Just as, according to the song, there was "Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake!".
This is not to reduce the solemnity of either occasion. As the esteemed composer, Thomas Makin, explained:
We thought it was a pleasant, humorous, little, pub song, but as the great writer James Joyce explained in his masterpiece of the same name: "Finnegan's Wake", the song, is an allegory of the birth, death, and resurrection, of the Universe.
Now, it would seem, that as Tim Finnegan rose from the dead through the revivifying power of what the old language calls the "water of life", Sadaam Hussein is predicting the revivification of "the revolution of the heroic Iraq":
"I am not afraid of execution," said Saddam, who then addressed the judge, saying, "I realize there is pressure on you and I regret that I have to confront one of my sons. But I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for Iraq. I'm not defending myself. But I am defending you."At one point, Saddam appeared to threaten the judge, saying: "When the revolution of the heroic Iraq arrives, you will be held accountable."
The above is from a Yahoo! AP article, Saddam: 'I Am Not Afraid of Execution'. As are the following descriptions of additional Fun at a Baghdad Trial:
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer [/] BAGHDAD, Iraq - The first witnesses in the Saddam Hussein trial offered chilling accounts Monday of killings and torture using electric shocks and a grinder during a 1982 crackdown against Shiites, as the defiant ex-president threatened the judge and tried to intimidate a survivor.[…] Throughout the daylong session, Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin struggled to maintain order among boisterous defense outbursts. Saddam and his co-defendant and half brother, Barazan Ibrahim, gestured and shouted together, "Long live Iraq!"
[…] Before the trial adjourned until Tuesday, Saddam repeatedly interrupted testimony and appeared to try to rally Iraqis against the U.S. occupation. [/] Saddam told [Chief Judge] Amin he hoped "that you will endure my frankness." [/] "How can a judge like yourself accept a situation like this?" Saddam asked. "This game must not continue, if you want Saddam Hussein's neck, you can have it!" Saddam said. "I have exercised my constitutional prerogatives after I had been the target of an armed attack.["]
[…] When the first witness Ahmed Hassan Mohammed spoke, Saddam told him: "Do not interrupt me, son." [/] "If it's ever established that Saddam Hussein laid a hand on any Iraqi, then everything that witness said is correct," he said. [/] He also told the court that he "would like (the witness) to be examined by an independent medical institution."
Amin had a difficult time keeping order during several clashes between the witnesses and the accused, with Saddam and his co-defendant and half brother, Barazan Ibrahim, gesturing and shouting together. In one instance, Saddam pointed to the sky with his right hand while he held Islam's holy book, the Quran, in his left.
At one point, Saddam and Ibrahim became so angry while Saddam sparred verbally with the judge and a second witness, Jawad Abdul-Azziz Jawad, that [as] guards tried to calm them. Ibrahim smacked [the guards] on the hands with a notebook. [/] Saddam himself became so angry that he threw some papers he was holding, and they eventually landed on the floor.
[…] Jinan Mushrif, a 49-year-old Baghdad housewife, said she got chills of pride when she saw Saddam and Ibrahim stand in the courtroom and chant, "Long live Iraq, long live the Arab state!" [/] "These are the real men of Iraq, not those who hide behind their bodyguards," Mushrif said with a laugh. [My ellipses and emphasis]
This and earlier Fun today at a Baghdad Trial is just the first day of the first trial.
The Happy Ending of "Finnegan's Wake":
[…] The corpse revives! See how he rises!
Timothy rising from the bed,
Sayin', "Whirl your whiskey around like blazes
Thanum an Dhul! Do you thunk I'm dead?"
Chorus:
Whack fol the darn O, dance to your partner
Whirl the floor, your trotters shake;
Wasn't it the truth I told you?
Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake!
Tim Finnegan had a much happier ending to his wake, actually, than poor Sadaam is apt to have after his several trials in Baghdad.
