laughter?

So, we all know by now, Saddam got the death penalty. No surprise there. A little more surprising is the fact that he's supposed to die by hanging. That's old school right there.

Now, I don't support the death penalty. I just want to put that out there. I don't think killing people solves anything. Even if somebody really really really deserves it, I think it's dangerously arrogant for man to give himself the power of life and death over his fellow man. And I'm not even religious.

That said, I'm not going to advocate mercy for Saddam. Whether or not he deserves it, we all know he's not going to get it, so it would be a waste of time. And quite honestly, I can't say with any certainty that I think he should be spared. I'm glad the choice wasn't up to me, that's all I'm saying.

What bothers me though, is the way people are celebrating this. I was watching The Daily Show last night, getting my daily dose of fake news, as per usual, and as you'd guess, Jon Stewart was talking about this. Making jokes. Laughing. And the audience was laughing right along, because he's Jon Stewart and he's fucking hilarious. I could go into a long bout of hero-worship right now, but I'll spare you.

But my point is, yes, Saddam was not a nice person. He was responsible for countless deaths of innocent people. We know this. But think about it guys---we're laughing at someone's death. He was a ruthless dictator, but he was also a human being. He was a kid once. He probably went outside to play and collected bugs or something. That's complete speculation, but you get my point. A real, live person. Snuffed out. And we laugh. We celebrate.

I'm not saying he deserves life. I'm not even saying he deserves to be mourned. But laughter?



And now I just know somebody's gonna be like, omg lookit the pinko liberal's in love with Saddam!!1twentythree! Well, stfu. You and I both know that's ridiculous.