That has nothing to do with being smart, but with the lynching mob mentality. People participated in- and enjoyed the lynching spectacles not because their "heads were clear" about the "guilt" - but because they could kick ass of some unpopular minority and that made them feel good about themselves.
Same with Mr. Hussein. The Bubbas could not find Iraq on the map until Bush declared the "open season for Saddam" upon which Bubbas started collectively hating him and cheering his humiliation. Just as they would do if they were lynching a Negro.
In both cases, what the person being lynched and humiliated did or did not do is pretty much irrelevant - what matters is that he has been designated as the object of hate for the mob. It is that lynching mob reaction that I find particularly despicable.
Wojtek