty

I have Neville, and the perpetrators heinous crimes should have sentences befitting the crime. I cannot countenance execution as civilised, be it deemed lawful or otherwise.

Marty - We only need to murder one innocent, as is quite possibly the case with Ronald Ryan, to demonstrate that capital punishment should never be a consideration.

...bit hard to plead innocence when you get caught with the contraband taped to your body in an attempt to conceal it in a country that has always made no secret of the fact that the penalty for drug smuggling is death. No one ever mentions where these people would be now and what they would be doing if they had not been detected and arrested...

Had they been arrested when they arrived in Australia for smuggling drugs into our country, they would have been charged and convicted under our laws.

They were caught committing a crime. No one denies that. And the crime should not go unpunished - which it has not.

To now kill two human beings over this crime, that they have already served 10 years in prison for, is not justice - just a ruler flexing his political muscle.

It is a hard cruel world we live in. And what about the death sentence that they have given to some of their customers and the lose of some of your valuable that their customer have stolen and sold to pay for their drug supplies, What sheltered life have you led, there are too many parasites?



BILL WILLIAMS

There are truly bad people and there are people who make stupid mistakes and foolish decisions in their lives.

Wasted ten years looking after them in prison.

Clearly a topic that tends to polarise opinion.

I believe that the execution of two men over this crime is vulgar and senseless.

All drugs have the potential to ruin lives and result in death. I wonder how many people who are willing to see these men die, would also be comfortable in having shares in Carlton and United Breweries or cigarette companies if there was a dollar to be made, justifying it simply because it is deemed legal. Alcohol and nicotine remain the biggest contributors to social dysfunction, mental illness, premature death, domestic violence and cause a drain on the capacity of our hospitals and medical services due to treatment of preventable injuries and illnesses.

But if we support the killing of these two men I have no doubt our collective consciences will be clear.