Liberal Contest Winners: Carnival of the Obituaries

by Joe Katzman at July 25, 2003 3:12 AM

The results of our contest to find liberals who were actually happy about Uday and Qusay Hussein's death are in, and I'm pleased to report that many self-identified liberals did indeed have worthy things to say. Winner of the contest, with 4 first sightings, is Kathy K. of On the Third Hand. Take a bow, Kathy!

A couple of observations. First, I'm really glad I ran this content. As you can see from the list below, lots of folks had stepped up. I must confess, it cheered me considerably after seeing the stuff referenced in the link from my contest post and on Den Beste's site. Always do the research.

The other observation is that here are some of the people A.L., Michael Totten, Dean Esmay et. al. are looking for. It's easy to focus on the barking loonies at Democratic Underground and Indymedia, not to mention bloggers like Hesiod and Daily Kos who painted big and deserved bulls-eyes on their foreheads. Thing is, opinion surveys have been done of the Democratic Party that show an astonishing split between rank-and-file party members and activists, to the point where the Washington Post said that "Democratic activists and rank-and-file might as well have come from different parties." Guess which type the blogosphere is filled with?

Whichever type these bloggers may be, they deserve and receive my appreciation:

  • Amygdala: "The only downside might be the possible intel that perhaps could have been gotten from them. That, and the loss of an opportunity to put them in stocks and let every Iraqi get a chance to slap them. The rest is all up side, as they head downside."
  • Calpundit had a post. His comments section ranges from "woo hoo!" to barking moonbattery, but the overall tone seems quietly pleased.
  • "Bang" says Justin Slaughter of the Columbia Political Review. Well, he says a lot more than that...
  • Dean Esmay is happy. Though I think he's beginning to see the light, he still self-identifies as liberal.
  • Different Strings says: "As much as I hate taking pleasure in the death of anyone, there are some people who are so evil that I can make exceptions for them, and these two fit the bill."
  • Eyeranian has a few choice words. No doubt many Iranians feel the same way, though I suspect Pedram's preferred option of an international trial might take 2nd place to "no, just give them to us." We thought we'd save y'all the line-ups.
  • Gabriel Gonzalez adds: " In France (where I live), Pascal Bruckner, Alain Finkielkraut, and Bernard Kouchner (France is not big on blogging yet)." Probably. Then again, GG was sure that Matthew Yglesias would be happy too. You be the judge.
  • Judith Weiss says: "Ding, Dong, the Witch Is Dead!" And you've got to read her update... owwwch!
  • Just Left of Center says: "I think it’s great that Saddam's 2 sons were killed – and I think it laughable that people are saying it was 'Murder' or Illegal' or whatever. I don’t like how we got into the war – but the fact is that the war itself is justified and the world is better off with Saddam gone. It is a victory in the war and, secondarily, a victory for Bush and Co." (Hat Tip: Michele's comments section)
  • OldFan may or may not be a liberal, but I had to reprint this comment: "The very best thing about the closing of the cases on Saddam's monstrous spawn is that NO lawyers were involved in the process at ANY time."
  • Oxblog's David Adesnik pens a satire, while his blogging partner Josh Chafetz's comment are short and to the point.
  • Rittenhouse Review: "Let me ungraciously interrupt the collective wet dreams of the demented right wing to say, without equivocation, that I’m pleased to learn these little cretins are dead, gone forever, and that I hope our otherwise admirable military forces will prove similarly successful with respect to Saddam and the altogether thoroughly forgotten, yet truth be told, more threatening menace to the U.S., Osama bin Laden."
  • Sean LaFreniere titled his post: "Justice". Keep scrolling down, he gets even more sensible.
  • The Talking Dog: "We are saddened to hear of the deaths of Qusay and Uday Hussein, at the hands of American aggressors at a villa in Mosul, Iraq. Not."
  • TAPPED, The American Prospect magazine blog: "It appears that they died quickly, in a firefight, which is too bad -- we'd have preferred they suffer a bit first.... If these two have been behind some of the guerrilla attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq, perhaps our troops there will have an easier time of it." (Hat Tip: Michele's comments section)
  • Michael Totten isn't sure he still qualifies according to "politically correct" standards. Michael, tell the "PC" brigade to blow out out their ass. Nice post, like the title.
  • Treacher's post is just one word long, and that's enough. Love the Pig Latin title, Jim.
  • War Liberal opines: "I guess a capture and a trial would have been better. (Of course, the Euros would have complained when we shot them afterwards.)"

A final thought. Contest runner-up Mitch H. opined: "Really, though, this self-selects for pro-war sentiment."

It shouldn't. The same reasons motivating Salam Pax and many Iranian bloggers should motivate every decent human being in this case. Even a pacifist could rejoice when Hitler died. As TIME ably documented and we've chronicled, these people were evil with a capital E. The fact that they're gone is good news, period, and anyone who can't bring themselves to acknowledge that has a hole in their soul.

Commentary on Uday & Qusay's death was a moral Rorschach Test of sorts. The folks above, and many more bloggers we didn't find and acknowledge, passed.

UPDATE: Here's a letter Joe received from one happy liberal in uniform.

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