Heads on Pikes

On June 21st, 1621, 27 Czech Protestants were led to the gallows in Prague's Old Town Square; convicted of having rebelled against Bohemian King Ferdinand II.  After their deaths, the Habsburgs had their heads impaled on pikes to adorn the sides of Charles Bridge, an old 14th century bridge decorated with statues of Roman Catholics saints which spans across the Moldau River.  The message conveyed by the Habsburg crown to the mass of Czech Protestants was clear, this was how justice would be done for committing treason against the King.

This sort of bloody threat of violence that would occur if anyone dared threaten the United States is apparently on the mind of Sarah Palin.

Yep, apparently you have to show the bullet ridden corpse of Bin Laden because you can't be 'pussy-footing around' when it comes to a 'mission' as important as the drifting morass that is Afghanistan.  Regardless, this effort to force the Obama Administration to release photos of Bin Laden's corpse has no intrinsic value.  There is nothing to be gained by showing the photos other than to glee at the already evident demise of the infamous terrorist.  Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty's assertion that conspiracy theories regarding the belief that Bin Laden is actually still alive could be nipped in the bud with the release of the photos is ridiculous.  Look at the re-release by the American Government of President Obama's birth certificate.  Did it end all of the birther conspiracies? No, of course it didn't.

Which comes back to the story of the Protestant Czechs.  This isn't about the 'death deniers' as far as Sarah Palin's concerned, it's about demonstrating the greatness of America's ability to marshal overwhelming power to inflict pain and death on its enemies abroad, and finding pleasure and reward in observing the gruesome aftermath.  The Habsburgs' decision to mount the heads of the Czech rebels on Charles Bridge was not about finding pleasure in killing Protestants, for Ferdinand II and advocates of royal power it was about justice and punishment for treason against the crown.  For Sarah Palin and many other Americans who argue her case, this is a demonstration of American power.  Their conception of 'justice' in this case is more akin to self-satisfaction in instilling pain in others, similar to the distressing tendency of Americans to believe in the value of torture in interrogating detainees.  Torture has never been an effective means of exacting intelligence, and always has been a psychological means of demonstrating power over others, in particular the power to inflict pain.

For many Americans 9/11 was a wound that refused to close, partially because many did not want it to close.  It was too useful to have an electorate with the memories of pain and death inflicted on fellow Americans.  In return they wanted an 'eye for an eye' and 'justice' that ended up channeled through irrational displays of violence.  Americans for the most part celebrated news of Bin Laden's death, just as they often try as hard as they can to find reasons, any reasons, no matter how small, to rationalize the use of torture.  The instinct of Americans is driven by a sudden feeling of vulnerability because of a crack in the invulnerability of American power.  The response is predictable and Sarah Palin's demand for display of the consequences of challenging American power is the exemplar of this reaction.  The heads that adorned Charles Bridge after June of 1621 were about justice for challenging the 'divine order of the universe' Ferdinand II's supporters argued; Palin's 'heads' are about revenge and satisfaction.