My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time —
To let the punishment fit the crime —
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each prisoner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!
- The Emperor of Japan (In "The Mikado")
"Life is the imitation of Art" - Oscar Wilde
From a Yahoo! AP article, Saddam Vows No Return to 'Unjust' Court :
Saddam Vows No Return to 'Unjust' Court [/] By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer1Saddam Hussein shouted Tuesday that he will not return "to an unjust court" when it convenes for a fifth session the following day. As the end of the session, when the judges decided to resume the trial Wednesday, Saddam suddenly shouted: "I will not return. I will not come to an unjust court! Go to ####!" [/] Saddam also complained that he had no fresh clothes and had been deprived of shower and exercise facilities. "This is terrorism," he said.
[…] Iraqi lawyer Bassem al-Khalili told The Associated Press that Saddam has no right to boycott the session and that "a court can bring a defendant by force to the court according to Iraqi law."
[…] When asked by the judge which of the defendants she wanted to accuse, "Witness A" identified Saddam. "When so many people are jailed and tortured, who takes such a decision?" she said.
[…] Saddam and the others are on trial for the killing of more than 140 Shiites in the town of Dujail north of Baghdad and could be executed by hanging if convicted. The crackdown followed an assassination attempt, which Saddam told the court Tuesday was ordered by Iran.
[…] That prompted an outburst from Saddam, who complained of his own conditions in detention. He said the court had time to listen to the witnesses' complaints "but does anyone ask Saddam Hussein whether he was tortured? Whether he was hit?" [/] He urged the judge to investigate his conditions because "it is your duty as judges to investigate the crime at its scene."
"I live in an iron cage covered by a tent under American democratic rule. You are supposed to come see my cage," he told Amin. "Please, Mr. Judge, do not accept any insult to Iraq. It doesn't matter if he insults Saddam Hussein, because the Americans and the Zionists want to execute Saddam Hussein. What does the execution of Saddam Hussein matter? He has given himself to Iraq from the day he was at school and has been sentenced to death three times already. Saddam Hussein and his comrades are not afraid of execution." […] [My ellipses and emphasis]
(Yesterdays performance by Sadaam took two posts to cover, including adequate comment, Rowdy Randy Repeating Chicago? and Lots of Fun at a Baghdad Trial! .)
Undoubtedly, the very humane Mikado would have provided much humane, harmless, and innocent merriment through the blustering of a cornered rat.
A more humane Mikado never
Did in Japan exist,
To nobody second,
I'm certainly reckoned
A true philanthropist.
It is my very humane endeavour
To make, to some extent,
Each evil liver
A running river
Of harmless merriment.
Chorus:
My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time —
To let the punishment fit the crime —
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each prisoner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!
- The Emperor of Japan (In "The Mikado")
(Other sources of "innocent merriment" may be found in the other verses.)
