What's One More Dead Body?
Saddam Hussein was executed last night. Isn't that wonderful? Now we can all live happily ever after because the Butcher of Baghdad has been sent packin' off to eternity. Everything is going to be fine, just fine and dandy, my dears! The Iraqi people will Come Together (RIGHT NOW, OVER ME!) and learn how to love each other the way they're supposed to. And the world will be a better place for you and me - just you wait and see! There will be laughter in the streets and music in the air. The wine will be flowing, the birdies will be singing and the children will be dancing. Can I get a witness??!! Oh, glorious, wondrous day! I am so happy I could fucking vomit.
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Do you feel any safer? Ah! I thought not.
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Within hours of the announcement of Saddam's hanging, there was a triple car bombing in Baghdad that killed over thirty people. What??? Well, what the hey! That's not the way the scenario is supposed to play out, is it? Is it??? Oops! Well I guess it's still going to be business as usual, ay, folks? The fact is this: his dead body is just one more of over half a million. If the geniuses in the Bush White House are under any illusion that the killing of Saddam Hussein is going to change things, they will soon be brought back down to earth - very soon. His death is as much of a turning point as his capture was a turning point - or as the killing of his sons was a turning point - just as those sham elections were a turning point. Truth be told: all the Iraqi people did that day was give America the purple finger.
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In a statement issued from his ranch in Crawford, Texas this morning, George W. Bush has described this day as "a major milestone" in Iraqi history. If you consider the possibility of the Sunni population exploding in violence and retribution as a major milestone (which is likely to happen) then, well yes, I suppose it is a milestone of sorts. But if you're expecting things in that troubled part of the world to finally calm down, you're dreaming. What I'm trying to say is, Saddam's death changes nothing. In fact, it's going to make matters worse - much worse.
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December has turned out to be the deadilest month for US servicemen and women in all of 2006. It's a fairly good bet that by New Years Day, the American death toll will be at or over the three-thousand mark (just as I predicted on this site back on November 26th - Good call, Degan! ). And now the First Fool wants to send even more troops into this holocaust! Question: has this asshole ever learned a damned thing about the history of the nation he professes to govern? My guess is that he's not even aware of the past - which brings to mind the old adage about people ignorant of their own history being doomed to repeat it. In 1968 when Lyndon Johnson increased troop levels in Viet Nam in the wake of the Tet Offensive, the only result was more violence and more killing. No good came from it - none. LBJ needed to justify the deaths of all of the kids killed under his watch by sending in even more kids to be slaughtered. It didn't make a bit of sense then and - since we have a precedent firmly established - it makes even less sense now.
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2007 will be the year we come face to face with some very sick and nasty realities: Invading Iraq was the stupidest foreign policy blunder in American history. Poll after poll after embarrassing poll has shown that the majority of the Iraqi people actually feel a sense of nostalgia for the regime of Saddam Hussein. Can you believe that?? No question about it; he was a bad guy - one of the worst - but at least the country enjoyed some level of stability under his rule; at least the average Iraqi could get through the day without the fear of being shot in the street like a dog or blown into a million pieces by a well placed, unsuspected car bomb; at least the people didn't live in constant fear and paranoia. All of that is gone - forever.
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Ah! Saddam Hussein! Those were the days, my friend! Yeah, he was one evil son-of-a-bitch - no argument in from me there - but, c'mon! In hindsight he wasn't that bad, was he? I mean, compared with what they've got now? Are you kidding me?? I imagine that, in contrast to the apocalypse that the Bush Mob has engendered, living under Saddam must have been an absolute joy! Remember his eldest son, Uday? Well, umm, sure, the kid had a bit of a mean streak - no doubt about it; sure, he was a blood-thirsty, half-witted little sociopath but - Ha! Ha! Ha! - you know what they say, don'cha? "Boys will be boys"!
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Saddam Hussein and his sons would have eventually fallen of their own weight. It might have taken five or ten or maybe even fifteen years - but it would have happened sooner or later. It would have been a logical turn of events in Iraq's history that would have occurred naturally. To even entertain the notion that the citizens of an Arab country would just sit back and let an American-installed puppet government take over their affairs is sheer insanity at best - or abject stupidity - your call.
