Your comment reminds me of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the brutal dictator of Romania between 1967 and 1989. In on December 23, 1989 he and his wife were captured while

Your comment reminds me of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the brutal dictator of Romania between 1967 and 1989. In on December 23, 1989 he and his wife were captured while attempting to flee the country. On December 25 they were given a show trial (playing more than a little fast and loose with fairness...), found to be guilty, and shot. Nearly immediately after the execution, execution was declared to be abolished. This upset some Romanians who thought that more executions were in order, but their new constitution (ratified in 1991) cemented this decision. Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu remain the last people ever executed in Romania. From wikipedia: "The manner in which the trial was conducted was widely criticized inside and outside Romania. However, Ion Iliescu, Romania's provisional president, said in 2009 that the trial was "quite shameful, but necessary" in order to end the state of near-anarchy that had gripped the country in the three days since the Ceaușescus fled Bucharest[23] Similarly, Victor Stănculescu, who had been defense minister before going over to the revolution, said in 2009 that the alternative would have been seeing the Ceaușescus lynched on the streets of Bucharest.[24]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu I am a bit conflicted on the whole affair, but I think my main take-away is that what needs to be done is not always pleasant, but if it must be done, do it fast and make sure it does not happen again. If you are going to do something unpleasant, make sure that you at least do it to break the cycle.