The Culture Of Life: Choose Your Targets Wisely Edition

This bit of news from the Rudolph case is particularly interesting:

Rudolph was a follower of the white supremacist Christian Identity movement, but investigators have never ascribed a motive for the attacks to him.

A group calling itself the Army of God claimed responsibility for the Birmingham blast and the Atlanta bombings that followed the Centennial Olympic Park attack.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the plea agreement, saying it served "the best interests of justice."

"The many victims of Eric Rudolph's terrorist attacks in Atlanta and Birmingham can rest assured that Rudolph will spend the rest of his life behind bars," Gonzales said in press release.

Two federal law enforcement sources told CNN the catalyst for the agreement was Gonzales' appointment as attorney general.

He reversed predecessor John Ashcroft's insistence that prosecutors seek the death penalty whenever possible.

Christian Identity Movement? Army of God? Gee, I can't imagine any motives for Rudolph's crimes.

But the news here is Alberto Gonzales' purported reversal of Ashcroft's death penalty policy. Gonzales has never showed much concern over application of the death penalty, let alone any interest in the facts of a particular case. Is there really a change of policy, or did Gonzales make an exception for this particular case? As Gonzales acknowledges, this man is a terrorist with the same criminal appetite and belief system as any Islamic terrorist. The only difference is Rudolph's targets.

Robert Sanderson and Alice Hawthorne will derive neither rest nor assurance from Gonzales's words, but I hope the resolution of the case will provide some relief to their surviving families and the other victims.