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Once again, the Bush administration has failed to think long term. Killing Saddam is just going to open up another rat's nest of violent discontent. Had it been up to me, the hideous bastard would have been handed over to the Hague to spend the rest of his miserable life in solitary confinement - in a six by seven foot cell - to ponder the atrocities he committed against humanity - the same fate that I expect someday for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney - but that wasn't meant to be, I suppose. The only thing that the killing of Saddam Hussein has accomplished is this: Tonight one more lifeless body lies in Iraq.
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Happy New Year, everybody.
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
posted by Tom Degan @ 10:19 AM
15 comments
15 Comments:
Sad but true Tom.The violence will only escalate in '07,it started within hours of Saddam's execution. Saddam had to be gotten rid of quick because there were challenges to the trial's fairness and Bush's actions cannot stand close scrutiny.
No I don't feel safer, I feel more unsafe than ever.
Dancing in the streets? The spin meisters are already reporting THAT but I would have to see it and have proof they were not there at the behest of the Bush puppet regime.
Oh, the death of Saddam WILL change things but not for the better as the Bush pipe dream would have us believe.Maybe when Aesop was telling his latest fable he meant millstone not milestone.
As for being a sociopath with a mean streak, what about the sociopathic sado-machist and his little froggies with their mouths stuffed full of firecrackers so little Georgie could have his giggles?
Isn't December the deadliest month since Bush stared his mad war?
Tom, As always, I could not have said it as well as you did, though we all knew this would be true a long ago. We watch one President that took over after Nixon's registration and healed the country or so it appeared at the time. I was a little older than you were at the time when Watergate was going on. Nothing in those hearings rises to corruption of the Bush administration. To hear Haslett and Cheney say of Ford, the crap they did with a straight face, when they had done everything Nixon did to corrupt the government, but to such a greater degree. Haslett my not be as smart as Cheney, but he was controlled by Bush and Co. and knew what he did was not good for our country and a lot of it was unconstitutional. It will take so many years to straighten out this mess, to say nothing of the Iraq war. Bush will not recall the troops, no matter what we say. He keeps insinuating history will judge him as doing the right thing, like Ford did. Bull S**t and why could he not get his sorry ass to Washington for today's funeral? As always he is on vacation, but will cut it one day short for Tuesday's day of mourning. He will sell that damn ranch as soon as he is out of office. He bought it because Ronnie had a ranch and put up fences. Some of Texas may love him, but there are those of us that are not blind and read newspapers and listen to BBC instead of Fox to get outside opinions. {Retired people sometimes cannot afford cable.}
These are my thoughts on this New Years Eve, almost. Happy New Years and keep up the good work.
Iraq is a terrible tinderbox, exploding into flames on a daily basis. The execution of Saddam Hussein will only add fuel to the fire. Bush will gloat over it, because it makes him feel powerful. He has engineered the execution of a country's deposed leader. That makes him feel he is Mr.Big. Bush is fond of executions. He fancies himself the ultimate "Decider". It is rather reminiscent of the psychology of a serial killer, isnt it? Killing becomes an addiction. The serial killer is addicted to the feeling of power, of control over the victim because he can bestow life or death. Death is chosen so that the serial killer can see himself/herself as a godlike figure. There is no remorse, no feelings of compassion or pity. The killer only thinks of the next adrenaline rush that will come with the next victim. The serial killer's narcissism and psychopathology know no bounds. Bush executed more people on Death Row than any other governor. That alone should have told the voting public he was vicious. But, the Mainstream Media glossed over it, as they did many of his mismanagement follies while Governor of Texas. For example, Texas is now, thanks to Dubya, one of the most toxically polluted states in the Union. More children suffer from asthma and die from it in Texas than any other state. That is Compassionate Conservatism at work for the public.
