10/10/2026
The triumph of cruelty.
What Has Happened to America?
I sat there reading the announcement and honestly had to read it twice. Our Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, wants to livestream the ex*****on of a convicted murderer so Americans, and anybody else in the world, can sit there and watch a man die. A firing squad. American soldiers shooting a man, with cameras there to broadcast it.
What in God’s name has happened to our country?
Now before somebody starts telling me I’m defending a murderer, let me make something perfectly clear. Nidal Hasan murdered 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 and wounded many others. Those people had families, children, friends, and lives ahead of them. He took all of that away. He was convicted and sentenced to death. I understand that. I am not defending him, and I have absolutely no sympathy for what he did.
But what are we doing here? Are we really going to put a man up against a post, blindfold him, line up American soldiers with ri**es, and let the entire world watch the bullets hit him? Are we going to watch the blood run down his body? Is that what justice looks like in America now? Are people supposed to gather around their television sets, maybe grab a b**r and some popcorn, and watch another human being die?
I cannot believe I am even writing these words.
I spent years in the United States Army. I served in the 82nd Airborne Division and later became an Army aviator. I understand military discipline, accountability, and what it means to take another person’s life. I also understand that there are things a civilized country should not celebrate, even when the person being punished has committed a terrible crime.
And then there’s Pete Hegseth. A man who wears religious symbols tattooed on his body, including the Jerusalem cross and the words Deus Vult, meaning “God wills it.” Symbols that have also been adopted by white supremacist groups. Hegseth has denied that they represent extremism, and I’m not going to pretend I know what’s in his heart. But I do know he speaks frequently about his Christian beliefs, and now he wants the world to watch an ex*****on.
So I have a question for you, Pete. Is this what God wants? Is this what you believe Christianity teaches us? Is this something you read in the Bible and decided would be good for America? Are we going back hundreds and thousands of years to find our moral standards?
Why don’t we just bring back stoning while we’re at it? Gather everybody in the town square, hand out the rocks, and let the crowd have at him. Maybe we could sell tickets. Maybe that would make us look even tougher.
But wasn’t there something in the Bible about the first person casting a stone? Something Jesus said? “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
I’m not suggesting Hasan is innocent. I’m asking what happened to our own sense of morality. What happened to the difference between punishing someone for a terrible crime and turning his death into entertainment?
And who wins here? Does Pete Hegseth win because he can stand in front of the cameras and pound his chest, showing everybody what a tough guy he is? Does Donald Trump believe this is going to make America stronger? Does this somehow bring back those 13 people who were murdered? Does it make their families feel better? Maybe some of those families want to witness the ex*****on, and I can understand that. But there is a big difference between allowing a victim’s family to witness a sentence being carried out and broadcasting it to millions of strangers.
Do you know which countries have been associated with public ex*****ons? Iran. Afghanistan under the Taliban. North Korea. Saudi Arabia has a history of them. These are countries we have criticized for years over human rights and the way they treat people. And now here we are, preparing to livestream an ex*****on ourselves.
What are we going to say to Iran the next time we criticize them for public ex*****ons? That ours are somehow better because we have better cameras?
America stopped holding public ex*****ons generations ago. The last widely recognized one was in Kentucky in 1936. Thousands of people showed up to watch a man hang. Think about that. Thousands of Americans standing around waiting to see somebody die. We eventually moved away from that kind of spectacle. Now, ninety years later, we’re talking about bringing the audience back, only this time it could be millions of people watching on their phones.
And I keep asking myself, how did we get here?
I remember January 6, 2021. I remember seeing the gallows outside the Capitol and hearing people shouting, “Hang Mike Pence.” Our own vice president. Americans wanting to hang another American because they were angry about an election. I remember sitting there wondering what was happening to the country I had served.
Now we’re discussing broadcasting a government ex*****on. These aren’t the same events, I understand that. But both leave me wondering what has happened to us. When did the idea of watching someone die become something people could cheer about?
Look at the arguments we’re having over immigration enforcement and the use of force on our streets. People are arguing about who deserves protection, who deserves sympathy, and whether someone accused of breaking the law should be treated differently. I don’t care whether someone is an American citizen or an immigrant. The law matters. Due process matters. And the government should have to answer for its actions when human lives are involved.
What bothers me is how easily some people seem willing to accept almost anything, as long as it’s being done to somebody they don’t like.
I have seen death. Real death. In November 1978, while serving in the Army, I saw the aftermath of Jonestown. Hundreds of dead bodies, men, women, and children. Some lying next to their parents. Little faces looking upward, eyes open, staring at nothing. I remember standing there trying to understand how human beings could have allowed something like that to happen. How people could surrender so much of their own judgment to another person.
I am not comparing the crimes of Nidal Hasan or his lawful punishment to Jonestown. They are entirely different circumstances. But when you’ve seen that much death, when you’ve looked down at children who will never get up again, you don’t forget it. And you don’t look at the death of another human being as something that ought to be put on display for an audience.
Maybe that’s why this announcement bothers me so much.
And what about the rest of the world? What are they going to think when they see American soldiers standing in front of a man with ri**es, carrying out an ex*****on for a worldwide audience? Is this how we want America to be remembered? Is this the example we want to set for our children? Is this what our Constitution, our institutions, and our belief in human dignity have come to?
I can already hear some of the responses. He’s a murderer. He deserves to die. Good riddance. And maybe some will say I’m weak for even questioning it.
But you’re missing my point.
I’m questioning the spectacle. I’m questioning why our Secretary of Defense thinks broadcasting a man’s death is something the American government should do. I’m questioning why carrying out a lawful sentence isn’t enough. Why do we need the cameras? Why do we need an audience? Why does the entire world need to watch?
Does Pete Hegseth think this makes him look strong? Does President Trump believe this somehow restores respect for America? Because I see a country that seems to be losing its way, and I wonder how much further we’re willing to go.
I owned a business for years, and before that I spent a career in aviation. One thing I learned is that being in charge doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want. It means you’re responsible for the decisions you make and the example you set. Sometimes the strongest decision is the one where you show restraint, even when you have the authority to do otherwise.
Maybe I’m getting old. Maybe the country has changed more than I realize. But I still believe America is supposed to stand for something better than this.
And I’ll tell you what troubles me almost as much as the announcement itself. The possibility that millions of Americans might actually look forward to watching it. That people might cheer when the ri**es fire. That somebody somewhere will see it as entertainment, or worse, as proof that America is finally becoming strong again.
When did cruelty become strength? When did showing mercy or restraint become weakness? And when did we start looking at countries like Iran and Afghanistan, not to criticize their public ex*****ons, but to consider doing something that looks so disturbingly similar?
I don’t understand it. I really don’t.
So I’ll ask one last question, and I would genuinely like somebody to explain it to me.
What does America gain by letting the whole world watch a man die?
Because for the life of me, I cannot think of a single thing.
Paul — Veteran, business owner, defender of the Constitution.
