Make no mistake - Our grief is not for Saddam - It is for America.

[kentuck]

To rationalize Saddam's death as a matter of simple justice is a mistake. It does not legitimize nor lessen the responsibility of an illegal invasion, built on a mountain of lies, and where now there are over 650,000 casualties as a result. Wiser men than we will say that the death of Saddam will lead to many more deaths, not less. The rush to execute, as the rush to invade, will lead to more death and destruction. Just as it was a war of choice, it was an execution of choice.

We grief not for Saddam but for America. Our once proud nation has become a paper tiger. An angry, revengeful, thoughtless paper tiger. Not only have we lost the respect of the world, we have lost our self-respect. We stand for nothing. That is why we grieve. Do not mistake it as grief for Saddam or the dictators around the world.

[BurtWorm]

1. Well said, kentuck.

:toast:

[indepat]

44. Hits the nail squarely on the head

[alteredstate]

47. k & r

n/t

[Jcrowley]

2. K&R n/t

[Greybnk48]

3. "We stand for nothing" says it all

I don't remember feeling this way about my country and how we are perceived even during Vietnam. This feeling is not about Saddam, it's about us. The moral character that I always attributed abstractly to this country--what I was proud of most, rightly or wrongly--is gone for good. "America" is dead too.

[howmad1]

81. Naw, lots of the sheeple in this country stand for something:

Mean, selfish, greedy, immoral, republican, conservative, rightwing, and the list goes on.

[Zenlitened]

4. Well said. No tears, from me at least, knowing he's dirt now.

The tears are from knowing what our country's role has been all along. Saddam was a killer? Well, he sure was. But our brilliant leaders put the weapon in his hand, didn't they? Our nation's DNA is all over the damned crime scene, yet here we are acting as self-righteous judge, jury and executioner? Leaves a hollow feeling, doesn't it, knowing the enormous price we've paid in treasure, lives and reputation just to knock one washed-up thug out of the picture.

[havocmom]

5. as usual, kentuck nails it

We punish some and let the other guilty parties 'lead' us.

[seabeyond]

6. Do not mistake it as grief for Saddam ............... you are so right on

[RestoreGore]

7. Thank you

Apparently however, morals, principles, and the rule of law elude many regarding this topic for their own purposes.

[EFerrari]

8. Thank you.

[me b zola]

9. You nailed it, Kentuck

Thank you :thumbsup:

[Tuesday_Morning]

10. Thank you, Kentuck

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Well said, Kentuck. We have become the enemy we killed.

[kentuck]

12. And those that fail to see that...

do not have both oars in the water, imho...

[Bozita]

13. typo in last paragraph

You accidentally keyed in "grief" when you meant "grieve."

Great post.

Fix it. Make it better.

[kentuck]

15. Thank you...

Sometimes I type phonetically without thinking.. :)

[Bobbie Jo]

14. Yes! I READ your post, and agree. Thank You!..K&R..n/t

[Tinksrival]

16. Exactly

There is this twisted fear and apprehension. Nothing good can come of this. All this death. It has to end, killing in the name of good and evil. Nothing is justified.
I am ashamed and afraid. Bush and Co. are pushing the gates of hell wide open.
The only thing left to save our country's soul is to impeach. I truly believe it's the only way we will ever come out of this darkness.
The world is ready to move on without us. They are starting to look beyond America. I cry for my country.

[Neecy]

17. well said

[WillyT]

18. Yep... You Said It All Brother...

K & R !!!

[windbreeze]

19. Here Here!!

Thank you for saying this...
wb

[ninkasi]

20. One of your best posts

And considering your others, that's saying a lot. Thanks for saying it, Kentuck.

[JohnLocke]

21. K&R (nt).

[me b zola]

22. .

kick to keep up with the "if you're not doing a jig for Saddam's death then you must have loved the guy" threads.

Once again, thanks, Kentuck

[earlybelle]

23. Thank you! You nailed this one.

[uppityperson]

24. Very much so, thank you.

this helps me bypass all the other nonreadable postings tonight, thank you. Told UPjr Saddam was hanged and he got really mad also. Grief for our country, for how far it has fallen with the help of so many standing by letting those in power have the power to do so.

[Trajan]

25. Great Post Kentuck ...

Defintely one of your best : short, sweet, and oh so true ...

K&R

[merh]

26. K&R

thank you

[Kurovski]

27. Kick

:kick:

[kimsterdemster]

28. k & r ...

Very well said, can't wait to read this to hubby.

[calimary]

29. Great post!

I can't really disagree with those who are gratified about the execution and see justice in it. But your point is SO valuable! "We grieve not for Saddam but for America" and the "angry, vengeful, thoughtless paper tiger" it's become.

