NYT blames Bush's Iraq policies for muting the "joy" over Saddam's execution

I'm sure that Dubya and his press office are long since used to their Catch-22 problems in dealing with mainstream media organizations like the New York Times, which will include in tomorrow's edition the following remarkable paragraphs (boldface mine) in a "news analysis" piece headlined "Joy of Capture Muted at End":

CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 29 — The capture of Saddam Hussein three years ago was a jubilant moment for the White House, hailed by President Bush in a televised address from the Cabinet Room. The execution of Mr. Hussein, though, seemed hardly to inspire the same sentiment.

Since his arrest on Dec. 13, 2003, Mr. Hussein has gradually faded from view, save for his courtroom outbursts and writings from prison. The growing chaos and violence in Iraq has steadily overshadowed the torturous rule of Mr. Hussein, who for more than two decades held a unique place in the politics and psyche of the United States, a symbol of the manifestation of evil in the Middle East.

Now, what could have been a triumphal bookend to the American invasion of Iraq has instead been dampened by the grim reality of conditions on the ground there....

A "triumphal bookend"? But for the "growing chaos and violence in Iraq" that the NYT would attribute to Dubya, we'd feel "joy" at this execution — "joy" that now must be muted?

When he was the governor of Texas, Dubya didn't have to worry about his press statements on the many, many executions he was asked to stay causing regional or sectarian violence between, say, Episcopalians in Austin and Baptists in Dallas. But he still knew how to behave in a dignified and solemn fashion with respect to solemn events that require dignity. That's exactly what he's done here, with a short and simple statement marking the occasion, but containing no "triumph" nor "joy" nor celebration of any sort.

As for the Catch-22: Can you imagine what the MSM and their favorites from the Angry Left would have done had Dubya, for example, high-fived Dick Cheney in public to celebrate Saddam's execution? Had the President invited a few key friends and generals over to watch the TV coverage? Or even had Mr. Bush called a simple press conference specifically occasioned by this event? "Ghoulish!" the NYT would have cried. "Unbefitting of an American president, but entirely in keeping with his record as one who presided over so many executions in Texas and then presided over the wanton slaughter of so many innocent civilians in Iraq!" we'd have heard from Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid.

With respect to those whose hatred of the Bush-43 Administration drives and shapes their reaction to every current event, it's indeed true that no good deed by this President goes unpunished.

Meanwhile, the same NYT story contains a quote from a world-class ass-hat blow-hard:

Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who ran against Mr. Bush in 2004 and has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the war, said executing Mr. Hussein was hardly worth the cost.

"To go to war to kill one guy? Please," said Mr. Kerry, who recently returned from a visit to Iraq....

Thus does the former prosecutor who bragged during the 2004 presidential campaign that he'd created "a victim's rights unit that was the first of its kind in Massachusetts and one of the first in the nation" honor the memory of hundreds of thousands of innocents slain by this monster.