# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/81 "2011-05-03T17:40:33Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > 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. That pretty much sums up how I’m feeling about it. As I said in a different thread, one more dead person added to the thousands of dead people doesn’t even the score. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/82 "2011-05-03T17:43:04Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I assume the middle paragraph is meant as similar sarcasm–but there really _are_ a lot of people complaining about the rapid and “respectful” disposal of the body. It’s not “all anyone is doing,” but the meme is very emphatically out there. > > [/SIZE] Depends on how you define “a lot”. As a percentage, I suspect virtually nobody seriously wants to display Bin Laden’s corpse for any reason other than to put to rest any idea that he is still alive. Even then, I suspect almost nobody wants to _display_ his corpse, although many probably wish we still had it to counter conspiracy theories. I don’t know where you are getting your impressions on the corpse angle. As for celebrating his death, I see it the same way as the families of victims celebrating a guilty verdict in a death penalty case. Eww, gross, they are celebrating the killer getting found guilty and sent to the electric chair. The difference is Bin Laden is already dead, but that was his choice. He violently resisted capture. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/83 "2011-05-03T18:06:33Z")
Actually, I think the behaviour the OP is describing is “ghoulish”, not “gruesome.” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/84 "2011-05-03T18:36:03Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > 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. I think capitaine zombie specifically compares “the spirit displayed” rather than equating the intentions or consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/85 "2011-05-03T18:41:09Z")
> [@](#): > > The American Public is Fucking Gruesome Why thank you, I think I’m pretty a…oh, I read that as “Fucking Awesome”. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/86 "2011-05-03T18:47:54Z")
This tiny section of the American public has no desire to see any dead body. However, my non-American SO immediately wondered why they didn’t show his body on the news. It’s not surprising that he’d ask given how bloody his country’s daily news coverage gets. If Osama bin Laden had been captured in Mexico they’d have paraded his remains around on the street for a few days before letting the children rip him to shreds with their precious little teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/87 "2011-05-03T18:52:49Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Actually, I think the behaviour the OP is describing is “ghoulish”, not “gruesome.” That’d work, too. I was using “gruesome” in the title to describe my reaction to their ghoulish-ness. But in hindsight, I think “The American Public is Fucking Ghoulish” is probably less ambiguous. [QUOTE=Carmady] Even then, I suspect almost nobody wants to _display_ his corpse, although many probably wish we still had it to counter conspiracy theories. I don’t know where you are getting your impressions on the corpse angle. [/QUOTE] I got that impression from the man-on-the-street interviews that I was seeing on CNN and MSNBC. I work at home. I kept the television on for most of the morning, so I saw a good five or six hours of wildly celebratory bullshit. I didn’t mind that; I can get behind some bullshit in this case, and I understand where some of the people were coming from, and though I didn’t _personally_ participate in the drunken revelry that was going on the night of the announcement, I’m not condemning it. Osama’s death was pretty fucking cathartic for a lot of Americans. There’s plenty reasons for celebrating his death. But what I saw, and what I’m a disturbed by, was the casual bloodlust on display. And they weren’t suspicious about the disposal of his body – they were smiling and celebrating while CNN was interviewing them, and there was clearly no doubt in their mind that bin Laden was dead. So when a CNN report broke into their celebration and asked, “So what do you think about bin Laden’s death?” and they responded, while laughing and grinning, that they were “excited to see his body,” it wasn’t because they were paranoid conspiracy theorists. They were legitimately enthusiastic about getting to witness the carnage of his death. I gave only one example here, but I saw or heard at least a dozen more while the television was playing in the background. And if there’s any doubt in your mind as to the lurid intentions of a lot of the people celebrating, just check on Facebook. There’s a limit to what the cable news outlets will show; there’s no such impediment on Facebook, where a lot of people are gnashing at the bit to see the AV material that the Whitehouse has yet to publicly disclose. It’s the sort of behavior that places like [Rotten.com](http://Rotten.com) caters to. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/88 "2011-05-03T18:53:05Z")
