Thursday, August 5, 2010

The Pardon of Billy the Kid

Now Public reports on the possible pardon of Billy the Kid.

Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, had said that he would explore the possibility of pardoning Billy the Kid, one of America's most famous outlaws, who was gunned down by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garret on July 14, 1881.

It turns out there are lots of questions about what actually happened 130 years ago in the wild wild west. But the thing I find fascinating is the fact that descendents of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett are passionate about this, not to mention the fact that Governor Richardson is even considering it. Doesn't he have more important things to do, you know 21st centure things?

It reminds me of the pro-gun folks who keep referring back to the "founding fathers" as the justification for their opinions.

What happened 130 years ago in the South West and what happened 240 years ago on the East Coast has very little do to with us today.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

1 comment:

  1. The pardon is being considered because Billy the Kid was promised a pardon by the territorial governor at the time in exchange for his testimony in four other trials. After the trials were over, the Governor reneged.

    Basically, if Richardson goes through with it, he will not be bestowing his own pardon, but signing the pardon that the criminal was promised over a century ago.

    "It reminds me of the pro-gun folks who keep referring back to the 'founding fathers' as the justification for their opinions....what happened 240 years ago on the East Coast has very little do to with us today."

    What a nasty and ungrateful thing to say. Those men risked their lives, families and fortunes to create the greatest nation on Earth.

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