It seems pretty obvious that Saddam Hussein will be executed this weekend. Within hours actually. It’s nearly 4:00PM EST here in NYC, which means it’s nearly midnight in Baghdad. Saturday already. So, if an early morning execution is scheduled, it would be just in time for a prime time announce here and the long weekend news cycle to expand.
My thinking in this regard is “sources” don’t release such information simply to be proven wrong. Not in regard to something this important. The time and place of his death are tightly held secrets impossible to know unless you are given specific information. So, Saddam will be dead before the cock crows, as it is said.
The general consensus amongst Iraqi’s towards Hussein’s imminent death, much like their attitude toward his incarceration, seems to be mixed.
Apparently, the execution will be videotaped, and you can expect that video to be “leaked” and it will most definitely appear on most of the conservative blogs first since they have a direct line to the White House propaganda machine. It will be on You Tube no doubt as well, and all the rage by next week. Expect a still picture or two first, then the video. It may take a number of days to play out. Although, there is still a chance it will also be aired on Iraqi TV.
My perspective on all of this is pretty simple: While I’ve no love for a scum bag such as Hussein, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that his execution was the result of a real democratic court process. From the beginning, the outcome was preordained. That’s not democracy by a long stretch. So, the conservative posturing on this is just silly and rather sad. The proof is rather obvious: Three members of Hussein’s defense team were killed, yet no mistrial occurred. Speaks for itself. Matthew Yglesias has a post on principles in regard to this matter that is worth reading.
It was a constructed media circus meant to be used to political advantage. It had nothing to do with democracy. Like every other aspect of the Iraq Debacle- the war, the reconstruction and the battle for hearts and minds- Saddam’s trial was mishandled. But, the wingnuts eat it up.
I’d have a lot more respect for right wing goose steppers such as Allahpundit at Hot Hair if they simply admitted that the Hussein trial was a public relations effort to prop up the new Iraqi government and to be used as political ammunition by the White House as needed. It was a failure in both instances. Placing public relations before policy is always a mistake. But, tell that to the true believers.
They should have gotten rid of Saddam in the same manner his son’s were eliminated. If you are going to do it, do it fast and move on. The Kurd’s were more than willing to do the deed, and had the opportunity as well. But, it was decided to make a circus of it all, to literally mock democracy, and it’s pretty obvious to most, thus the “mixed” attitude of the Iraqi public. They’ve got more important things to worry about, such as will there be electricity this afternoon and will I get killed by a bomb if I go to Mosque?
The media aspect of it all is interesting as well. I find it interesting how such propaganda, when it suits their needs, is like heroin to the wingnut bloggers. They see a kangaroo court and an execution as true vindication for their rabid and misplaced support of a losing policy and a lost war. Rather telling isn’t it?
Update: Drudge has the bright red font up announcing Hussein’s imminent execution, and links to Breitbart, which says that witnesses to the event are being assembled. So, as predicted, he’ll hang tonight. It will be interesting to see if it’s broadcast on Iraqi TV, Taliban style. Doubtful, but possible I suppose. The propaganda value is pretty powerful, but the concerns for Sunni uprisings may be too great for such a broadcast. Expect stills and then leaked video, as noted earlier.
Update 2: Hussein is confirmed executed. Will comment on the video and such when it occurs.
The idea of escalating the war in Iraq has me thinking about the ramifications of escalating the war in and around Vietnam. Mainly, the direct affect it had upon the situation on the ground. Considering the state of chaos in Iraq, escalation without a clear plan is only going to add to the chaos. The level of escalation underway in Iraq isn’t on the level of the bombing of Cambodia, but historically, escalation simply leads to more escalation, blow back being the main result. A fact not lost on students of such things. Of course, we are talking about the modern GOP here, not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Just my two centavos.
Skippy takes note of this years dour holiday sales numbers, which don’t surprise me one bit. Especially considering that the decider was urging y’all to go out and use your credit cards even more than you really know you should (or have the ability to pay) not too long ago.
Meanwhile, as noted at Ruminate This, millions and trillions of dollars are being misspent and undoubtably stolen from the fast cash flow emenating from Defense funding. Oversight in the New Year? We shall see.
Winner of the SNAFU Principle Wing Nut Dog Brain of the Year Award? This guy. Speaks for itself as the definitive example of the affects of the right wing noise and slime machine.
