Executions

After the debacle in the Florida execution last week, where they had to perform the lethal injection twice and the guy took almost an hour to die, I keep wondering why people don't see the obvious. There is evidence the chemicals used in these injections cause excruciating pain to the prisoner which he/she can't express because they also cause total paralysis. Furthermore, they have to be administered by people who are not particularly adept at inserting IVs, since doctors and nurses for the most part have found participation in an execution to violate their professional oaths.

Now, I'm not for the death penalty to begin with. But, if it is to be used, I certainly believe it should be used as humanely as possible (if that's not an oxymoron). So, what's wrong with carbon monoxide? People who have recovered from accidental exposure to the gas say they passed out before they had any clue something was wrong. Obviously, no pain is involved. Further, it should be pretty simple for even poorly trained prison workers to pump the gas into a sealed chamber -- jeese, suicide attempters do it routinely by running a hose from the exhaust pipe of their car into the vehicle, close the windows and start the engine. It's really pretty simple.

There may be other equally simple approaches, but it doesn't seem to me we need all this debate about it. Just move on to the obvious.