[Qanisqineq]

30. agreed

:kick:

[OneBlueSky]

31. we've become all that we once hated -- fascist, barbaric, uncivilized and much more . . .

Saddam was no good guy, but what gives us the right to invade and occupy his country and then arrange a kangaroo court to ensure his execution? . . . certainly not international law . . .

Saddam's execution is a horrific crime -- as were the invasion and the occupation . . . and if we got away with it once, why not try it again? . . . say, in Iran? . . .

this is a shameful, shameful day for what used to be the United States of America . . .

[LynnTheDem]

35. Why Iran? Why not Canada? Which has more lakes than the entire world

combined...and the US is in dire need of that water.

Canada has the 3rd largest natural gas reserves in the world.

And oil.

And timber.

So hey, if it's ok to invade a nation & kill their leader over their oil, why not invade Canada, kill Canadians, kill their leader? After all, Canada has far more for America's advantage than Iraq.

Japan's Pearl Harbor = "evil"; Hitler's "war on terror" invasion of Poland = "monstrous";
bush's Iraq invasion = "spreading freedom & democracy".

Funny how the rest of the world just can't see it that way.

[WritersBlock]

32. What you said. Exactly. K&R! n/t

[Solly Mack]

33. Beautifully said, kentuck ....and precisely correct

That is the source of my grief.

Thank you.

[LynnTheDem]

34. Well said.

Americans were shocked and angry when other nations' people cheered & danced over the 911 deaths.

And call them "barbaric" and "monstrous".

Then we cheer and dance over other peoples' deaths.

Look in the mirror, America.

[Usrename]

36. That's it, kentuck.

We couldn't even muster the courage to do it ourselves, we gave him over to some others instead.

It's so shameful it hurts. The depths of their depravity knows no bounds.

[Senator]

37. That's the Nub. -- And Only Impeachment can begin...

...to Redeem Our National Soul.

Only Impeachment

--

[donheld]

38. Only Impeachment and prosecution can redeem us. n/t

[chiffon]

39. How eloquently stated and beautifully concise ...sad and true.

[malaise]

40. Thanks Kentuck

You 'get' it.

[Mad_Dem_X]

41. Well said. n/t

[blondeatlast]

42. Indeed. Well said, friend. nt

[PuraVidaDreamin]

43. Just when you think we can't sink any lower

I'm inclined to believe we will never
reclaim our decency in the eyes of the world.

[pberq]

45. Kick & Nominated

[Chorophyll]

46. Thank you, Kentuck.

I'm feeling very uneasy today. You put the feeling into words.

[stevietheman]

48. I'm proud to be a fellow Kentuckian...

The United States has indeed become the Seinfeld Nation: The Nation about Nothing, or better put, the Nation that Stands for Nothing.

Of course, I love and will always love what the republic is supposed to stand for, but for the past six years, our beloved republic has become a fish that rots from the head, led by the most stupid, petulant, creepy, criminal leaders ever seen on the North American continent. May they all pass into history at the earliest possible moment and quickly burn up like a cinder. May they all be couped or otherwise forcefully removed, as democracy is too slow to deal with the extreme damage they have wrought to our nation, Iraq and the global community.

If we can't get a complete glimpse of what the Criminal Bush Regime has done to Iraq because of news blackouts or whatever, all we need to do is look at the gross criminal negligence in the Katrina "recovery". New Orleans has been left to rot by these extreme crooks. We see with our very own eyes the forthright ethnic cleansing being conducted by Bush and his cronies there. With New Orleans as well as Iraq, we see the Bush Regime's true intentions: to destroy everyone who gets in the way of extremely wealthy interests, with no conscience whatsoever getting in the way.

We are on the verge of having to fight for our country with blood, I'm afraid. Perhaps we will see progress in this next Congress, but I think we know in advance how this Regime will fight against the investigations and any oversight attempted by those we elected. We might indeed ultimately have to drag this regime out by force and deal with its reich-wing knuckle-dragger support with our Louisville Sluggers and guns if they push us much further. I'm sad to say all this, but it's getting very bad in this country, and it may well have to come to blows.

[mod mom]

49. Thank you.

[RetroLounge]

50. Very well said, thank you...

I grieve for America, NOT Saddam...

K&R

RL

[Blue_Roses]

51. well said!

:thumbsup:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

52. I can't rec this enough kentuck

Spot on.

:thumbsup:

[The Backlash Cometh]

53. In a world tribunal, Saddam would have been called in to testify

against Donald Rumsfeld. Omar Torrijos, Noriega, Saddam... Do you think that the pattern will backfire on our CIA eventually, once all the potential puppets catch on that they too will be stabbed in the back?

