Gov. Wolf and the death penalty

Last night I wrote about Jeb Bush’s selective religious beliefs.  As a Catholic he’s ok on the death penalty, not so much on abortion.

Tonight I want to castigate Gov. Wolf for his imposition of a moratorium on Pennsylvania’s death penalty.  It was unnecessary and politically stupid.  

Not that I am a big supporter of executing criminals, although I have no objection if guys like Eric Frein are gassed, or hung, or injected, or whatever we are doing these days.  What I don’t like is that the death penalty is arbitrary, sometimes executes innocent people, and fails to deter.

In any case, Pennsylvania now has something like 180 people on death row.  I can’t even remember the last time one was executed.  Wolf, by imposing a moratorium, was solving a non-problem, enraging the pro-death penalty crowd, and handing Republican legislators a stick with which to beat him.

This is a problem with electing a guy who is “non-political.”  Being a governor is “political,” and I’d like one who knows how to play the game.  Let’s hope Gov. Wolf learns how to play.