This is Unconscionable

A Connecticut toymaker has manufactured and is now distributing an action figure of Saddam Hussein, deposed dictator of Iraq, dangling from the end of a rope. I refuse to place a picture of the toy on my blog that is so very wittily being publicized as the "Dope on a Rope." The toy smacks of misplaced values and an abuse of capitalism.

This is not the first such undertaking for this toymaker, who claims the toys are essentially novelties targeted at adults. They have marketed more than 100 satirical figures, including Tony Blair as an Action Man in combat fatigues, George Bush as a superhero, and Michael Jackson holding a baby over a balcony.

This further confirms my suspicion that in America, everything is for sale. If you can make a buck off of it, then go for it. Morals or simply good taste and common courtesy are not issues for some. Some in America may make a mockery of Saddam, but his ghost will taint history much more so than his actual life. FOX News ran this blurb laden with false humility:

“Of course, it’s not gonna be received well by everyone," the company's president, Emil Vicale, said on Monday in a phone interview with FOX News.

I have said before, Saddam was a bad man; he probably deserved to die. Nevertheless, he should not be the butt of sick jokes. Even though he does represent all America stands opposed to, at least allow the man some dignity in his death. The situation in Iraq is much too grim to turn their deposed leader into a laughingstock. Not now; not ever. It is regrettable in America that no one even blinks when a man's death is used to make a dollar. This is capitalism at its finest.

You can click here if you want to see a picture of this sordid little curiosity.