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You are here: Home / I’ll Be Your Cornhusker Tonight

I’ll Be Your Cornhusker Tonight

by Tom Levenson|  May 27, 20155:50 pm| 46 Comments

This post is in: Rare Sincerity

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Go Nebraska!

Nebraska on Wednesday became the first conservative state in more than 40 years to abolish the death penalty, with lawmakers defying their Republican governor, Pete Ricketts, a staunch supporter of capital punishment who had lobbied vigorously against banning it.

Manet,_Edouard_-_The_Execution_of_Emperor_Maximilian,_1867

By a 30 to 19 vote that cut across party lines, the Legislature overrode the governor’s veto on Tuesday of a bill repealing the state’s death penalty law. The measure garnered just enough votes to overcome the veto.

Slowly, haltingly, one step forward, often too many back, we progress.

Image:  Edouard Manet, The Execution of Emperor Maximilian,  1867

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Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    Valdivia

    May 27, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    That title.
    And yeah, Go Nebraska!

  2. 2.

    Valdivia

    May 27, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    Extra points for that painting which portrays the events that allow us to celebrate Cinco de Mayo

  3. 3.

    Lavocat

    May 27, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Truly, I am amazed.

    But, before I regain my long lost faith in humanity, I’m guessing this decision has more to do with the cost and scarcity of “death drugs” than it has to do with peace, love, and understanding.

    Still, regardless of the reasons involved, thanks be to the FSM.

  4. 4.

    Tom Levenson

    May 27, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    @Lavocat: No — though the drug issues played into it a little. This was a combination of a long term quest by one lawmaker, and the slow development of a commitment by some very conservative members of the Nebraska legislature to the value of life as it apples to other than womb-Americans. Kudos to all concerned, from where I sit.

  5. 5.

    srv

    May 27, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    By a 30 to 19 vote that cut across party lines

    See, Republicans can be reasonable people.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    Case study in not giving up.

  7. 7.

    Lynn Dee

    May 27, 2015 at 6:05 pm

    Go Big Red!

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    May 27, 2015 at 6:09 pm

    Props, Nebraska. May you start a trend of conservative states’ also abolishing the death penalty.

  9. 9.

    srv

    May 27, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    So many great choices. It’s like an Ocean’s 11 of politics:

    Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has been actively gauging reactions to a possible campaign for president in 2016, is now moving rapidly to assemble the staff and financial resources for such a bid and is looking to declare his candidacy sometime after June 30, according to knowledgeable Republicans.

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    May 27, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    I wonder if this is going to be one of those “Nixon goes to China” issues that only conservatives can touch with a 10-foot pole. Personally, I don’t care how banning the death penalty gets done, as long as it happens.

  11. 11.

    SatanicPanic

    May 27, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    @srv: damning with faint praise

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    May 27, 2015 at 6:21 pm

    Good to see it squeaked by. 30 is the bare minimum for override. IIRC, 32 voted to abolish on the final vote before the veto.

    Bravo to the staunch souls who resisted the frantic political arm twisting.

  13. 13.

    MomSense

    May 27, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    I feel the same way. If the issue needs republican cover, so be it. Let’s just end this barbaric practice.

  14. 14.

    shell

    May 27, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    You’d think the solid evidence that innocent people have been executed would be enough to convince them that this is wrong-wrong-wrong. But do the defenders of the death penalty think that’s just collateral damage?

  15. 15.

    dedc79

    May 27, 2015 at 6:35 pm

    If Nebraska can do this, then surely so can California, Colorado, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

  16. 16.

    shell

    May 27, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    Aarrgggh. Sounds like Santorum has made it official, and all the newsie’s tonight are treating it with the gravitas as if he has a hope in hell.

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    May 27, 2015 at 6:38 pm

    @Lavocat:

    But, before I regain my long lost faith in humanity, I’m guessing this decision has more to do with the cost and scarcity of “death drugs” than it has to do with peace, love, and understanding.

    It has to do with both. Some people were genuinely concerned with the moral side of capital punishment, IIRC including at least one conservative Catholic who voted for repeal because that’s what being pro life is about. Some people were just concerned about the practical aspects, like the lack of drugs and the expense of appeals and keeping prisoners on death row. You don’t get that kind of turn around without appealing to multiple motivations.

  18. 18.

    different-church-lady

    May 27, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    Oh, is that what you’re calling it now?

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    May 27, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    I wonder if this is going to be one of those “Nixon goes to China” issues that only conservatives can touch with a 10-foot pole.

    I doubt it. In the past 10 years, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland have abolished capital punishment, so the more liberal states have been leading the trend. It’s worth noting, though, that Nebraska, like its neighbors Wyoming and Kansas, hasn’t actually executed anyone in the past decade, so this isn’t exactly a Road-to-Damascus conversion like it would be if Texas abolished the death penalty.

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    May 27, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    @shell: The NYTimes readers are less sanguine about Santorum’s impact.

    Said one reader, his only chance of victory is that we all wake up and it’s 1516.

    Also, bad on our news media: does it matter if you have 20+ conservative candidates, which is less diversity than having a few serious ones? And the Republicans don’t actually have a credible candidate yet, who is up to being president of all Americans, not just his/her voters.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 6:52 pm

    From Ed Kilgore, this is funny:

    Perhaps Jindal decided to get energized after reading a Times-Pic piece from Julia O’Donoghue drawing attention to a FiveThirtyEight analysis by Harry Enten of polls showing Bobby running dead last (technically, tied for dead last with John Kasich) among born again/evangelical voters, his obsessive target for many months now.

    Poor Bobby. He’s tried really heard to get that group to like him.

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    May 27, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    Can’t believe it’s Nebraska

  23. 23.

