(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Desi] The death penalty,
it's an institution as American as apple pie
that's laced with pentobarbital.
And there are those who understand the need for death,
like capital punishment advocate Robert Blecker.
- In three words, we need the death penalty
because they deserve it.
In one word, we need the death penalty because of justice.
- In seven words.
- The only just response and proportional punishment.
- 11 words. (audience laughing)
- For people who kill viciously or callously,
death is deserved.
(counter buzzing) - Oh, so close.
Yet, there are actually those who don't think
death is the solution.
- The Nebraska legislature has just voted
to ban capital punishment.
- [Desi] Forces on both sides
are now mounting legal challenges.
Backing the ban, you guessed it, spineless, soft on crime...
Wait, that guy's a Republican.
- Abolishing the death penalty was something we could do
not in spite of the fact we were conservative,
but because we were conservative.
- You used conservative principles to convince conservatives
to violate their beliefs.
- Well, okay, so-
- That is like the slickest,
most underhanded Republican thing I have ever heard.
Up top or downtown.
- Now, listen though,
it wasn't a violation of beliefs.
The death penalty is inefficient.
The death penalty represents broken government.
The death penalty does not jive with our pro-life values.
- [Desi] Sadly, in his blind less to not kill,
Coash clings to his old conservative binky,
fiscal responsibility.
- It costs a state more money to go through an execution
than to keep that inmate in jail for the rest of their life.
- [Desi] Yeah, but some things you can't put a price on.
- The cost is not important ultimately
when it comes to the death penalty.
I mean, look at who's on Nebraska's death row.
One anti-Semitic racist cult leader
forced one of his members to have sex with a goat-
- Okay, that's... - And anally rape them.
- No. - Skin them alive.
- We don't need to go down that road.
- And they tied him up in the basement.
They took cell phone photos and-
- Okay, I think I know where this is going.
It's good.
Okay, that is way too many words.
In a world filled with murderous criminal goat (beep),
how would Coash address
another conservative article of faith,
getting tough on crime?
- We know that crime in other states
where they have abolished the death penalty,
crime rate doesn't change.
It doesn't attract more crime.
- But those facts couldn't be more wrong.
Criminals always consider the consequences, like this.
I'm super high on crack cocaine right now.
All I can think about is getting more money
so I can get more crack cocaine.
So right now my best option is this 24-hour drug store,
and I don't care if I had to kill a mother (beep).
But first, I'm gonna carefully consider
Nebraska state law.
Specific intent to kill is not required for felony murder,
but only the intent to do a felonious act.
However, since there's no death penalty, thanks to you,
(beep) it, I'm going in!
(audience laughing) (Desi screaming)
See? Deterrence would have totally worked.
- Well, that's what the deterrence people say
about the death penalty to support it.
That's not what I say.
- So if we're not talking about a deterrent,
what the (beep) are we talking about?
- We're talking about justice.
We're talking about retribution.
- [Desi] Getting (beep) even.
But wouldn't you know, Coash trots out the most
all-powerful conservative commandment,
government can't be trusted.
- We've had our problems with our correction system here,
and this is a decision that you have to get right.
You don't want to put an innocent person to death.
- [Desi] But Blecker knows government is perfectly capable.
Well, almost perfectly.
- My best guess is that we have executed an innocent person,
and probably more than one.
That's not a sufficient reason to abolish the death penalty.
You do your best and you constantly try to do better.
- And that's what you would say to the families
of one of the people that was accidentally executed.
- I say to them, we feel absolutely miserable.
We're appalled at what we did, but we did our best.
(audience gasping) (audience laughing)
- I'm new at this but if you want,
you can restate your answer.
(audience laughing)
That's right, when it comes to executing people,
just like JV field hockey, always do your best.
(audience laughing)
As I left Nebraska, I realized that maybe the death penalty
isn't cost-effective and it doesn't deter crime,
and sometimes we do kill innocent people,
but there's a greater tragedy.
11 words: Another American institution may be gone forever
thanks to Republicans.
(image buzzing)
Oh, (beep).
(upbeat instrumental music)
Meet Nebraska state Senator Colby Coash.
For some reason, he thinks the fear of the death penalty
does not deter murderers from killing people.
- We know that crime in other states
where they've abolished the death penalty,
crime rate doesn't change.
It doesn't attract more crime.
And we compared ourselves to Texas.
And if Texas is the model for a deterrent factor in crime,
Texas wouldn't have any crime
'cause they execute a lot of people.
- But have you taken into account serial killer tourism?
- People don't come to Nebraska to commit crimes,
regardless of whether or not there's a death penalty
in our state.
- Okay, I'm gonna be Charles Manson.
You're gonna be Leatherface.
Hey guys, let's head on down to the Corn Husker State.
Road trip!
- Hell no, let's just kill him right here.
- Uh, dude, it's a road trip.
Road trips are awesome.
We'll pick up some beef jerky, maybe some vitamin water,
listen to some tunes, have the time of our lives.
