Uh huh. Might want to either get off the high horse or take the note of immense satisfaction out of your voice, there.
For the record, few things are more high horse-y than informing someone of how they actually feel.
I think you're missing the point of what I initially wrote. The complete lack of order, control, or dignity on the part of the executioners is both sad and shocking. Had I not known it was Hussein, I would have been mortified far more than I was. But I did know and it tempered my reaction. You seem to doubt the fact that I had conflicting emotions over his execution. Is it really so hard to believe?
Calling a dictator, or a killer, or a Republican, a monster is just a convenient way of othering them, of pretending they're an anomaly, not entirely human.
But he is an anomaly. Saddam is not just one in a million, he's one in a billion. He was a meglomaniac, a sociopath, and a ruthless killer. He is a human but I would wager that by the time of his death he had very, very little humanity to him.
How many people did Saddam actually hurt/maim/rape/kill himself?
A great many people, actually. He was a torturer for the Baathists in his pre-dictator days and excelled at his position. The number of people he's directly maimed, raped, and killed is probably in the hundreds.
How many people carried out his orders, or carried out those orders at the mid-to-bottom levels of the chain of command?
A lot. Of course, those at the bottom rung were probably given the choice of following orders or being killed themselves. Saddam created quite the nasty society. His cruelty was the gift that kept on giving.
The point, the whole point, of disagreeing with the death penalty is that deliberately taking human life, making the judgement that someone deserves to die, is supposed to be abhorent. But clearly you're fine with making the judgement - you're just squeamish, like vegetarians who only avoid eating cute animals.
Do you think I'm stupid? You must because I cannot think of any other reason why you wouldn't think that I'm aware that having mixed emotions about Saddam dying undermines my position on the death penalty. Even so, I stated that I would have preferred a jail cell for Saddam and I meant it. That doesn't conflict with my not condemning people for wanting him dead. If someone killed a member of my family, there's a decent chance that I'd want him or her dead. It's a natural reaction and that's why I wouldn't be allowed to take part in the court proceedings. Likewise, I'm not going to act holier-than-thou towards a Kurd or Shiite for celebrating his death because their parent/sibling/friend had his or her hand shoved in a meat grinder before being shot in the head. It would have been great to find impartial Shiites or Kurds but that wasn't a possibility. That's what happens when you brutally suppress 80% of the country.
I don't like the death penalty and wanted Saddam in a cell. I readily admit I didn't find his death abhorrent but I wasn't aware that equal abhorrence for all those executed all the time was mandatory for being against the death penalty.
As an aside, there are a few things we need to clear up. I do not like to trade insults with people on the board. I'd much rather have a discussion about the issue. In your response you placed me on a high horse, told me how I felt (insinuating that I was lying or stupid), and likened me to "vegetarians who only avoid eating cute animals," which is insulting for multiple reasons. If you're going to respond to my post, please refrain from comments like these. They only create distractions from the thread topic. I think my response to you was pretty tame (and if it wasn't, I'm sorry). Please follow suit. |
