Anything to take down these MSNBC ads!!

Somehow there seems something about an execution, any execution, that is even more damning and hopeless than whatever acts it pretends to enact “justice” for. It is killing as the end, sanctified result of what a society views in itself as moral deliberation, and it says that the best we are capable of, in response to what we profess to abhor, is to repeat it.

Saddam simply knew way too much about American support of him in the 1980's. You know those weapons we sold him, and that photo of Rummy with Saddam?--LeCastor

Now, try this:

Stalin simply knew way too much about American support of him in the 1940's. You know those weapons we sold him, and that photo of FDR with Satlin?

First, the only "weapons" we sold Iraq were helicopters. Second, Iran was deemed the more dangerous enemy at the time--a correct judgment, by the way--and, as Churchhill said of Hitler, "I'd make common cause with the devil himself if it meant getting rid of Hitler."

Give it a rest, okay?

Shed a tear for the Iraqi Abraham Lincoln.

There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein, certainly a product of his own family and cultural background, was a human being who behaved as a thug. As others have pointed out, however, he was used by our own U.S. government when it served our purpose to support his attack of Iran.

I personally am opposed to the death penalty - by definition, state-sanctioned murder dehumanizes us all. But having Saddam tried by a biased Iraqi court probably bent on revenge rather than justice just compounded the error. I believe, with other writers, that trials for crimes against humanity should be conducted by the World Court in the Hague. There, Saddam would have had a fair trial and would have faced, if convicted (likely), a life sentence.

There is nothing to rejoice about here. If anything, the way the trial was handled and supported by the USA has only raised the risk of having Saddam be seen as a martyr and thus fuel the fire of future violence.

Finally, who among us, if born and raised in Saddam's shoes, could honestly say he/she would have behaved any better? No one can truly say that. We can thus only approach misbehavior with that in mind - everyone is worthy of compassion, even if there are civil/legal consequences of destructive behavior.

A state-sanctioned execution is no more murder than a state-sanctined fine is theft. The state has powers that individuals don't.

The execution of Saddam was justice long delayed. Tragic, yes, but justice nonetheless.

It's a blight on our society that Charles Manson lives today, supported by the taxpayers of California, while his victims have been moldering in their graves for nearly 40 years now.

The author wrote:

"A state-sanctioned execution is no more murder than a state-sanctioned fine is theft. The state has powers that individuals don't."

I say, there is ultimately no such thing as "the state." The state is a collection of human beings making individual conscious moral choices. Legislators (not necessarily always wise people, as history reveals) made the decision that state-sponsored killing of individuals is OK. Capital punishment is not self-defense. The individuals are already incarcerated. No study I have seen supports the idea that capital punishment reduces the murder rate, so it is not a deterrent. Therefore, the only conclusion one can reach is that capital punishment is revenge. And all major world faiths teach that revenge is self- and other-destructive.

"The execution of Saddam was justice long delayed. Tragic, yes, but justice nonetheless."

Justice? Are any of us finite human beings wise enough to know what is truly just? Who can claim that, save the Source of the Universe Who Thus can truly evaluate. True justice flows from compassion, not from revenge, and thus leads to the healing and wholeness of all beings.

"It's a blight on our society that Charles Manson lives today, supported by the taxpayers of California, while his victims have been moldering in their graves for nearly 40 years now."

Killing Charles Manson won't bring those victims back. It only dehumanizes us all, IMHO. As Gandhi said (more or less, "If we truly lived by 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' we'd all be blind and toothless." The origin of "an eye for an eye" is generally accepted as coming from the Code of Hammurabi and being a limit on man's propensity for revenge, not a Divine sanction of revenge.

Happy New Year, Everyone. As Gandhi said (approximately), "You must become what you wish the world to be."

Hey Ebonius -

How about James Brown? Did you care about him? If so, consider this a time of mourning for him! Happy New Year!

-- Anonymous

Well, Happy New Year to you too, Anny!

James Brown? Well, lemmie see ... ah yeah, I remember James Brown. Mr. Brown and I go all the way back to the beginning. I'm glad you asked because I've been itching to tell somebody about the fucking hypocrisy surrounding James Brown's demise.

I remember when James Brown first hit the airwaves in the mid-1950s. Shows how old I am. But here's what I remember:

No white radio station would play his music. "Who wants to listen to some screaming nigger?" "Goddamn coon sounds like he got shot in the ass!" "Next thing you know, them jiggaboos will be coming for our white girls." "Brown's lyrics are stirrin' up the spear chuckers." "Somebody ought to shoot that over-sexed son of a bitch." "No wonder them niggers got so many kids, all they think about is sex."

That's the kind of reaction James Brown got in mid-America in the 1950s. Maybe you ain't old enough to remember. But now, James Brown has been co-opted by every fucking hypocritical cracker you can shake a stick at.

"Oh, I LOVE James Brown, I always have." "He's the godfather of Soul music!" "Yeah, even back when I was a kid, I was listening and buying his records, right along with my Pat Boone and Doris Day collection."

"I'm not prejudiced. I never was. I've always had lots of Negro friends, even back then." "I even sang along when he sang, "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud."

Sure you did, honeychild. Sure you did.

White people like James Brown now because he's dead. They want to run up and stand next to the coffin with hankie in hand, boo hoo hoo, American legend boo hoo hoo.

But just a couple of years ago, James Brown was facing jail time. He was actin' all crazy like he was on crack. He was shootin' off guns and running from the cops in his pimped-out van, running on the rims, throwing dope out the window.

Where where the white people then? Ewweee! How awful! Oh well, that's how them niggers act -- all hopped up on the pipe.

Even fucking cracker-ass George Bush tried to pretend hi was a big James Brown fan. "Loved his music! What did he used to sing? I feel good? Yeah, I liked that song. Kind went like, I feeeeel goooood, dada dada dada da. Heh heh heh. I always loved black people, so did Laura."

God rest your soul James. Try not to spin too much in your grave with all them goddamn hypocrite crackers trying to sing your songs and pretend like they were hip to all that back in the day.