Just a few hours ago the United Statesâ€â€acting as puppet-masterâ€â€killed Saddam Hussein, and in no time, we’ll be watching the YouTube video of it. There will likely be a parody version conjured up in a dorm room in some mid-western state college somewhere that will make the rounds as well.
And the entire thing makes me sick.
Our culture loves to watch “bad†guys die. And Saddam was definitely high on the list of bad men.
It’s revenge. It’s what he had coming. It’s what goes around comes around. Bad boys get bad gifts for Christmas. I get it.
What I can’t understand is how pro-life Americans can be on the “life is precious†bandwagon and still attend the Saddam-is-dead after parties.
But I am no hypocrite (and what I’m about to say will probably cost me a liberal friend or two); I am equally frustrated with progressives that fight for a woman’s right to have a late-term abortion, and the elimination of the death penalty.
Either life is precious or it isn’t.
A couple of days ago this photo ran in the Los Angeles Times:
The photo accompanied this story, and the demeanor of the two Santa Ana Police Officers chatting it up sipping their hot coffee as a corpse full of SAPD bullets lies in the bottom right, caused a small stir.
When cop killers get killed, there is always a party, and the (non-partisan) law enforcement cheerleaders do pyramids and high-kicks because the good guys scored a touchdown. (For the record, the dead man in the photo Oscar Gallegos was not successful in his attempt to kill two police officers in Long Beach; fortunately the two officers are still alive.)
If you really believe that life is precious, death should never be celebrated…. regardless of who the victim is.
Amazing. You get it. Thank you.
Well said, Miguelito. Although I may not agree with you on all of these issues, I think your opinions are particularly well-deliberated.
Thanks for providing this blog.
Best wishes to you in 2007!
Mike – the Saddam hanging is already up on YouTube; go to the grainey cell phone video for the execution. I couldn’t watch it and shut it off before he dangled. It makes me sick to my stomach. Jail forever would be a worse punishment.
My sentiments exactly. Fantastic post.
I heard the news and was sad. Killing someone (anyone) just saddens me.
Did Saddam deserve death? Probably; but I go back to Gandalfs discussion with Frodo in the Lord of the Rings (how is that for geekiness?). It is not for me or any other person to determine.
I might have felt more comfortable with it if Saddam had gone before the World Court and ALL counts were read before the body. The Kurds never got their day in court.
It was pure political theatre. Bush seems to like executions anywhere, any time.
“I go back to Gandalfs discussion with Frodo in the Lord of the Rings”
God I hope that Nancy Pelosi/Frodo and John Kerry/Gandalf don’t sit around bars in Gtown deciding what to do with our country.