Barbarians and Bloodlust
Until today, I, like most people of my generation, had never witnessed an execution. I'm very glad I did.
In those places today where executions are still permitted, they are largely carried out in private, with very few witnesses. That allows us, the effective executioners, to carry on with our lives without having to face the ugly reality of what we've permitted, what we've done, who we are to permit or tolerate such a practice. It affords us the distance to absolve ourselves of responsibility.
The video of Saddam Hussein's execution before an angry, bloodthirsty mob lays bare this barbaric custom, a relic of Hammurabi, the brutal expression of our collective lust for vengeance. In the instant this murderous dictator falls from the gallows, so too do we in that instant become him -- brutal murderers bent on our own twisted measure of justice.
Let me say this: if the price of "justice" is to become what we seek to punish, even for just a second, then I'll have no part of that.
Whichever side of the death penalty debate you stand on, I strongly urge you to watch this video of the execution of Saddam Hussein.