So the US prison system, already massively the biggest pro rata in the civilised world, is actually overcrowded. And even a wise guy like Bill D sees the death penalty as a solution. Better to question the values of a society that needs such a huge wall between its rich and poor.

Clearly the cardinal is on to something. There IS a cultural divide, and it's along the lines he indicated. There may be no polls, Bill D, but follow the cardinal's advice and look at the company the US keeps when it comes to judicial killing. (Within the past few years Amnesty reported that the US and Yemen were the only countries in the world which admitted executing people who had committed their crimes before the age of 18.) Or just look at US v UK contributions here on Mudcat whenever such issues as crime prevention are discussed.

You argue that maybe some people forfeit the right to live. But the cardinal was begging another question: Who has the right to decide? The fact that you and many more intelligent Americans think "we do" simply proves the cardinal's thesis.

The Megrahi business is similarly illustrative. Almost all the American Pan-Am relatives want Megrahi to die in prison and have entirely closed their minds (as it seems has the whole of America) to the very real possibility that he isn't even guilty; almost all the British relatives supported his release on compassionate grounds.

Sorry, Bill D, but it all adds up, and for once in my life I find myself saying the cardinal got it exactly right.