Justice terminated

posted December 9, 2005

It’s easy to play act at being heroic. Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly proved it doesn’t take much talent during his film career. But last week, when the time came to do it for real, Schwarzenegger — who has lately been playing the role of governor to poor reviews — hid behind misleading double talk and a cruel, plastic smile.

On Dec. 12, after promising to give the life-or-death decision serious thought, he decided not to grant clemency for Stan “Tookie” Williams, the former gang leader who was convicted of murdering four people but spent his final years writing, brokering gang truces, and urging young people to stay out of gangs. Unlike a movie hero, Schwarzenegger didn’t bother to meet with Williams, to personally size up the man whose life was in his hands — someone he had actually met three decades ago on Muscle Beach in Venice, CA.

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