# The American Public is Fucking Gruesome **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 3, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550 "2011-05-03T05:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/61 "2011-05-03T15:36:46Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Sure. But would there have been calls for their _bodies_ to be publicly mutilated? The subject of this thread has been display, not mutilation. So let me fill the gap by expressing hope that the ugly bastard’s ugly corpse was defiled with a bit of mutilation. Defilement by salivation, urination and defecation would also have been completely appropriate. Finally, let us add defilement by porcination (“porcine” = of/pertaining to pigs) as in I hope they rubbed the corpse with bacon grease before they fed it to the fish. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/62 "2011-05-03T15:39:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > It seems like people have gone in for this sort of thing since time immemorial. Public beheadings and drawing-and-quarterings used to be popular entertainment and they would attract gigantic crowds. And I’d bet that if they were brought back, they would do so again. Like it or not, most human beings are fascinated by gore. Hell, back in the day, they’d have tried to get parts of him for luck.. > **[Hand of Glory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory)** > > A Hand of Glory is the dried and pickled hand of a hanged man, often specified as being the left (Latin: sinister) hand, or, if the person was hanged for murder, the hand that "did the deed." > Old European beliefs attribute great powers to a Hand of Glory. The process for preparing the hand and the candle are described in 18th-century documents, with certain steps disputed due to difficulty in properly translating phrases from that era.\[citation needed\] The concept has inspired short stories and ... ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/63 "2011-05-03T15:45:06Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Multitudes of people turned out to view the dead bodies of Bonnie and Clyde when they were brought back to Dallas-----my father was one of them. He always maintained that people were so afraid of Bonnie & Clyde that they wanted to see for themselves that they were truly dead. That might be one of the reasons people want to see at least pictures of a dead Ossama bin Laden. The United States had a tradition of photographing/viewing the bodies of slain outlaws long before Bonnie & Clyde. Well, maybe not **long** before on account of the mass distribution of photographs not happening until the latter half of the 19th century, but you get my point. When John Dillinger lay in a pool of his own blood, bystanders dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood to save as a neat piece of memorabilia and his body was displayed to the public in the morgue. I don’t know if fear was the main motivation or the fact that Dillinger, Clyde and Bonnie were famous. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/64 "2011-05-03T15:47:15Z")
Apropos of nothing, I remember when Ken Lay died, there were people demanding to see his corpse or else they were going to believe he faked his own death. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/65 "2011-05-03T15:58:31Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > The subject of this thread has been display, not mutilation. From what I’ve seen, on the board and generally, there is a very high correlation between those who want to see images of the body, or the body itself, and those who want the body mutilated, or to mutilate it themselves. I think there’s a little more to it than wanting verification. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/66 "2011-05-03T16:05:50Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > I am happy to confirm that this is one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen: > > [OBL’s ugly dead body](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://newsnet7.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/osama_bin_laden_dead0001_66.jpg&imgrefurl=http://newsnet7.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/usama-bin-laden-dead-body-pictures-are-fake-caution-graphic-photos/&usg=__zvhjHNH3NvfvDiSe23SVJ-SqZcU=&h=263&w=197&sz=13&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=uW7shi5dSgkwvM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=112&ei=Rg7ATfLNF4Xs0gHT64j8BA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dosama%2Bdeath%2Bpicture%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1W1ADRA_en%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D592%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=142&vpy=86&dur=125&hovh=210&hovw=157&tx=111&ty=117&page=1&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0) > > I hope it proves to be authentic, and if it is not I hope someone provides the real McCoy ASAP. > > And oh, lemme tack on a few smileys for good measure: > > :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D > :p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p > > Aren’t I awful! Sorry, but [Osama bin Laden corpse photo is fake | Osama bin Laden | The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-photo-fake) ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/67 "2011-05-03T16:06:51Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > From what I’ve seen, on the board and generally, there is a very high correlation between those who want to see images of the body, or the body itself, and those who want the body mutilated, or to mutilate it themselves. > > I think there’s a little more to it than wanting verification. Hey, the bloodthirsty crowds still want to look at themselves tomorrow as proper human beings. Civilized and all. So they wont even muster the balls to say it flat. Boy, was Obama good at convincing the world that lynch mob America was a thing of the past. