Editor & Publisher has a rundown of the voyeuristic and bloodthirsty media coverage of Saddam Hussein’s death. Although newspapers had a dilemma to face over which photos to print, their peers on television had it even worse. Not only did they have to contend with a live event that may or may not be happening on a Friday night, but they had to figure out a way to film their on-air personalities without showing their massive erections.
The glee that has accompanied the execution of Saddam Hussein is ghoulish. If anyone deserved to die, Saddam did, but it doesn’t make the American response any less shameful. It’s like our entire country is a big, torch-wielding mob…by proxy. Every aspect of Saddam’s trial and imprisonment was done by the Americans, but the actual killing was done by Iraqis. The news channels pat themselves on the back for their decency for not showing the actual moment of Saddam’s death, but giddily report that video has “leaked” (code-words for “look for it on Google”). For all the moral certainty of those who have cheered for Saddam’s death, they sure are a bunch of cowards.
And, it goes without saying that this incident, like everything else related to this foolish war, was a monumental, disgraceful, and preventable clusterfuck.