Gavin at Sadly No! breaks a bottle of piss and vinegar over the head of one of the dip wads at Blogs for Bush. My sentiments exactly.
Fianlly, Avedon notices something that I overlooked over at Skippy’s:
…the fact that he has a new abbreviation for what right-wingers call “the MSM” and what some of us now call “the corporate media”: “the MMM” – Mult-Millionaire Media.
For obvious reasons, Jimmy Scott is particularly big in our house during the holidays. Winter as well. He just warms the heart with such joy and powerful emotions and beauty. I first saw him perform when I worked on Sessions at West 54th in the late 90′s. Maria was lucky enough to catch him last year at Ronnie Scott’s in London. There’s a great documentary about him entitled If You Only Knew. Watch it, or better, catch a show. You won’t regret it.
Avedon links to Jay Rosen’s comments on Ron Suskind’s seminal Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George W. Bush from 2004 that is worth reading a couple of times a year just to keep the mind sharp and focused and to remind us of the state of mind that passes for reality to many wingnuts and the President of the United States of America.
Ahmet Ertegun has passed onto the next. You may not know the name or the man, but you most certainly will know his work.
This Year’s Holiday Words of Wisdom from Dear Leader: “I encourage you all to go shopping more,” from a press conference where he also admitted that the war in Iraq isn’t going well. You know things aren’t good when even JPod says:
It really would have been better had he not come forward to face the press at all – because he did nothing except underline and echo a powerful sense of uncertainty throughout his own government about how to achieve victory.
Uncertainty in the government? How about uncertainty on the entire planet?
Rosie O’Donnell apologizes for her racist remarks and Tony Snow apologizes for his fascist remarks. Rosie doesn’t seem to get that whether she intended to “mock” or not doesn’t make the remark any less racist. Have to give Snow credit. It’s my hope that the sheer fascist hypocrisy of his remark broke him down. The press isn’t there to swallow whole everything the White House offers. The function of a free press is to question and to be partisan if that partisan position gets answers. Having worked for the entirely partisan Fox News has blinded Snow to this. His apology was proper and well worded. Although, why he feels the need to apologize to a dead body is beyond me.
And, when did we become a nation of ungracious “an apology isn’t enough” whiners?
Eric Boehlert hands Michelle Malkin her head. It’s all about blame. The warbloggers need to blame someone for the failure in Iraq. A failure that many of us knew was a failure from the very beginning, of course.
Stiff Little Fingers cover Bob Marley’s tune Johnny Was… sheer genius.
Woman hold her head and cry, ‘Cause her son had been shot down in the street and died From a stray bullet.
Woman hold her head and cry; Explaining to her was a passerby Who saw the woman cry (cry) Wondering how can she work it out, Now she knows that the wages of sin is death, yeah! Gift of Jah is life. (life) She cried: Ah-um, I – I know! “Johnny was a good man,” I – I know! (never did a thing wrong) “Johnny was a good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good man”, (Johnny was good man) she cried – she crie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ied!
Wo-ooh! Woman hold her head and cry, As her son had been shot down in the street and died Just because of the system. (system)
Woman hold her head and cry; Comforting her I was passing by. She complained, then she cry: Oh-ooh-wo-ah, cry (ah-ah), yeah, I know now (ah-ah), no I know, I know now: (Johnny was a good man) Said I know, mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. (Never did a thing wrong) Ah! Ah! (Johnny was a good man) Can a woman tender care, she cried, (Never did a thing wrong) Cease towards the child she bear? (Johnny was a good man) Wo-ho-ho-ooh! Woman cry, woman – (Never did a thing wrong) She cried, wo-oh! She cried, yeah! (Johnny was a good man) Can a woman tender care Cease towards the child she bear? (Never did a thing wrong) Wo-now, cry! (Johnny was a good man)
Thespian Peter Boyle has passed into the next. A fan of his work since I can remember, he will be missed. And remembered. Here’s a great scene from “Young Frankenstein”… he and Gene Hackman in a classic:
United 93 has been named Best Picture of 2006 by the New York Critics Circle, which is sort of a mystery to me. I thought it a pretty mediocre film. Obvious and manipulative in unoriginal ways. Unremarkable at best. Not that critics have a clue about such things… And, the producers have been pushing for awards for awhile. Such is the way of the movie biz…
