It's All in the Sun!!!

[rhythmaning]

Yesterday's front page headline in the Sun screamed something like 99% Support the Death Penalty!!!.

(I can't tell you precisely because I can't actually find the story on the Sun's website.)

It was actually 99% of Sun readers in a poll who supported the death penalty, and the article didn't say how they were selected.

Edit: Liberal Conspiracy has an article about the Sun and its attitude to, amongst other things, capital punishment here. Whilst there, I nicked this picture of the front page of yesterday's Sun (clearly a hanging offence...):

Still, it reminded me of an old John Cooper Clark poem, which I first heard in 1977 in the Roundhouse. Before I find it on the internet, I want to see what my memory can come up with: so these are excerpts...

...ho hum... hum drum... do something destructive chum
Sit right down and write a letter to the Sun
It said "bring back hanging - for everyone!"
They took my advice, they brought it back
The national costume was all over black
They were hanging from the tree and three man rack
Failure to hang yourself justifed the axe
Fiddle di dee fiddle di dum
Bring back hanging - for everyone!"

There are a few more verses, but my memory fades.

So let's see what Google finds...

OK, it is called Suspended Sentence, and you can read the whole thing here. Please don't comment on how bad my memory is - and the original is funnier! And I missed several rhymes which I now remember! Of course.

Comments

[filmstalker (from livejournal.com)]

Fantastic, couple that with all the anti-terrorist laws and what a state we'd have!

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I think we already have...

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of a former schoolmate who once announcedc that he'd had capital punishment three times and it never did him any harm

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Off with his head!

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

99% of people want a bad haircut?

(in that size, it's hard enough to read the font, so I just saw the awful photo...)

[kittenexploring.livejournal.com]

It's about people wanting to be punished for being naughty. Punished by someone who dresses up as a judge.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I think that is probably a fantasy of the Sun's photomontage editor!

[kittenexploring.livejournal.com]

So all the discussion you linked is missing the point of the article. It's actually intended for the personals section and can be paraphrased as 'Sun's photomontage editor seeks strict taskmaster for judgement and punishment'.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

No, 99% of people have a bad haircut! This will be cured by the guillotine - no head, no haircut, no problem.

[kittenexploring.livejournal.com]

That's only true if you don't count the head as a person. If you're willing to extend that courtesy to the body I see no reason not to extend it to the head as well. In which case you've only halved the problem.

[psychochicken.livejournal.com]

99% of Sun readers want the death penalty. Fair enough. As long as being a Sun reader is the first crime worthy of it - now there's something that would make the world a better place.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

What is worrying is that people might actually believe in this. Interestingly, I think the Sun editorial came out against the death penalty - but I was reading over someone's shoulder. Honest!

[frankie-ecap.livejournal.com]

I can corroborate this. It was my shoulder.