A SAVAGE WAY TO END A YEAR

Fox News comes through with another Pulitzer-worthy headline

I can't decide which is worse:

(A) The primitive and pointless execution of Saddam Hussein, the former leader of a sovereign nation whom we, the United States, overthrew in violation of international law, and whom the puppet Iraqi government officially canonized as a martyr to hundreds of thousands, and whose corpse is now a symbol of our bloody hands and decaying image abroad, where the majority abhors our illegal invasion, opposes the death penalty, and considers George W. Bush to be just as guilty for crimes against humanity, all of which exponentially invites further attacks on Iraqi and US leaders,

or

(B) The fact that the execution can be viewed on YouTube.

I'm kinda leaning towards (B).

A few hours before 2007 began, I couldn't help but watch Saddam being executed on Google video. I'm not sure why I checked out the clip, nor am I clear on why such a video was (a) taken and (b) released to the world. But I am sure that it was a horrible way to spend the last few hours of 2006. And now I know how to say "Go to hell" in Arabic.

I am no fan of Saddam's and I have no doubt of his horrendous crimes against humanity. But I'm happy to go on record as being completely horrified by this rushed hanging. At the very least, I wish they kept Saddam alive to put him on trial for other crimes and potentially get more information out of him as to his co-conspirators.

This leads me to a related question: Why are so many left-wing bloggers, who oppose capital punishment, silent about Saddam's execution?

Oh, and um, this is kind of awkward, but, uh, Happy New Year!

--Junichi