[lbo-talk] Saddam Caught

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Dwayne:
> But this is not the situation.  A criminal has
> received his comeuppnace at the hands of other
> criminals.  This satisfies our ancient sense of
> justice but has moved us not one inch forward towards
> anything.  Dennis Perrin mentioned Noriega who, as
> you'll recall, was the uber-villian of the moment some
> years back.  His capture was also hailed as a great
> triumph for the forces of light but, in the end,
> turned out to be the emotionally satisfying, but
> pointless, downfall of yet another criminal by a more
> powerful crime boss.  The gloating we're witnessing is
> the time-tested, typical reaction of the depraved to
> seeing an enemy brought low.  Nothing more, nothing
> less.

This reminds me of the "minute of hate" from the novel _1984_ by George
Orwell - the proles being given an opportunity to vent their frustration
on the sight of the image of the current 'enemy of the system' shown to
them by the leaders.  

Wojtek