I heard they dumped the body in the waters outside Fukishima Japan!! Re-animated Giant Laser beam eyed OBL is now my biggest worry! ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/89 "2011-05-03T18:59:47Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > 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. What exactly are you describing as “wanting to see final justice”? Would you say that explains most or a lot of the popular American reaction to finding out they killed him, or are you only literally talking about the feeling that Bin Laden deserved to be killed? Because I think **Tarwater** made it clear that that feeling is understandable – I don’t think anybody has much of a problem with that. It seems to me like the OP is talking about the level of, like, carnal ecstasy that a lot of people seem to be indulging in, and I think the hooligan parallel is kind of appropriate for that. There are a lot of Americans who didn’t react to the news with the eyes closed, victim in the final scene of Law & Order _dun-dun_ sort of relief that I’d associate with getting closure for something terrible that happened. They reacted as if their team had just won a championship and they were going to Disneyland. They were actually enjoying themselves - it made them happy. I think that’s interesting for a lot of reasons\*, and I think it’s fair to point out that this isn’t the kind of gray-eyed resolve that more befits the administration of justice when you’re the good guys. \*one of which is, if this was an ongoing “game,” Bin Laden vs. the US, I’d say the fact that it’s been 10 years since 9/11, and he’s only one guy, means maybe we shouldn’t be so delighted with ourselves. Except I don’t think it has been an ongoing game - I don’t think there’s been a desperate clamor for Bin Laden’s head all this time. Which means the celebration is almost a little cynical - it’s important now that we’ve done it, but we were totally ready to forget. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/90 "2011-05-03T19:04:46Z")
CNN is reporting [here](http://whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/03/even-more-on-the-photos/?hpt=T1) that the photos of bin Laden in which he is most recognizable are “bloody and gory” and “show a massive open head wound across both eyes”. Cool. Regards, **Gruesome Artist** ---
**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, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/91 "2011-05-03T19:33:04Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > What exactly are you describing as “wanting to see final justice”? The desire to see the executed corpse. I was addressing **Capitaine Zombie’s** ridiculous assertion that the U.S. has such a stronger culture of violence than the U.K. when the British can’t even have a sporting event without somebody getting stabbed. To claim that the Goddamn British don’t display “gleefull violence” is fucking ridiculous. ---
**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, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/92 "2011-05-03T19:33:27Z")
This is an ex Bin Laden. he is no more. Fucking A. I don’t know what the problem is, this asshole was a leader and head financer of a world wide terror organization that deliberately targeted countless innocent unarmed noncombatant civilians. He reveled in death and destruction. And now he is dead, the “self appointed saints” come out of the woodwork and scold us for being glad the son of a bitch is gone. Cry me a fucking river. I’m glad he is dead, I hope he experienced indescribable pain, and if desecrating his corpse and wrapping it in bacon could ensure him a quicker trip to hell, even better. Get off the high horse. The animal is dead. Good riddance. Santimonious bunch of pricks. Fuck the hell off. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/93 "2011-05-03T19:37:30Z")
As long as others have seen the photos and can confirm with reasonable certainty that it was him, I don’t need to seem them. I did, however, look up the dead photos of Ted Bundy once because morbid curiosity got the better of me. I followed his case rather closely and was very satisfied when he was finally executed. I especially liked that he tried to delay his execution by promising to divulge other victims’ names and locations. The DA basically told him to eat shit and die. Oh, and FYI, he sure looked dead in the photos. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/94 "2011-05-03T19:38:09Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > I’ve heard that in America, corpses are sometimes put on display during funerals. Have I been whooshed? Viewing the deceased is a quite common funeral custom for many different cultures. I don’t get the outrage over the celebration of his death. He was a self declared enemy of my people. I wanted him dead or captured. I’m glad he’s dead. Throwing a party because he’s dead might be a bit morbid, but I find nothing immoral about it. I certainly don’t find anything shocking about it. I’m not a pacifist. I think it would be hypocritical for people to be happy that he’s dead but pretend that they’re not. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/95 "2011-05-03T19:39:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I wouldn’t be so sure. There have been tribes where what the combatants feared most was being captured and turned over to the enemy’s women. At least, I read that in a Travis McGee novel and it sounded real. > \ When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier. Rudyard Kipling, “The Young British Soldier.” ---
