Toward the end of the latest GOP debate in California, moderator Brian Williams brought forth a question to Governor Rick Perry:

“Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times… have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those [inmates] might have been innocent?”

Gov. Perry responded that he hasn’t struggled at all, further explaining:

“…the state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place … when someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens they get a fair hearing, they go through an appellate process, they go up to the Supreme Court of the United States if that’s required. But in the state of Texas, if you come into our state, and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you’re involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is you will be executed.”

Strange how people like Gov. Perry place an unquestioning trust in state governments to carry out the “ultimate justice” that is capital punishment, what is arguably one of the most powerful actions available to governments in America, and yet continuously question the federal government for making any number of comparatively lesser decisions at the national level, not necessarily because of the content of those decisions, but simply because it is government making the decision.

Even stranger: The Republicans in the audience cheered once when Brian Williams announced the number of executed Texas inmates, and again after Gov. Perry finished speaking. Even if you agree with capital punishment, giving it a round of applause is like parents giving their child a spanking, and then high-fiving one another afterward.

So unbelievably twisted.