After due deliberation, that’s the only conclusion I can draw from this cartoon, which argues that “real homeland security” demands that we eliminate criminal trials for sex offenders; in their place we ought to substitute miraculously gathered and irrefutable “hard evidence” of guilt that leads to immediate execution.

No other reading of this cartoon is tenable. Perhaps Mr. Baggs intended to satirize society’s tendency to jump to conclusions about individuals accused of a sex offense, to “convict them in the court of public opinion.” But if this reading is indeed the one contemplated by Mr. Baggs, then why the bit about scientific or photographic evidence taking the place of the judge and the jury? Or all that blaring text urging us to implement, again, “real homeland security” in order to exact “swift justice for the families of America?” What did he mean, finally, by “!!!”?

This is not the first cartoon in which Mr. Baggs has let his authoritarian visions come unbidden. See, for instance, this celebratory gush over D.C. Sniper John Muhammad’s conviction and penalty of death. (This cartoon was first grappled with on this blog here.) At the time, its message seemed a tad ambiguous, but in light of today’s cartoon, the meaning is clear — the justice system deserves commendation for producing the right (nay, the inevitable) result desired by Mr. Baggs: bringing Muhammad to final justice.

But the Muhammad cartoon went beyond approving of Muhammad’s fate. It boldly advocated a quick return to medeival methods of criminal prosecution and punishment. First, in depicting Muhammad with his head on a stump, awaiting the ax, Baggs calls for a return to the gruesome executions of old. Second, Baggs would apparently revive Dark Ages-era methods of fact-finding in criminal trials by replacing human judges and juries with flocks of birds. In medeival times, such practices were the norm; the reasoning was that God would make His will clear through the actions of dumb animals and other forces of nature.

Obviously, Baggs has not yet figured out for himself what method of fact-finding would best supplant our current system. Scientific and photographic evidence (gathered and evaluated, presumably, by some omniscient and dispassionate god-computer), or divine intervention through the actions of birds? But what is worrisome is that he finds either one preferable to the adversary system and the sanctity of the jury. This, plus his obvious relish for execution in any form, make one conclusion crystal clear: Steve Baggs is a menace to civil society.

UPDATE: I’ve thought more about it, and am even more confused!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2004 at 16:05 by danimal and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.