**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, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/96 "2011-05-03T19:46:36Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I was addressing **Capitaine Zombie’s** ridiculous assertion I dont do ridiculous assertions anymore. Only on request. > [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > that the U.S. has such a stronger culture of violence than the U.K. when the British can’t even have a sporting event without somebody getting stabbed. To claim that the Goddamn British don’t display “gleefull violence” is fucking ridiculous. If you’re that confused that you think that the standard in sport behaviour should be the standard for political behaviour, I think you just proved my point. ---
**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, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/97 "2011-05-03T19:57:22Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > when the British can’t even have a sporting event without somebody getting stabbed. The 1980s called. They want their stereotype back. This statement demonstrates nothing except an ignorance of British sports and their fans. ---
**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, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/98 "2011-05-03T20:07:03Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The 1980s called. They want their stereotype back. > > This statement demonstrates nothing except an ignorance of British sports and their fans. Don’t give me that pathetic excuse. From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism#United_Kingdom) > [@](#): > > **death threats by English hooligans have become more common in the 2000s.** Rio Ferdinand was the target of death threats from Leeds United fans, as was Peter Ridsdale.[116][117] Swedish referee Anders Frisk quit his position after receiving death threats from Chelsea F.C. fans.[118] Reading players Ibrahima Sonko and Stephen Hunt also received death threats from Chelsea fans in 2006.[119] Fernando Torres received death threats from Liverpool fans.[120] Sol Campbell received death threats from Tottenham fans.[121] **A steward died after serious clashes between firms from Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers after a Carling Cup game in September 2004.** [122] It has been documented that most English hooligans are in their late teens or early twenties, although it is not uncommon for older hooligans to take part, usually as leaders. They usually come from working class backgrounds, mainly employed in manual or lower clerical occupations, or (to a lesser extent) are working in the grey market or are unemployed.[89] > > After some 20 years of relatively good behaviour among English football fans in general, extreme scenes of hooliganism made a comeback at Upton Park on 25 **August 2009** , when at the Football League Cup second round tie between London rivals West Ham United and Millwall the pitch was invaded several times during the game and rioting in the streets came afterwards, with one incident resulting in a man suffering **stab wounds.** [2] and **Zombie** , no one is equating it to political behavior, you limie moron. You want to talk about a “culture of violence”? The above is your goddamn culture of violence. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/99 "2011-05-03T20:10:00Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > This is an ex Bin Laden. he is no more. > > Fucking A. > > I don’t know what the problem is, this asshole was a leader and head financer of a world wide terror organization that deliberately targeted countless innocent unarmed noncombatant civilians. He reveled in death and destruction. And now he is dead, the “self appointed saints” come out of the woodwork and scold us for being glad the son of a bitch is gone. > > Cry me a fucking river. I’m glad he is dead, I hope he experienced indescribable pain, and if desecrating his corpse and wrapping it in bacon could ensure him a quicker trip to hell, even better. > > Get off the high horse. The animal is dead. Good riddance. > > Santimonious bunch of pricks. Fuck the hell off. One of the things you listed to describe how much he deserved to have his death celebrated was that he reveled in death. I don’t know what you’re so angry about. Some of us think it’s an uncomfortable thing when people get really happy about bloodshed. I think maybe you think it’s sanctimonious to say so, and you are reacting this, uh, violently, to the idea, because you’re a little uncomfortable with it, too, even though it’s how you feel. Because it’s a little gross and a little scary. Feel however you want; I don’t think any of the “self-appointed saints” are doing much to stand in your way. You’re not going to kill us, are you? ---
**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, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550/100 "2011-05-03T20:10:48Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Don’t give me that pathetic excuse. You’re a fucking idiot. Also, even if your examples demonstrated that “the British can’t even have a sporting event without somebody getting stabbed” were true for soccer (it isn’t), you haven’t even taken account of other British sporting events such as rugby union, cricket, rugby league, etc., where fan violence is no more common than at any American event. I could also come up with a list of American sports events over the past decade where fan violence has been an issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-public-is-fucking-gruesome/580550.md?page=6)