George W. Bush is incompetent. He is mean-spirited, foolish, and arrogant. He does not look at the long range effects of his actions because: 1) He doesnt care about them 2) He hasnt the intellect to connect the dots 3) If he is warned about a negative outcome, he disregards it because it doesnt fit in with his focus of self-aggrandizement. 4) He surrounds himself with known flunkies and syncophants who reinforce his agenda and actions. 5)When he screws up, he can depend on his father to clean up the mess. He can depend on wealthy cronies to jump in, too. He can also depend on the Mainstream Media to give him a free pass, as they have for years.
It is no wonder that Bush has this enormous sense of entitilement to do as he pleases, and throw common sense and good judgement to the wind. He has never been held fully accountable nor had to suffer for his incompetence. What frustrates me, is that too many people continue to believe he can be reached with reason and logic; that he will face reality; that he is not unbalanced. The Media perpetuates this fallacy. He is dysfunctional. So is Cheney, but in a somewhat different way. However, they compliment one another and support one another. You can throw Condi into the mix, as well. If the Democrats dont wake up to the fact that sane people are not at the helm, they will go under with the sinking ship.
This brings me to the economy. One of the most underreported events of 2006 is the serious problems facing the U.S. Dollar. Fat-Cat CEO's are selling off their stock by the truckloads because they fear the stock will be worthless due to an economic upheaval and the expansion of hostilities in the Middle East. The Saudis are selling off their dollars and buying yuan and euros. Investment advisors all over the world are telling their clients to dump their dollars. The dollar is basically owned by the Chinese and the debt bonds are owned by the Chinese. Once the Chinese feel that they are financially secure enough to stop propping up the dollar, they will do so. They are the ultimate pragmatists. They will call in the debt. The Germans feel they are now economically strong enough to ride out the ensuing global upheaval. The oil-producing countries are strengthening their deals with the rest of the world. They will ride it out, too. With a mind-numbing budget deficit, trade deficit, and national debt, we are in the deepest of doo-doo, a house of cards built on sand. Is the Mainstream Media discussing this? Noooooo, of course not. It isnt sexy. It isnt salacious. It makes most peoples eyes glaze over and skip to the latest gossip about Paris and Britney. It takes a bit of intelligence to put it all together. God forbid people should have to fire up a few neurons. We cannot afford to send more troops or continue this insane war. But, the Ship of Fools in Washington will most likely approve billions more to dig the grave ever deeper.
I cannot predict when all of this will reach critical mass, but it will and it cannot be too far in the future. When it does, all hell will break loose.
Hey there larkrise!
That put's it better than I could ever even dream of doing! You made a point that I've been screaming about for over a year now: once the Chinese decide to pull the rug out from under us - whether it be for political, economic or military reasons - the proverbial substance is going to hit the fan. This is what the mind-numbingly stupid American public has never been able to figure out. This is why I believe when the trillion dollar shithammer does finally hit the fan, the ones who voted for the Bush Mob will be getting exactly what they deserve - that's the ONLY good thing that will come of this - watching these right-wing half wits go down in flames.
On that happy note...
Have a great New Year, everyone.
Love and Peace,
Tom Degan
Tom I have been screaming the same thing ever since Bush started his mad rush to fiscal bankruptcy. Unfortunately when those who voted for Bush get what THEY deserve we who didn't vote for Bush will suffer too. We "little" folks probaby more because the majority of the perpetrators can fall beck on their offshore accounts and likely their euros and yuans.
When I lived in Germany in 68-9, Germany was still divided and Franfurt was the financial capitol.We were in a suburb of FFM. All of the financial instutions kept boards listing key world economies and the yuan was not listed.Now it near the top.
2007 isn't looking too good and it hasn't even started yet. I hope Americans won't be dumb enough to believe the proposed 140,000 or so additional troops are really being sent to Iraq just to support the police. I'm disappointed in the Democratic support of this subterfuge for escalating the war. With the rising numbers of dead how can anyone think a few photos of Iraqis dancing in the streets on the day of Saddam's hanging justifies the carnage happening now?
Maybe a crippling of our economy from the falling dollar is just what we need to take our focus off the unsolvable problems of other nations and focus on our own. When millions of us are evicted from our homes because we can't pay our mortgages anymore, maybe that will put a damper on our support of unnecessary foreign wars.
