Where Reality is a Distant Land

Not everyone is ecstatic about Saddam's departure, as "wilbur" over at Daily Kos demonstrates in the most lurid of prose.

We destroyed Saddam Hussein’s history. We went in to his village, his tribe, and we wiped away the footsteps of his lineage. We made sure that Saddam Hussein knows that everything about him, who he was, where he came from has ended. We turned him around and made him watch his footsteps in the sand, watch them disappear as the ocean washed over them. As a man who has reached middle age I feel an emptiness inside of me when I think of this – to watch yourself slowly disappear. It was an insane, almost psychotic cruelty. It was my society that not only did this, but cheered this – we were beating a dog over and over again because he bit us, making him yelp, humiliating him so he no longer had an identity, so that he was an empty shell. And when we knew he was an empty shell, we kept beating, our eyes on fire, snot dripping from our nose, wheezing under the strain of our constant blows. The dog had bitten somebody – he must be made to pay. Nobody regrets what we are doing – because he was a junkyard dog who attacked others.

It isn't often that one comes across such a mind-boggling disconnect from anything resembling facts, history, commonsense or even basic decency. It should be cast in Lucite and preserved for all time as the purest strain of moral relativism

Justice Served

Saddam Hussein Hanged

Now approaching room temperature.

Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq and infamous mass murderer, was executed at 6 AM Baghdad time.

I've had to deal with the smell of that dictator from varying proximity for over a quarter of a century ever since I started doing archaeological excavations in the Middle East. I have seen first hand the effects of his actions and the lives of friends and acquaintances have been affected, damaged, and even lost due to his evil. On my wall is a union jack from the First Gulf War and I've been following the second closely ever since it became the main front in the war against the Jihadists, so I was particularly keen to see this outcome.

However, It isn't because of any personal animosity that I hold for the monster that I am so openly pleased at this moment. I have very few truly driving passions in my life, but one of them is a deep-seated loathing of tyranny that makes me literally cheer when one is brought to task for his crimes. Any time a murdering tyrant does a Ceausescu I am absolutely delighted just as I am disappointed every time a Stalin dies in bed.

It doesn't happen often enough, but when it does, I have hope for the future of our sorry planet.

My wife reminds me that saying such things as Saddam now being three inches taller and wears a size six collar is unchristian. Therefore, I shall finish by saying that Saddam has now gone to meet his Maker and may God have mercy on his soul.