I read a BBC article this morning that made me feel physically sick. Not metaphorically. I actually felt a knot form in my stomach as I read that the United States government intends to livestream the execution of a man by firing squad. On December 3, soldiers are scheduled to shoot Nidal Hasan, the man convicted of murdering thirteen people at Fort Hood in 2009, and our government wants to make sure everyone has an opportunity to watch.
I’ve opposed the death penalty for decades, for reasons I’ve thought about and written about many times. But I don’t particularly want to revisit those arguments today. I’m not interested in debating whether this man deserves to die or defending the horrific crimes that brought him here. Thirteen people were murdered, and the suffering of their families is real. None of that changes the sickening feeling I have about what we’re proposing to do now.
We’re going to put a human being in front of a firing squad and broadcast his death to the world. I keep reading that sentence, wondering how it can possibly describe the country I live in. Are people supposed to gather around their televisions? Invite friends over? Make popcorn? Hell, at this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if someone suggested making it pay-per-view. I wish that felt like a more ridiculous joke.
I don’t know when we became so comfortable with cruelty as a public spectacle. Perhaps we always were, and I simply wanted to believe we’d grown beyond it. I’ve never imagined America was perfect, but I’ve always wanted to believe we were at least trying to become something better. A society that values human dignity, even when doing so is difficult. A country that understands the difference between justice and entertainment.
Instead, here we are in 2026, preparing to broadcast a man being shot to death. We have the technology to show it to millions, and apparently the desire to do so.
I don’t have a clever observation to make about any of this. No political punchline, no philosophical argument, no comforting conclusion. I’m just deeply disappointed in what we’ve allowed ourselves to become.
And honestly, I feel sick.