I've decided to get rid of all my credit cards in the coming year and use local businesses whenever possible and try in any way I can to oppose a corrupt economy.
Happy New Year to everyone and God Bless; we're going to need it.
Everyone is right about the dollar, which we have know about way before the '04 elections. Some of the NYT op-ed columnists have also written about it for that long too, as well of the progressive magazines.
Being retired and depending on a pension that may disappear and the ever disappearing SS check is really scary. I too will try to close down my credit cards. Other than buying books from amazon.com, which is usually used books, I do buy local. I cannot walk very well so I do not go out much.
Being a Leo tends to make me see the world view thru self-centered lenses, even though I care a lot about this country. We must work together to keep the Democrats on the track we elected them for, by signing petitions and by sending letters and emails.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year to Tom and to the other fellow travelers who stop here along the way to share their thoughts.
We may not have peace on this earth; and it is a contradictory fact of human nature that we do not. Most of the people who engage in war would be able to dream of a picnic under a shady tree by a stream, or tea with friends in a cafe, or holding a sleeping infant in their arms. Yet, they allow hatred, vengeance, lust for power and wealth to steal their dream from them. But those of us who come here do not engage in war; and we have worked to avoid it. We have e-mailed, blogged, action-alerted, voted, marched, written letters to the editor, done countless click donations and given money when we can to peaceful, merciful organizations. If we do not have peace on earth, at least, in some measure, we have peace in our hearts and our souls. We have sought to reach out a helping hand to others. Ours is not the billions of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. Yet, I think we give of ourselves and that is the greater gift. Some of us are handicapped; but we have not given in to disability. The Internet allows us to be His hands here on earth. And if you are a secularist, that, too, is good. You are acting in the here and now to leave a human legacy of kindness and concern.
May the New Year give us strength and courage, compassion and generosity of spirit to carry on.
Peace, Larkrise
Hi Tom,
A good posting from you and excellent comments from everyone. I do feel a tiny bit encouraged to find that I am not the only one who has been concerned over our economic indebtedness to China. We have got to get our troops out of Iraq, get Bush and Cheney in prison, and make some immediate changes to our financial standing with the rest of the world.
In a former job I traveled to China quite often and had a chance to meet with and observe many Chinese businessmen. I am convinced that our psychopathic leaders view them as being perhaps not too bright or clowns who are willing to bankroll us forever, but believe me, they are simply biding their time, waiting to pull the rug out from under us financially and unless we can turn things around swiftly, we are on the way to becoming a third world country. As it is, we are no longer a world leader, thanks to the go it alone mentality of the Jugeared Jackass. The bottom line is that we need the Chinese much more than they need us.
We can only hope and pray that 2007 under the Democrats will give us a push in the right direction.
Tom,
Everything you write, I agree with, having come to the same conclusions about Bush and the war etc. Sorry my reply is so long but I feel so strongly I just have to write about this.
As for the quick hanging of Hussein, I just feel disgust that our country has fallen to a new low. The excutio is a great shame on our nation, and that is very sad.
I don't believe for a minute that it was "the Iraquis" who gave Hussein a "fair trial", but rather that it has been stage-managed by our government all along. Also, the announcement that the U.S. Embassy had tried to get a stay of execution fell on my very disbelieving ears. Of COURSE they would say that. It may or may not be true. The question is, if true, was it genuine, or just for political effect? I think the latter.
And why didn't Hussein live long enough to be tried for the thousand-fold larger genocide of the Kurds? That doesn't make sense, unless one considers that such a trial would implicate other people - both among Iraqis and Americans, but most importantly, in our own government- who may have been complicit in the enormous genocidal crime Hussein was accused of.
But dead men don't talk, hmmmm?
And on a slightly different topic- the death of the good Gerald Ford- aren't the politicians making the most of it, my my my, especially by stressing over and over and over- pundit after commentator after ex-government official- how Ford's pardon of Nixon "healed the country." I don't see it that way. Nixon was given a pass on extremely serious crimes. You or I would have been imprisoned- or executed- for crimes a million times smaller.
