Tuesday, April 22, 2008

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/12/obama.death.penalty.ap/

The fact that Barack Obama’s name has rarely, if ever, been included when discussing the corruption in Illinois government is astonishing, but what sets him farther apart is the way he gracefully handled the death penalty debacle in 2003. After former Governor George Ryan had quickly removed thirteen death row inmates from their sentence and placed most of them in prison for life, he was able to calm the rocky waters around the subject with amazing grace. The thirteen inmates that were taken off death row were found to have been involved in trials in which they were either innocent or the protocol for trial was not followed.

Through the article we are able to see that Barack strongly opposes capital punishment. However despite his strong feelings, this article showed that he is very capable of looking at both sides of an argument and make an impartial judgment. This will in fact make him a wonderful person to be center stage when the issue comes up again on a larger platform. The article is full of people like Illinois State Senator John Cullerton, D-Chicago saying, "He is just really a good legislator.” Barack Obama’s actions during this ordeal proved not only that he is not soft on crime but that he is also a firm believer in listening to all sides of the argument.

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