I Really Thought The Terminator Would Do The Right Thing, I Was Wrong

My letter over the weekend to Arnold that went unheeded, along with the letters of over 100 other Rabbis:

Dear Honorable Governor,

Jewish tradition holds life sacred. While Tookie Williams certainly deserves punishment for his crimes, he also deserves to live to continue to influence young people to stop gang violence.

Life always outweighs death.

Let us begin the culture of life that our cities need by granting a stay of execution now for Tookie Williams.

Show the world your compassion and zeal for living, by granting a stay of execution today.

Allow Tookie to continue to plead the case for non-violence, Lord knows we need this in our cities today.

Thank you

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein

The reply came today:

Thank you for your email to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Governor appreciates hearing from concerned and involved Californians, as well as from individuals all over the world who have an interest in California.

Governor Schwarzenegger is committed to restoring your confidence in state government. As the Governor has said, with hard work and your help, California will once again be the “Golden Dream by the Sea”.

Due to the unprecedented number of emails sent to the Governor, there may be a delay in immediately responding to your email. Please know that the Governor’s office is making every effort to respond to your inquiry and will ensure that your voice is heard by the Governor.

To help us respond to you, please include your email address when you communicate with the Governor’s Office. Please note that we are unable to accept e-mail attachments because of the risk of Internet viruses. We ask that you please send your attachments via traditional mail to:

Office of the Governor
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

For more information about Governor Schwarzenegger and the State of California, please visit the California website at http://www.ca.gov.

Again, thank you for your email. Governor Schwarzenegger is proud to serve you and all Californians.

So this is the way the good old Gov replies to Rabbi’s letters today. Making sure the “Golden Dream by the Sea” stays alive… One almost wants to laugh it this were not such a serious case.

I hope that Tookie finds peace with G-d.