[roody]

60. Torrijos from Panama?

I think he was not our puppet. That's why his plane went down.

[The Backlash Cometh]

75. I just assumed he wouldn't have lasted as long unless he started

to be. Then, of course, he decided to ask for sovereignty. Who knew that the over-patriotic, sort of arrogant behavior of a few American high school students would turn the tide forever?

It's a lesson Americans never learn. How to temper their nationalistic airs, when they are on foreign soil.

[roody]

83. Torrijos son is now president of Panama.

[The Backlash Cometh]

86. Yup.

A graduate from Texas A&M, I've been told. I've also been told that Texas A&M is a place which is heavily recruited by the CIA.

A modern day MacBeth, perhaps?

[G_j]

54. thank you, k&r

well stated

[IndyOp]

55. We have become like a drunken 15-yr-old waving a loaded pistol in people's faces...

I heard a song with that lyric once - and I cannot find it now. It literally asked "What must the world think of us? We are like a drunken 15-yr-old waving a loaded pistol in everybody's faces..."

"I tremble for my nation when I reflect that God is just and that his justice cannot sleep forever." Thomas Jefferson

[Brewman_Jax]

56. Well said

:thumbsup:

[leesa]

57. Yes. And for Iraq who will sink deeper into civil war now with the gross mishandling

of his trial and punishment.

What a mess.

[NanceGreggs]

58. Very well said, Kentuck ...

"We stand for nothing." What a sad, but accurate, assessment of the depths this president and his administration have brought us to.

[Beausoir]

59. Thank you. n/t

[gulliver]

61. Well said! n/t

[NotGivingUp]

62. that's the way i feel about it

[mzmolly]

63. Amazing statement.

"Today I weep for my country." ~ Robert Byrd

[jgraz]

64. thanks for putting into words what many of us are thinking

How long will it take for us to rebuild our country after this monster leaves office?

[laundry_queen]

65. Thank you for saying this. K&R. n/t

[MODemocrat]

66. Kentuck, Thanks for laying that out so clearly

Those are my feelings exactly, but for some reason, I can't seem to express them in the way that you do.

Thank you so much for that. :grouphug:

[SidDithers]

67. K&R...I'can't add any more to what has already been said...nt

Sid

[HughBeaumont]

68. And I just rec'd this one.

And like I said in a previous post, this useless action kind of puts in perspective the entire nature of this "presidency" - one of vengeance, fear, war and hatred. There's nothing but callous vitriol in that asshole's heart. Passed down from his jezebel of a mother and cold ex-spook Grand Cyclops of a father, this idiot is incapable of conceptualizing leadership, unable to comprehend a nation's culture and unwilling to provide a solution. Spur of the moment whiskey-throttle governing is the sole M.O. of this unelected son of privilege. Knowing the American people are powerless to stop them now that their bought-and-paid-for media controls the message and keeps them stupid, he'll carry his corporate manifest destiny to its fullest extent and leave a sea of American and Iraqi blood in his wake.

He hardly cares that these past six years have been utterly miserable for the people he's supposed to be serving. He gives a wad of stale Wrigley's Spearmint that 3000 families have one less member to love, to watch their babies grow up or to grow old with. Over half of a million people have perished in this atrocity, but he yawns.

I wonder at what point in his life did Lancelot Link stop caring for others. Was it at birth? Did it happen around about childhood, at the loss of his sibling? Or was it adulthood, where he knew that no matter how badly he fucked things, Grand Cyclops XLI would bail him out?

Why the hell should the American people continue to suffer under this sub-moron's corporation-enabling rule? I fear that the next marching order is going to be grave, and it will be against our own citizenry. I really wouldn't put it past them, as desperation and the prospect of removal tends to make one froth at the mouth and go for broke.

How's it going to end, indeed . . . ?

[katsy]

69. Thank you. k/r

[RiverStone]

70. Thanks! K & R I still hope.

I do believe that we will stand for "something" better again, eventually.

The voice of America shouted for change in November, and there are many folks of compassion and wisdom dedicated to planting positive seeds - to replace the waste and destruction of our criminal BushCo regime.

Lets hope things look a lot different in a few years...

[Tactical Progressive]

71. Kentuck, you always seem to say just the right things

in just the right way.

[Catchawave]

72. Late last night, the newsbunny said....

- Bush expects a bounce in the polls this week

- Bush was asleep at the time of the execution

For some reason, I started feeling sorry for us.

It's not really about Saddam afterall.

