Chapter Twelve: So What? 

Some may argue that, since Governor Bush is now President Bush, his conduct with regard to the death penalty in Texas is irrelevant.  In fact, it is more relevant today than ever, as Attorney General John Ashcroft continues the “Texafication” of the federal capital punishment system, expanding and aggressively pursuing capital convictions.  Other problems, inconsistencies, and contradictions have emerged during the Bush presidency.  For instance, although Gov. Bush executed several inmates largely on the basis of ballistic evidence, during the sniper shootings in Washington, D.C., amid calls to create a national ballistics database, he expressed reservations about the accuracy of ballistic evidence.  As Governor of Texas, George W. Bush managed to alienate his state from the world community by executing several foreign nationals, all of whom had been denied their rights under the Vienna Convention.  This alienation from the world community has continued during the Bush Presidency, on capital matters and otherwise. 

Why sacrifice so much in order to execute convicts?  Candidate Bush explained that he supports the death penalty because he believes it deters crime and saves lives.  But the best criminological evidence suggests that the death penalty increases homicide rates rather than decreasing them.  Nevertheless, President Bush has never been known to be confused by the facts, whether the facts regard capital punishment or Iraq.  Prior to the invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush expressed absolute certainty that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.  It now appears relatively certain that he did not.  Campaigning for the Presidency, Gov. Bush expressed absolute certainty that neither he nor his state had ever executed an innocent human being.  Is he as wrong on the subject of capital punishment as he was on the subject of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?  Is it possible that the sitting President of the United States of America put to death a Texas inmate who was innocent of the crime for which he was executed?  It is an interesting question to ask, and a disturbing one for George W. Bush to answer.