What Comes Between Him and His Calvins

This week the British newspaper, The Sun (owned by Rupert Murdoch, a man who has made a lot of money by not under-estimating the taste of the reading public), published pictures of Saddam Hussein wearing nothing but his skivvy shorts. Of course, a ruckus has broken out. The usual charge is that such a photo is a violation of the man's dignity.

To be blunt, the charge is nonsense. Think back, and not that far back, to when, before the capture of the Baathist Behemoth, it was not unusual to see Saddam in films taken at the beach or river or where ever it was that he went to the beach, that the old fellow was filmed, by his own photographers, wearing Speedo swimming trunks. Even then it wasn't a pretty sight. What's the difference between BVDs and Speedos? Spandex?

The real crime involved is that some so far nameless soldier or Marine has, in exchange for a few pieces of silver, reminded the world that our favorite ex-dictator is still alive and well, and apparently has been given a ration of hair dye regularly. If the photos hadn't been published it's probable that in the West M. Hussein would have been thought of as Rudolph Hess was in the late 40s i.e., "Is that guy still alive?" The crime isn't that to whatever Baathist and Saddamites are active in Iraq are offended by the "humiliation" of said Hussein. Who cares what they think? It's like worrying about what unrepentant Nazis thought about Himmler being hanged or what Stalinists thought about Yeltsin. Why worry about what bad people think? They're bad. They've voluntarily placed themselves outside the bounds of civilized behavior. If a dog decides that my leg is a chew toy I really don't much care what the dog thinks when I bonk it over the skull with a walking stick.

The crime is that the dogface or Jarhead broke the rules for no good reason other than to buy a trick car or a ring for his or her sweetheart. And that person should probably spend the summer busting rocks at Levenworth.

Look at it this way. M. Hussein is fed well, he gets to practice his religion (whatever that truly is), and he seems to get a better quality of sadamatas (Japanese for underwear)than your average soldier, sailor Marine or airman. And he's not being shot at.