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December 16, 2003
Better Than He Deserves
It's only been a couple of days since the capture of Saddam, and I'm already sick of the "Let's all cry for Saddam" crowd.
"I felt pity to see this man destroyed, (the military) looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures," [Cardinal Renato Martino] said.
"Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him," he said in answer to questions about Saddam's arrest.
Boo-freaking-hoo.
I don't see that he's been treated all that badly. He's definitely been afforded more decent treatment than he gave to his victims. It's not like we stripped him naked, wrapped him in razor wire and forced him to do an interpretive dance to the "Sugarplum Fairy"....as fun as that might be.
Bleeding hearts aside, the real complaint of most of those who have whined about the display of said video is that it reveals Saddam for what he is.
Without others to do the fighting & dying for him, the monster under the bed was nothing but dust bunnies....and the hero of the terrorists is a coward.
Like all cults of personality, the illusion is more imposing than reality.
Posted by Rita at December 16, 2003 08:02 AM
Comments
"They could have spared us these pictures"
This quote is the oddest one -- he's basically feeling sorry for US because we have to see and hear what our armed forces are doing to Saddam.
I understand the general religious ideal that we shouldn't cause others pain regardless of what they do unto us (turn the other cheek).
But I've never heard of a religious principle to "hide the pain of others from ourselves so we don't have to confront reality." Isn't it that sort of eye-averting that lets bad people go on doing bad things in the first place?
Posted by: Aaron Butler at December 16, 2003 12:13 PM
I think you're right Aaron. It says "turn the other cheek" not turn a blind eye.
Posted by: Rita at December 16, 2003 01:18 PM
And remember that smiting on the cheek is a blow to the ego. The proper response to the likes of Saddam was addressed in Luke 22, "If you do not have a sidearm, sell even your cloak to buy one."
Posted by: triticale at December 16, 2003 02:20 PM
That's even better, thanks. I'd forgotten that one.
Posted by: Rita at December 16, 2003 03:37 PM
I think you will note that they were not Catholic lives that were taken....and the church was not going to profit......The world is littered with dead for which the papacy will have to answer on Judgement Day.
Posted by: Bill at December 16, 2003 11:03 PM