Imagine an Anti-Arnold

"Tonight I have decided to remit Stanley Tookie Williams' sentence. I do this not because I believe him innocent. I also do not believe that any of his work in jail trying to stop youth from joining gangs is at issue, although I commend him for showing humans can learn and grow.

"No, tonight, I want to stop his execution to do what he should have done in 1981 to his victims. Show mercy.

"In this country where the phrase 'culture of life' gets bandied about so easily, and cheapily, and almost always not to save lives but to save votes, it's not often a single person can grant life. As the elected governor of California, however, I am in a unique position to do just that. So I will.

"What better time than at the holiday season should we be reminded of the power of mercy. It means that we can forgive, can get beyond a need that blood calls for blood. A death does not right a death. I challenge everyone to find the mercy in his or her heart, for if we kill Mr. Williams we have become him."