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Outgoing New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced today that he would not pardon Billy the Kid.

Billy the Kid had been convicted of murder and then promised a pardon if he testified against another criminal. Billy testified but did not receive a pardon. He continued his life of crime until Pat Garrett stopped him in 1881.

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Pardoning Billy the Kid has been a cause célèbre for decades among people whom he never shot at or robbed. Descendants of his victims think differently.

- Jim

Last year, I read a pretty interesting book about Billy the Kid (I can't now recall the title - I'll have to go find it again...). The opinion that I arrived at after reading that book as well as another about the Lincoln County War in general is that Billy was nothing but a cold-hearted killer who deserved every bit that he got. I'm convinced based on what I've read about his background and having some knowledge of such disorders that had he lived today, Billy would have been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder - not uncommon to find in serial killers, rapists, etc.

I'm sure a lot of the "characters" of the old West were sociopaths. The frontier gave them anonymity and mobility.

Also, during and after the War Between the States, quite a bit of antisocial behavior became acceptable.

- Jim

Back when the pardon was originally in the news I pointed out it was nothing more than a PR stunt to get more tourism during the summer when they reenact the escape and do other "Billy the Kid" related stuff. By deciding against the pardon they can repeat the PR stunt in a few years. How do I know this? Because this isn't the first time I have seen them pull it in NM.

kragluver wrote:Last year, I read a pretty interesting book about Billy the Kid (I can't now recall the title - I'll have to go find it again...). The opinion that I arrived at after reading that book as well as another about the Lincoln County War in general is that Billy was nothing but a cold-hearted killer who deserved every bit that he got. I'm convinced based on what I've read about his background and having some knowledge of such disorders that had he lived today, Billy would have been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder - not uncommon to find in serial killers, rapists, etc.

Evil should not be rewarded - nor should any state that pardons such an evil doer reap rewards in tourism dollars. I'm glad Richardson made his decision to not issue a pardon.

Rats! I suspect that Billy would have been a fine upstanding citizen if he han't been abused and neglected as a child or something. At any rate, it's someone else's fault that he turned out the way he did.

Oops! I'm sorry, that was then and this is now. Maybe he should have been held accountable?

seamusTX wrote:Billy the Kid had been convicted of murder and then promised a pardon if he testified against another criminal. Billy testified but did not receive a pardon.

That's what you get when you trust the government.

Reminders for everyone who carries a gun for defense:
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duckhead wrote:

seamusTX wrote:Billy the Kid had been convicted of murder and then promised a pardon if he testified against another criminal. Billy testified but did not receive a pardon.

That's what you get when you trust the government.

Former yankee General Lew Wallace was the governor of New Mexico who allegedy promised Billy the Kid a pardon. Lew Wallace may be better known as author of "BEN HUR".

See THE LEFT HANDED GUN starring Paul Newman as Billy the Kid.

Where do you get those numbers?

- Jim

IMO, Richardson is a moron only seeking to get his name back in the news. I can't stand him and not pardoning Billy is one of the few right things he has done.

AndyC wrote:Dr. Martha Stout, psychologist and clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School - author of "The Sociopath Next Door"

Hmm. I hope the percentage isn't that high, but maybe it is. Not every sociopath is in a legislature.

http://books.google.com/books?id=PyOjlz_2SG0C" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

P.S.: This book is worth reading, though I find it somewhat breathless.

Sociopaths disgust me. In the best of all possible worlds, it would be legal to shoot them, maybe on Feb. 29.

- Jim

AndyC wrote:

seamusTX wrote:I'm sure a lot of the "characters" of the old West were sociopaths. The frontier gave them anonymity and mobility.

Well, apparently 1 in 20 or 25 nowadays are sociopaths, too.

So around 80 Congressmen and 20 Senators are sociopaths? Seems about right.

C-dub wrote:IMO, Richardson is a moron only seeking to get his name back in the news.

...as evidenced by his recent trip to North Korea. Boy Howdy! He sure straightened those gooks out.