    Cervantes

    May 27, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    @srv:

    It’s like an Ocean’s 11 of politics:

    A bunch of crooks, you mean?

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    May 27, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Said one reader, his only chance of victory is that we all wake up and it’s 1516.

    Sorry, but Santorum loses that one, too, since nobody was electing presidents back then.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    With Santorum, one does expect the Inquisition.

  26. 26.

    Peale

    May 27, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    @Baud: it’s like all that born again business is just posturing. You just can’t be keeping any pagan idolatry in your family for a generation or so.

  27. 27.

    Jay Noble

    May 27, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    We Nebraskans are a strange lot. A couple weeks ago we were all over the news for the lady who was suing ALL the gays on behalf of God. Now this. We are on the front line of the KXL pipeline issue – people against, politicians for. We just laid to rest a really good cop who was shot by a really bad guy. And so it goes . . .

    Some of the irony of the repeal, is that it came the same week one of our most notorious death row inmates died of natural causes after spending 25+ years on death row. Michael Ryan was the leader of a doomsday pre-teaparty cult and has been convicted of torturing a member to death over 3 days and killing a 5 year old boy at the same time. The fact that this guy hadn’t been executed yet was both an economic and as-a-deterrent argument factor.

  28. 28.

    Kerry Reid

    May 27, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Best news I’ve seen today. Well done, Nebraska legislators.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    @Peale: Jindal started off as a policy wonk. He’s transformed himself into a televangelist. He got himself elected governor twice, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a political future right now.

  30. 30.

    Peale

    May 27, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    @efgoldman: I’m lawyering up just in case I’m subpoenaed to testify.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @Peale:

    By God or the gays?

  32. 32.

    SatanicPanic

    May 27, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    @Baud: I wonder what it is they don’t like about him?

  33. 33.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    @SatanicPanic: He’s no Ben Carson.

  34. 34.

    Frank Wilhoit

    May 27, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    I lived three years in Nebraska — which, of course, means that I only scratched the surface, but even so, I couldn’t help noticing that it’s a very complicated place. The temptation to stereotype is particularly misleading. The state capital, Lincoln, used to be a very civilized town, an oasis in flyover country; but the Western half of the state (except for the strip right along the Platte River) has never recovered from the Dust Bowl.

    The “one lawmaker” is Ernie Chambers, who is really one of those larger-than-life characters who have been homogenized out of American politics. There’s a big, thick book to be written about him some day. He was already turning the place completely upside down when I lived there, over thirty years ago.

    On the other hand, the other high-profile personality among Nebraska state senators back then was John DeCamp, of Neligh County. Look him up if you dare, but have some eye bleach handy. I don’t think you’ll find [what, for me, was] his signature quote, so I will provide it here: “Automobile inspections are the thin edge of Bolshevism!”.

  35. 35.

    Kathleen

    May 27, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    @rikyrah: I can’t either. I was born there and have been embarrassed to admit it publicly. I am shocked, but pleased. I’ve heard Omaha (my birthplace) is a really nice city now.

  36. 36.

    El Caganer

    May 27, 2015 at 7:27 pm

    It’s gonna be a tidal wave! We’ll be in Santorum up to our necks!

  37. 37.

    Mike in NC

    May 27, 2015 at 7:27 pm

    @Baud: Jindal’s only hope to stay politically relevant would be to land a job in JEBs! cabinet. Hopefully that will never happen.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    May 27, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    It would probably be HHS Secretary, so be very afraid.

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    May 27, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    @efgoldman: I’ll take wacko crazies for $200, Alex.

    New thread — Jeopardy!

  40. 40.

    David Koch

    May 27, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    @Baud:

    Poor Bobby Piyush. He’s tried really heard to get that group to like him.

    /fixed

  41. 41.

    Enzymer

    May 27, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit: a @Frank Wilhoit: @Frank Wilhoit: frank, you’ve clearly learned a lot. Back 35 years ago, when I was a student-lobbyist working to represent the UNL student body, Ernie Chambers was a major lobbying target. Though he was a minority of one we knew he could influence close to a dozen votes out of 49.

    From what I read, since his term-limits furlough (which actually hurt mainstream conservatives on net), Ernie has mentored a broad group of non-racist colleagues including many conservative Republicans. Many of them are less conservative as a result. My Mother’s senator is a good example. For him Catholic doctrine on sanctity of life was a crucial factor

  42. 42.

    shortstop

    May 27, 2015 at 9:16 pm

    Goddamn, I didn’t see that coming. That’s great. Icing on the cake: as a Cubs fan (hush), I enjoy anything that causes the Rickettses pain.

  43. 43.

    John Revolta

    May 27, 2015 at 9:24 pm

    @Kathleen: I moved to Omaha six months ago. Okay, it’s small, but it’s got a lot going for it. It’s well-run and people aren’t afraid to embrace the weird.

    Nebraska is conservative but it’s not Neo-Conservative. F’rinstance, we’re running a budget surplus. On purpose.

  44. 44.

    Jay Noble

    May 27, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    Omaha small? Population wise they now are bigger than Buffalo, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Cleveland. Lincoln is bigger than Buffalo. And both are growing. With a coupla exceptions though, the rest of the state is geting a little mor tumble weedy. ;-)

    Oh – and welcome John!

    teehee – Drink the Kool-Aid – it was invented here!

  45. 45.

    Lavocat

    May 27, 2015 at 10:20 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Well then. THOSE are some conservatives I want to get to know, if only to discover HOW and WHY we share this one important point in common. Common ground can be a beautiful thing, especially if it keeps the State from killing its own citizens.

  46. 46.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    May 28, 2015 at 1:19 am

    I fundamentally don’t give a shit about a whole lot, but the death penalty has always made me ill. It’s just wrong.

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