[lala_rawraw]

73. Here is my response to the right wing attack machine

In particular to this moron called Jimbo of Gateway Pundit (http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/12/if-ever-you-needed-proof-of-insanity-of.html)

####

The Right Wing Brain Dead Speaketh

It is always interesting to watch a neo-fascist with the brain cells of a flea attempt to reason. I of course applaud all attempts toward logic and reason and so I applaud these little parasites in their quest for developing a fuller, more human brain.

The latest psycho-babble from the far right is presented thusly: Anyone who is opposed to the execution of Saddam Hussein - many the world over, was a Saddam Hussein supporter. Yes, you heard (read) me right:

---
"There is an enemy in America- Powerful -Shrill- Self-Hating - It has never been more obvious, it has never been more open... than it is today- mourning Saddam!

It is not a fringe element.
It is not a minority.
It is the voice of today's American Left.

The evil mass-murdering Saddam Hussein was hung today and the American left mourns... Their America-hating sickness has never been more glaring.

This video image released by Iraqi state television shows Saddam Hussein's guards wearing ski masks and placing a noose around the deposed leader's neck moments before his execution Saturday Dec. 30. 2006. Clutching a Quran and refusing a hood, Saddam Hussein went to the gallows before sunrise Saturday, executed by vengeful countrymen after a quarter-century of remorseless brutality that killed countless thousands and led Iraq into disastrous wars against the United States and Iran. (AP Photo/IRAQI TV, HO) "
----

Let me help you by explaining that one can oppose executions without supporting the crimes committed of those executed. Wow, hard to digest? I know, inbreeding will shrink your brain, did you know that?

But more importantly, this fringe that is the "enemy within America" just so happens to include the Vatican (hardly left leaning) and a cadre of Conservative voices (also hardly left leaning) who have a myriad of reasons for opposing this execution.

Some people oppose the execution because it was based on a flawed trial. Think about it, Saddam Hussein was a monster, we all know this. So why is it that he was only convicted for 148 deaths dating over 25 years ago? Ask yourself that question. Because if signing a death sentence warns execution, then should President Bush not also stand trial?

Clearly there is a reason why other crimes were not brought up or allowed, at this administrations request, to be introduced.

But you don't want to know facts. You don't even want to know where Osama is (remember him, wanted dead or alive?). What you want is some sort of feeling that you matter and that you are a real American. Unfortunately, real Americans like you, are the reason Saddam came to power to begin with.

Those opposed to the execution are not mourning the death of Saddam. What they are mourning is the loss of our own national conscience. Some are, as I have pointed out, not happy with the farce of a trial in a country to which we are attempting to (so they say) export democracy. Some are not comfortable because of the timing, which just happens to be during a holy time in Muslim religion. Not that you would know this as xenophobes are busy only with flag waving and gay bashing.

To call me, the Vatican, human rights organizations, Christian, Jewish, Islamic leaders, the EU, most Americans, and basically the entire planet "an enemy" takes a lot of nerve for someone who is nothing but a racist with a blog. I mean really, what have you actually done in your pathetic little life that would allow you to believe for a moment that you have any right to call anyone an enemy?

Pathetic does not begin to account for something as filthy as a wannabe patriot strung out on liquid hate. But lucky for the rest of us, the sane and rational, you are still a minority in this country, thankfully pushed back into the darkness of your KKK meetings.
http://www.atlargely.com/

[BurtWorm]

85. Hurray, lala!

:applause:

Another post right on the money!

[jarab]

74. Spot on, kentuck! (nt)

...O...

[democrank]

76. Stand for nothing....indeed.

Anyone questioning that should listen to our silence on Darfur and our silence on homeless veterans.

[wiley]

77. Our silence on AIDS among the poor and communities of color in the US

Our silence on a health care system that punishes and deprives more people every day
Our silence on the people in the US who are hungry and malnourished
Our silence about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have died as a result of our actions


It's not a list.

These are lifelong scars that those of us living today will never be able to erase.

We're incredibly fortunate to be living in the US and alive. What a concept. What a vision.

What an incredible waste and tragedy for a great country with so many great people and ideas and hopes to be huddled in fear and manipulated by lies and exhausted by cynicism and betrayal.

It's time that what WE stand for, gets heard - while we are prosecuting the criminals who have brought us to this place.

[kentuck]

78. Y'all warm the cockles of my heart...

To know that there are still those whose minds have not been stolen and whose hearts have not been hardened by hatred and violence. Peace. Thank you.

[Solly Mack]

80. No- Thank you. For expressing what I've been feeling - and not just me

so well.

[KAZ]

79. Wow! Just when I was feeling down about this board...

... you come along, and in 2, very concise paragraphs, put the words to what I've been feeling all day. Thank you Kentuck!

[DawgHouse]

82. well said!

[SidDithers]

84. Kick for the night crew...nt

Sid

[Gloria]

87. You are so right.