Saddam Hussein has been found guilty by the Iraqi court where he has been on trial for the 1982 killings in Dujail.

Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted “God is great!”

As he, his half brother and another senior official in his regime were convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, Saddam yelled out, “Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!”

The conviction triggers an automatic appeal to a nine judge panel. They do not have a time limit on reaching their finding, but, “A court official told The Associated Press that the appeals process was likely to take three to four weeks once the formal paperwork was submitted.”

If the conviction is upheld, the hangings will take place within thirty days.

Blogospheric reactions:

Blue Crab Boulevard — “Unlike many of his victims, Saddam Hussein received a trial under the laws of Iraq and has been convicted and sentenced to be hanged.”
Don’t Go Into The Light — “A major milestone in Iraqi history is reached as its most barbaric and murderous leader receives justice – Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to hang by the neck until dead for his crimes against humanity. He deserves worse, IMO.”
Stop The ACLU — “I’m sure the left will question the timing. Meanwhile the demons are sharpening their pitchforks and preparing a special hot spot in hell for this evil former dictator.”
Hot Air — “Dujail’s the tip of the iceberg, one notorious incident for which they had good evidence. The crimes against the Kurds have yet to be punished. But there’s small satisfaction, at least, in some of them having gotten to face the bastard down in court.”
Patterico’s Pontifications — “The Saddam Hussein verdict is about to come down, so it’s naturally time for the L.A. Times to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the court that tried him.”
Ankle Biting Pundits — “When you vote on Tuesday, try to remember that Saddam Hussein would not be on trial for war crimes if we had listened to the Democrats.”
Iowa Voice — “I’ll be honest, I think he’s getting what he deserves. But I have no idea what’s going to happen in Iraq because of this verdict. Could be that all hell breaks loose, or it could be that nothing much happens. I simply don’t know. But we should know rather soon, I would think.”
Jo’s Cafe — “A monster has been judged … now lets hope that the Iraq government has more backbone than ours and hangs this monster in front of the whole country.”
Pajamas Media — Livebloged with tons of links.
Leaning Straight Up — “Somewhere lost in the partisan bickering we lost sight of the reality of who and what he was.

He was a monster. He murdered people in his own country by the thousands, defied the world with his ambitions of domination and had no secret of his desire to see America burn. He financed terrorists worldwide, and harbored some within his own country.”

Flopping Aces
Gateway Pundit
Ed Driscoll
Alabama Liberation Front
Mensa Barbie Welcomes You
Squiggler
Perri Nelson’s Website
Hyscience
WuzzaDem
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
TacJammer

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We’ve come to expect nothing less from the open maw of Howard Dean, the poster boy of Leftourettes Syndrome. The headline, Dean defends Kerry, attacks Bush in Vt., is a pretty good setup to the more-of-the-same that is Dean’s stock in trade.

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee leaped to the defense of the party’s 2004 presidential nominee Wednesday against charges that he was insulting American troops serving in Iraq.

Howard Dean, in comments to reporters in his home state, said Sen. John Kerry had committed “a blooper,” but the reaction had given Democrats an opportunity to highlight what they describe as the Republicans’ weaknesses on the Iraq war.

“Kerry made a blooper. Bloopers happen,” Dean said at the state party’s campaign headquarters.

“I think we want to focus on the president’s intemperate rhetoric in saying to vote for a Democrat is a vote to help the terrorists win,” Dean said. “That’s clearly untrue and that’s exactly the reason why President Bush is a failed president.”

In light of the Kerry news over the last few day,this will receive the most coverage. However, I don’t think it is the most outrageous thing that he said. That would be this:

“I think there’s a lot of similarities between Nixon and Agnew and Bush and Cheney,” Dean said. “They’re both using the IRS for political purposes. They’re both spying on people they don’t like and not just terrorists, but also American citizens. Neither one of them particularly believes in judicial rights. They’ve both been dishonest with the American people.”

WTF?? Why is this man still opening his mouth in public?

It’s obviously a Rovian plot. Sure is a good one.

Who wasn’t expecting this?

Democrats assail Bush’s N. Korea policy

Democrats seized on North Korea’s brazen act to criticize President Bush’s record in confronting the communist regime, contending the administration’s focus on Iraq ignored legitimate threats.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, the president’s rival in 2004 and a potential 2008 candidate, assailed Bush’s policy as a “shocking failure,” and said, “While we’ve been bogged down in Iraq where there were no weapons of mass destruction, a madman has apparently tested the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.”

Personally, I’ve been expecting this since I first read about the nuke (if it was one) test.

The left, instead of addressing the problem, instead of offering any solutions or suggestion, and instead of even condemning the action, can only seize an opportunity to bash President Bush. Two examples:

“The Bush administration has for several years been in a state of denial about the growing challenge of North Korea, and has too often tried to downplay the issue or change the subject.” [Harry Reid]

“We had the opportunity to stop North Korea from increasing its nuclear power, but George Bush went to sleep at the switch while he pursued his narrow agenda in Iraq.” [Bob Menendez]

Senator Mitch McConnell sees all of this for what it is.

“Listening to some Democrats, you’d think the enemy was George Bush, not Kim Jong Il,”

I fully believe that many on the left think that very thing.

File this headline under “As Expected”

Iran wants to talk but keep nuke program

Iran said Tuesday it was ready for “serious negotiations” on its nuclear program, but a semiofficial news agency said the government was unwilling to abandon nuclear enrichment — the key U.S. demand.

I’m. Just. Not. Surprised.

Siding with the terrorists of the world and their friends the ACLU:

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly taping conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries. [My Emphasis]

Well boo-freakin-hoo. If “their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program” then the real question should be why are they dealing with suspected terrorists? The question, of course, is rhetorical.

Expect this to go to extra innings.

Others Blogging:
Iowa Voice
PoliBlog
Wizbang

Ok, I’m posting this under Ridiculous Headlines and As Expected. It is both:

Kerry backing anti-war candidates

When Nasrallah has this to say about the proposed cease fire, it has to tell you something:

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday called the U.S.-French draft cease-fire plan “unfair and unjust,” but said he supports a plan to deploy the Lebanese army in south Lebanon.

[...]

“The least we can describe this (draft resolution) is as unfair and unjust. It has given Israel more than it wanted and more than it was looking for,” he said in a televised speech.

No Surprises here.

Hazleton, Pennsylvania passed a tough illegal immigration law. As Expected™ activist groups are fighting the new law.

The city council of Hazleton, a former coal-mining town of some 31,000 people, late on Thursday passed a measure that will deny a business permit to anyone hiring illegal immigrants.

It also imposes a $1,000 fine on any landlord who rents to illegal immigrants, and establishes English as the town’s official language.

The ordinance states that illegal immigration leads to higher crime rates, overcrowded classrooms and failing schools, imposes a financial burden on hospitals and reduces the quality of other public services in the town.

Hazleton boomed under a wave of Eastern European immigrants in the late 1800s, and has experienced a surge of Hispanic immigration in recent years. [Of course this had to be thrown in. Jim]

The townspeople are suffering from “the debilitating effects on their economic and social well being imposed by the influx of illegal aliens,” the regulation says, and the city has the authority to punish those who aid illegal aliens.

That’s how the town has reacted to this problem. And here’s the upcoming response.

A coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represents U.S. Latinos on immigration issues, say they will sue Hazleton in federal court.

Of course they will. Can’t have towns writing laws to protect themselves, can we?

Note: This post is the first in a new category, As Expected™. I’ve added it for those stories where the usual people do the usual things; usually to the detriment to the rest of us.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let us know at what level you would like to participate.