I know how he feels

I'm speaking of the previous potentate of Iraq - or perhaps the still and deservedly future one, de jure, should you subscribe to the view that the invasion of Iraq was "illegal." No, I don't know what it feels like to be dethroned, though I have been knocked off a pedestal a time or two, and have been cut down to size on occasion. Rather, Saddam "underwent an operation to repair a hernia bout 10 days ago," according to this article..

I had a double hernia repair back in early '02 - an experience I'm glad to have long behind me, even though I was fortunate to have it done laproscopically (and thus was up and running again in short order). The surgeon was so proud of his work that he challenged me to do anything I could think of to undo his handiwork. To this day, thankfully, I've been unable to unravel the teflon-like mesh (or whatever it is) that is now part of my innards.

Is it strange that - barring dangerous hernias, which have been know to occur - Saddam might be given a "comfort operation," since he's likely, uh, not to be with us too much longer, by design?!

The case isn't unique to him, of course. One occasionally hears about prison physicians making every effort to keep a death row prisoner alive, preventing Nature from taking the prize that "society" allegedly covets. Or is it simply humane, so long as a prisoner is alive/allowed to live, to minister to his somatic ailments?

It assuredly sticks in the craw of some people that overseeing the punishment of a malefactor entails a reciprocal desideratum of sorts - medical treatment for the criminal - which in many circumstances isn't automatically available to a law-abiding but indigent person. As Nietzsche might ask, a "parable"?