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/68 "2011-05-03T16:10:38Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > From what I’ve seen, on the board and generally, there is a very high correlation between those who want to see images of the body, or the body itself, and those who want the body mutilated, or to mutilate it themselves. > > I think there’s a little more to it than wanting verification. I am impressed by the caliber of the research you have done, and by the inferences you have drawn. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/69 "2011-05-03T16:12:23Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Sorry, but [Osama bin Laden corpse photo is fake | Osama bin Laden | The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-photo-fake) Hey Doug, check out post #50 and post #51 when you have the time, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/70 "2011-05-03T16:13:05Z")
Well, you provided yourself as helpful example. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/71 "2011-05-03T16:14:38Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Well, you provided yourself as helpful example. Who, me? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/72 "2011-05-03T16:32:45Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Boy, was Obama good at convincing the world that lynch mob America was a thing of the past. If I didn’t know any better I would think we were turning into the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/73 "2011-05-03T16:34:15Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Boy, was Obama good at convincing the world that lynch mob America was a thing of the past. You can’t lynch a dead man. Anyway, I don’t think the behavior of Americans in regards to Bin Laden is all that unique. If 9/11 happened in Germany or Great Britain you don’t think there would be plenty of people celebrating the death of Bin Laden? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/74 "2011-05-03T16:38:22Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > You can’t lynch a dead man. Anyway, I don’t think the behavior of Americans in regards to Bin Laden is all that unique. If 9/11 happened in Germany or Great Britain you don’t think there would be plenty of people celebrating the death of Bin Laden? Nope, there’s a culture of gleeful violence that would be regarded as despicable in any other Western nation. I dont know where it comes from exactly, and I thought it had subsided. I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/75 "2011-05-03T16:39:16Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > That’s horrible. You just have to wonder what the guy did to inspire such hate. The sarcasm is strong young jedi. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/76 "2011-05-03T16:50:33Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > They’ve got more than enough recruiting material as it is and I don’t really see a problem with people being happy about the death of a creature like OBL. He’s dead, good, happy happy joy joy. I’m glad he’s dead, but i’m not happy. That might seem like a rather silly distinction, but it’s how i feel. He deserved what he got (although i think i would have preferred to see him captured and imprisoned for the rest of his life), and the world is, in one particular way, a better place now. But i can’t bring myself to feel actual happiness about it. Happiness for me is a rather different emotion, something that is a positive expression related to something good and uplifting and affirming. The death of Bin Laden is something i see as more or less inevitable, and appropriate, but not really something to make me happy, in the positive sense of the word. And it’s still not clear to me whether it will be the end of something, or the start of something else. That is, i’m not sure whether the death itself will end up being merely symbolic, or will lead to an escalation of violence. In those circumstances, “happy” doesn’t seem quite appropriate. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/77 "2011-05-03T16:58:23Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Nope, there’s a culture of gleeful violence that would be regarded as despicable in any other Western nation. Nah, just think of it like a big soccer game. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/78 "2011-05-03T17:06:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Nah, just think of it like a big soccer game. Or like we were rounding up and killing Jews in Germany. Or bulls in Spain. Yup, [no other](http://consolidatednews.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/From-the-Archive-of-CNP/G0000ghXWBhzoRWU/I00003uxzjugilY4) Western nation would ever stoop so low as to celebrate when [an enemy is dead](http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2009/05/29/normandy-queen-france029.html). None. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/79 "2011-05-03T17:07:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Nah, just think of it like a big soccer game. If you’re saying the behavior displayed is the same as the spirit displayed in hooliganism, I would agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/80 "2011-05-03T17:24:53Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > If you’re saying the behavior displayed is the same as the spirit displayed in hooliganism, I would agree with you. So punching a fan of the opposing sports team is the same as wanting to see the final justice of a man that killed thousands? That’s some enlightened thinking right there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550.md?page=5)