- Maybe we can just find some crimes
right here in our state.
- (beep) I just realized I don't have a car.
Should we Uber?
It says it's three minutes away.
(beep) It says it's seven minutes away.
It says it's 11 minutes away.
Why is it going in the wrong direction?
- Try Lyft.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- [Ronny] For thousands of years,
Jews, Christians, and Muslims have been fighting
about whose old book is right about God stuff.
They're like the Jersey Housewives of the Middle East.
And now, 1,400 years of religious warfare
is coming to America.
- A trinity of faiths blending friendship
between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
- [Ronny] The Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska
is opening a synagogue, a church, and a mosque
in the same location.
(fire exploding) (audience laughing)
I sat down with the rabbi, the reverend, and the Muslim guy
in charge to find out what the hell they were thinking.
- We fundamentally think that peace is possible.
And we feel that this can be also a model for others.
- Don't you think he's pretty arrogant
to fly in the face of 1,400 years of hating each other?
- Religions do not teach us to hate.
Religions teach us to love.
- Does that make you want to kill him?
- Actually, hug him.
- Listen to these guys.
They were one step away from jihading a crusade
all over each other.
Doesn't anyone in Omaha see how dangerous this is?
- Innocent people will die.
- Thank you.
This is Mark Christian.
He's president of the Global Faith Institute.
He used to be a Muslim,
and you'll never guess what religion
Mark Christian converted to.
- I was a Sunni Muslim, and now I'm a follower of Christ.
I'm a kind of a two-faith kind of person.
- You're two-faced, yep.
- Not two-faced; two-faith.
- Right, you got two different personalities.
- Faith, not face.
- Two faces.
- Two faith.
- [Ronny] After another half hour of pronunciation lessons,
we finally got down to the really scary (beep).
- Muslims and Christians and Jews do not agree
on their ideology whatsoever.
Those radical Muslims and jihadists will find many reasons
to go and kill innocent people on the Tri-Faith Initiative.
- See? Terrorists hate cooperation.
When ISIS hears about this,
they're gonna drop everything and head straight for Omaha,
if they can find it.
Guys, look, I know this seems like a good idea.
It's like a KFC mixed with a Taco Bell and a Pizza Hut.
Fantastic on paper, but it's gonna end up
slowly killing all of us.
(audience laughing)
- The three of us and the faiths we represent
are kind of like three guys who have fallen in love
with the same woman,
but this woman's love is so much greater and vaster
than our own that she can have an integral relationship
with each one of us.
- Right, foursome. Got it.
(audience laughing)
- Well, no. And-
- And there's a lot of fun to be had having a foursome.
- There's a lot of fun that takes place
when three great faiths come together
and acknowledge they worship the same god.
- Come together, yeah.
(audience cheering)
He's gonna be pretty pissed
when he realizes why we just high fived.
So, these are all just super progressive, fun-loving dudes
who wanna party down with the weird ghost thing
they all believe in.
But think of the practicality.
It's like a religious turducken.
How is this even gonna work?
How are you gonna fit a church into a mosque
into a synagogue?
- They have three separate buildings,
and then another fourth building where they're gonna have
the Easter egg hunt and all kind of kumbaya
that they usually do.
- So the buildings are gonna be separate?
- Each of the faith communities
are existing in separate facilities.
- This is not the taco and the donut shop
that you created before.
- So what's the big deal?
- Globally, two out of three Muslims wants to overthrow
the government and apply Sharia law
and live under the leadership of Islamic state.
- I knew it.
I had to warn them about their scary Muslim guy.
I'm sorry, can you just cover your ears for just one second?
Thank you.
Listen, guys, two out of every three Muslim
wants to impose Sharia law on the entire world.
- Well, that's ridiculous, first of all.
And second of all, fundamentalists of all stripes
wanna impose their views on the whole world.
- Who told you this lie?
- I'm sorry, can I just stop you guys?
Listen, sir, you're being really aggressive right now
and I just need you to take it down a few notches.
- Okay, as many notches as you'd like.
- These guys talk a big game about tolerance,
but what happens if Mark Christian is right?
What if they do get attacked?
- We will stand together and defend ourselves
and support each other.
- With your guns and bombs.
- We don't need any guns; we have ideas.
- I'm not gonna lie,
you're scaring the (beep) outta me right now.
(audience laughing)
- I don't mean to.
- [Ronny] They just wouldn't give up.
There was only one thing
that could take down the Tri-Faith Initiative.
Every relationship I've ever had has been destroyed
by trying to decide what the hell to watch on Netflix.
- "Mad Men." - "Big Night."
- "Homeland."
- [Ronny] As I expected, they were falling apart.
- I used to like "Girls" and then I gave up on HBO.
- There was no way they could-
- "Portlandia"?
- Okay, yeah. - Yeah, okay.
- [Ronny] (beep) That was way easier than I thought.
I guess if a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim
can walk into a bar and it's not a joke
and they don't kill each other,
maybe there is hope for peace in the Middle East of America.
(upbeat instrumental music)