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Question of the Day | 09/15/2009 5:00 am

Putting aside matters of law, criminality and ethics, what three people would you nominate to be offed?

The director John Huston ‘liked to advance the theory that everybody should be allowed three murders,’ according to his daughter Allegra. Join the conversation with Sheila Nevins, Judith Martin, Joan Juliet Buck, Liz Smith and Joan Ganz Cooney.

© Shutterstock
Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 09/15/2009 12:00 am

Who Would Liz Smith Like to See 'Offed'?

I am allowed three murders? Can I take out "groups" the world over? Well, then No. 1, all the torturers of children. Two, all the torturers of animals. And three, all the idiots talking on cell phones on buses, in the streets, in doctors’ waiting rooms, in taxis and generally in public where I have to listen to them whether I want to or not.
Joan Ganz Cooney

Joan Ganz Cooney | 09/15/2009 12:00 am

Joan Ganz Cooney Would Take Out the Taliban and More

I’m with Liz — I’d take out all those who harm children or animals. Then I’d turn to terrorists the world over who like to kill lots of innocent people and take them out, and then I’d turn to the Taliban and all those clowns out there who so mistreat women.
Sheila Nevins

Sheila Nevins | 09/15/2009 1:00 am

Sheila Nevins on Metaphors and Murder

No one should kill anyone. You should examine your motives for murder and work on changing those who deserve it. An eye for an eye never gets anything done and stops progress in its tracks. Kill a Bin Ladin and you breed 1000 more Bin Ladins with appropriate motives. Sorry Mr. Huston – you probably meant it metaphorically anyway.

Judith Martin

Judith Martin | 09/15/2009 1:00 am

Judith Martin and Murderous Landscapes

At the risk of sounding like a wimp among all you social reformers, it’s not just the law that stops me from killing people. I really don’t think murder is a nice idea. But I am grateful for the law, because the corpses littering the landscape would not be those of molesters and terrorists but your neighbors who speak too loudly on their cell phones and your relatives who drive too slowly in the left-hand lane.
Joan Juliet Buck

Joan Juliet Buck | 09/15/2009 1:00 am

Joan Juliet Buck: Let Fate Do the Dirty Work

I know this is lazy and squeamish, but I prefer to let life, fate and justice do the dirty work for me.

134 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

S G
deber :)
By S G on 09/15/2009 9:46 am
Sandy B
And I’ll go on record for agreeing with you, Deber :)
By Sandy B on 09/15/2009 12:54 pm
Belinda Joy

Oh my goodness I really had to reread this topic heading twice to see if I was actually reading it correctly. I would agree with others that argue the timing of this question is not appropriate, but I personally don’t believe any time would be appropriate to answer this. Even among personal friends or family I wouldn’t answer this. It is beyond morbid, and any answer given would speak volumes about the mindset (in a negative way) of the person answering the question.

And quite honestly I am shocked and surprised that some of the founders of the site didn’t point that out but instead chose to answer it. This is very disappointing WoW…..very.

By Belinda Joy on 09/15/2009 9:20 am
Frau Quink
I am with you, Belinda!
By Frau Quink on 09/15/2009 6:58 pm
Eileen Alannah
*Extremely* unfortunate wording. I remember an old cartoon that used to have a bubble (I think) of sorts over someone’s head with the words: "Urge to Kill." It was lighthearted simply because of the choice of words - that you would not seriously want to *act* upon this urge only that some people’s actions were really just so totally frustrating that you might hatbor the thought but not literally. It was, after all,  a cartoon. I think there is a degree to which we as a society as a whole have fallen in terms of outright callousness toward others in the ways that we speak that really needs to be examined and …ummmmmm, quite frankly, stopped in its tracks.   ; D
By Eileen Alannah on 09/15/2009 9:38 am
kermie b

I am amazed at all the folks here who have no compunction about capital punishment getting all upset about this purely metaphorical question.  In my opinion, with the advances in DNA evidence clearing death row inmates, one innocent person being killed is too many.

I am against capital punishment, and got in some heated debates with folks right here, on this website, before I stopped expressing political opinions at all—it wasn’t worth my blood pressure.

That said, there are many people I have thought, in anger, about socking in the jaw, but I could never do it.  Once a person steps over that moral line of intentional harm, there is no going back.

By kermie b on 09/15/2009 9:44 am
Suzette Walker
It said "Putting aside matters of law, criminality and ethics,"  I can certainly agree with child molesters, terrorists and a couple of others in my personal life (if they didn’t get me first!).  Some of you should lighten up
By Suzette Walker on 09/15/2009 9:45 am
SURA B

Using Allegra Huston’s statements as serious sources for conversation demonstrates a lack of judgment. I consider her rant pure drivel and wrote that in response. However great her father was as a director, his "witty" remark promotes nothing rational or thought provoking. Whimsy on murder is not entertainment. Can we move on to something more substantial? Thanks.  

By SURA B on 09/15/2009 9:50 am
Star Lawrence
What is wrong with you people today? Yick. No comment. How low rent can you go? Oh, don’t answer that…I can imagine.
By Star Lawrence on 09/15/2009 9:51 am
Lin Cercone
Has it occured to anyone that they just might be on the receiving end of this theory? I’m pretty certain I’d have been on at least a dozen lists over the years. More recently, I’m probably on a few WOW poster’s lists. So I’d have to say NO, not a good idea.
By Lin Cercone on 09/15/2009 9:53 am
Karleen S

I think people took this column far too seriously, or have taken the opportunity to pretend themselves elevated from the masses.  Everyone has on their Sunday Best and is much to good to verbalize in the dark fantasies they likely have every single day.

I’ve never been too good for fantasy.  It keeps me sane.  So rather than issuing the vague and unnamed "somebody," I’ll tag a few individuals: Kanye West, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore.

By Karleen S on 09/15/2009 10:09 am
sibelle daubigne
Karleen, seriously! I will cheat and add a fourth one to the list "Barney Frank"! :-)
By sibelle daubigne on 09/15/2009 12:59 pm
Susan B

For those of you who care about such things,  "Thou shalt not kill." There’s nothing "light" or "OK"  about fantasy murder, especially expressing it publicly on a blog to a lot of people you don’t know. 

Karleen, it’s not that people feel above the masses on this one. They just understand that the world doesn’t need any more "dark fantasies" than it is already carrying. 

WoW, you obviously used your legal department to draft the topic headline of this thread.  But no amount of careful wording can disguise your intent: to provoke and inflame. Are you running out of topics to bring out the worst in your posters? 

By Susan B on 09/15/2009 10:32 am
EKA -

"world doesn’t need any more "dark fantasies" than it is already carrying."  …. how true is that !

Hard to tell hyperbole from truth these days, the level of anger, rudeness and hatred is reaching a level I’ve never seen, and wOw posts a topic about "Killing" someone  ? I fear that it will become reality.

Castration ? yeah, I can see that, but killing, I refuse to participate.  

By EKA - on 09/15/2009 2:16 pm
Suzanne Frazier

I can’t participate.

I have no interest in perpetuating killing other people, even when we are pretending.  I’ve had enough of justifying wars that justifying killing other human beings.  

By Suzanne Frazier on 09/15/2009 10:34 am