Plum Crazy

As I'm sure you've all read by now, Saddam Hussein is likely to be hung tomorrow. Let me go on record as saying that I am against the death penalty, and that I do not believe that Saddam should be executed (Note that this did not stop me from putting him on my 2006 Dead Pool roster, however. Hey, you've got to play the odds on something like that.). However, this post is more about the possible broadcast of his execution. The Iraqi government will be videotaping everything. It's not clear if they're going to actually broadcast the tape, but some believe that a video of the execution will be released.

This leaves the US broadcast media with a decision on how to handle this. "Tastefully," mind you. To broadcast or not to broadcast, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the media to suffer the slings and arrows of lowered ratings. ABC and CBS say they will not air the full execution. I suppose that means they'll air parts of it, but not the actual hanging itself. CNN and Fox are undecided. Regardless, I think it's fair to say that if a video is released anywhere in the world, it will wind up on the Internet pretty quickly, likely bringing down someone's server due to heavy viewing.

A commenter over at Balloon Juice says "When this hits YouTube, I think a whole lot of people are going to be looking at the death penalty differently." I admire that person's optimism. I just think it's sadly misguided. It's not that long ago that executions were public events. Family events, replete with picnic baskets and knitting needles. While I think that some people might be swayed by its barbarism, I don't think many people will be. But Zifnab, whoever you may be, I hope you're right.

Via Shakespeare's Sister, who kindly asked me to cross-post the entry directly below to her blog! Woot!