PETER HITCHENS ON RULERS [PRO DEATH PENALTY QUOTE OF THE WEEK ~ SUNDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2012 TO SATURDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2012]

QUOTE: Rulers are not given their power to shed blood so that they can use it to make themselves feel good, or seek to raise their poll ratings. They are given it so that they can protect their own citizens from peril and subjugation. (Quoted in The Daily Express 5 April 1999)

AUTHOR: Peter Hitchens (born 28 October 1951) is an award-winning British columnist and author, noted for his traditionalist conservative stance. He has published five books, including The Abolition of Britain, A Brief History of Crime, The Broken Compass: How British Politics Lost its Way and most recently The Rage Against God. Hitchens writes for Britain's The Mail on Sunday newspaper. A former resident correspondent in Moscow and Washington, Hitchens continues to work as an occasional foreign reporter, and appears frequently in the British broadcast media. He is the younger brother of the writer Christopher Hitchens.