But Nixon looks good now, compared to George Bush. If ever a President should be charged with treason as well as international war crimes, it's Bush. But can you see how they are using the death of President Ford as not only a distraction from the more important news,
(or rather, the more urgent news: Iraq Iraq Iraq Iraq!)-
- but that also, all this talk about the pardoning of Nixon "healing the nation" sounds to me like just a BIG SETUP: to prime the public about BUSH. Like this: "Let's all pardon George Bush to 'heal the nation'."
I say no. Let a President be accountable for once. Especially considering the magnitude and types of crimes he has committed.
He is neither a king nor a god; have we forgotten that? Yet he has had so many many millions of Americans hypnotized,or paralyzed with indecision or fear. It's so Hitler-like it's amazing. The attack on Iraq was straight out of Hitler's blitzkrieg manual, only more violent. And Bush doesn't even have Hitler's intelligence, genuine war experience, or demagogic charisma. He's a hell of a blowhard, though. How can this whole nation let this one bully, who is clearly not sane, keep us intimidated and cowering? I don't know. Incredible.
Finally- Your prediction, in one of your December posts, that (rough paraphrase) "2007 will be like nothing we have seen since the 1860's" -our Civil War- really struck me. That has been my feeling, too; that if the government leaders refuse to listen to the grievances and wishes of the people, and if they continue this disastrous, evil war, and the plundering of the U.S. Treasury- the plundering of each and every one of us, ultimately- what will the people do? What can we do? A reading of the Declaration of Independence is very instructive. When a government- a tyrant- becomes such and such, and does such and such to the people, it is the right and duty of the people to such and such. HOW is the question. I pray it won't come to another Civil War for our country, but it could.
Let's hope and INSIST that the new Congress and Senate will do right by the people, and get the maniacs out of the white House, the sooner the better, before it's too late.
Keep up the great articles. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words, Saltwater! As usual, you make excellent points. One of the things that has amazed me over the years is how Reagan made Nixon look good and Bush made him look like a saint! While I believe that thirty years of historical hindsight has shown that Gerry Ford's pardon of Nixon was probably the right thing to do, Bush should never be pardoned for ANY reason. Nixon's crimes were primarily political. George W. Bush is a war criminal and he (along with Dick Cheney) must be held accountable for their crimes against the American people in general and the Iraqi peole in particular. Pardoning Bush will never "heal" this country. Only his vigorous prosecution will do that.
All the best,
Tom Degan
Dear Tom, The other reason I had such contempt for Reagan came to me the other day. Remember the hostage situation on the eve of the election and how Reagan dealt with the Iranians to wait till he (Reagan) said I do to add to his glory?
these people, his own countrymen, had lived in a life-threatening situation without adequate food and water and in terrible heat so he could grandstand.
Thanks Tom, for your kind comments on my post. I just read your profile, and saw you were a Spike Jones (& the City Slickers) fan. Me too. He was the greatest. It made me think that maybe it's time to brink back Spike's wonderful WW2 song that goes: "Heil!! Heil!! Right in Der Fuehrer's face!" so I hereby send GWB a great big wet slimy Spike Jones Virtual Double Loogy Special: haaargghhh... SPLAT!
;>)
Dear Tom, among many you made one VERY telling point: You said "the majority of the Iraqi people actually feel a sense of nostalgia for the reign of Saddam Hussein." Why wouldn't they? THEN they had electricity and water Some of the time, outside of the "Green Zone" very few have ANY electricity now,few have a home to use electricity in. Unless they were on Saddam's S*+# list, they could go to the market, kneel for prayers and carry on with daily living.Now there is no knowing when a suicide bomber will blow themselves up and leave dead and dying or severely injured with no doctor, medicine or hospital available, just die in agony with no alleviation for their pain.
That certainly was an outrageous thing to happen. Everyone is trying to pass the buck now that the hanging isn't so popular. Or...rather backfired on them. Just another thing to add to Dub's list.
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