Death penalty opponents everywhere are praising the former governor's decision to issue a blanket commutation to death row inmates in Illinois. As has been widely reported today, there's even a movement afoot to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At first I was cynical about his motivation. I am wary of politicians bearing gifts, especially if they are Republican. But as I played with the idea today I realized it probably isn't that simple. Was it an act of conscience or was it a distraction to distract us from the proceedings pending against him and his administration for numerous misdeeds? (Read about the license-for-bribes scandal here.)

I honestly don't know the answer and neither do you, most likely. Hardly anyone would ever be in his position. Still, I wonder. What's it like to make a decision like that? What drives you? Guilt, responsibility, some internal moral code kicking in? A latent god complex? An urge to make a splash during his last days in office? An attempt to redeem his legacy despite his administration's corruption? Was soul searching or political savvy at work? There's something vaguely Shakespearian about all this--remember that though Shakespeare wrote heroes, he wrote venal characters as well.

If you're a liberal, there's not much news to feel good about these days. And death penalty opponents, understandably, want to feel good about this news. They don't really want to know about the "why," I gather. Best not to dig too deep.

But perhaps they are missing the forest for the trees. To me, it's a fascinatingly problematic question--the stuff of novels, or at least TV movies. What would it have been like in his office these last days, even weeks? Imagine having all those lawyers around, carting around reams of paper and fighting over the Starbucks. Who knows what you'd do to get rid of all those people?

Alas, I will never know. I am so cynical, most politicians would have to come to my house and have coffee before I believed a word they said. I would have cream and sugar, and lots of questions.

What a piece of work is man!
How noble in reason.
How infinite in faculties.
In form and moving, how express and admirable.
In action how like an angel.
In apprehension, how like a god.
The beauty of the world.
The paragon of animals.
--Hamlet