We have a long standing dictatorship in the U.S. too. The "genius" of the U.S. dictatorship, however, is evading the public's animal-like ability to point the finger at one person and "overthrow" them in the display of butchery (however understandable) we have witnessed.

Our dictatorship is a dictatorship of the corporations. Presidents and representatives come and go every few years -- and they simply put others in their place -- having the shepple believe that it's up to these representatives, and it's our own fault for not electing better representatives, so we must keep working at it -- while the dictatorship stays in power -- and a lot longer than Kadaffi.

Right now our oil companies are lusting after the voluptuous breasts of Libya. How they love to parade democracy and overthrow of "dictatorships" -- bringing democracy to yet another corner of the corrupt and backward globe.

Meanwhile they savage the America economy relentlessly.

If Kadaffi had been brought to an international court for war crimes - and then a court in his own nation - likely, it would be easier to try other war criminals internationally. Something our government would not like to see. Sadly, this understandable mob vengeance makes it harder for the world to be a more civilized and rational place.

I was asked by a young person: yes, but wouldn't you feel this was o.k. to do to Hitler? (They see everyone cheering this brutality on - the horrible dictator. And now- well, the wonderful role model and hero for young people - President Obama is supporting it!) Well, yes, I would have felt it was o.k. -- it would have been o.k. if they tore him limb from limb in the street. But -- it was a blessing in disguise, perhaps, that Hitler killed himself so they couldn't. History might look very different today for many people if they had been given an opportunity to butcher the butcher the way Kadaffi was killed. Time may show, IMO, that this was not the right thing to do. We had an opportunity to gain even more "power" (People Power, that is) with his overthrow -- but we have lost it. Things are gained - but things are lost here too.

Besides- this is about someone else's game altogether - a game I don't want to play. For them. The Oil Dictatorship savaging the world and ruining the American economy. To them I say: Trickle that shit down fellas. Where the hell is it O Patriotic Ones? My problem is YOU PEOPLE, not kadaffi. YOU PEOPLE are robbing our country and our futures blind. Don't tell me about kadaffi's dictatorship! LET'S LOOK AT YOURS.

This whole thing has left me feeling that we live in a horrible world. There's no justice any way you look at it, honestly. It's all a story generated - by the corporate owned media -- to make the American shepple think they are in a "democracy" - nothing further from the truth.

So personally, I find our President's tacit support for this lynching-style execution chilling.

Not to mention that I can't even post my opinion on the internet without wondering if "my" government is tagging me. Too bad they don't listen half-as-hard when you bring a grievance to an "elected" "representative"!

We're sick and tired of hearing about your wars and your overthrows of other countries! Where are our jobs? Our healthcare? College educations for our children without obscene student debt? Affordable (not government) housing! Social security people can live on!

SHOW US THE MONEY WASHINGTON D.C.! SHOW US THE OVERNIGHT LEGISLATION! (THE SAME KIND OF OVERNIGHT LEGISLATION YOU PASS TO OVERTHROW GOVERNMENTS!) DON'T TELL ME ABOUT GADAFFI!

Good point George. One of the unknown actions of Gadhafi is he organized one of the first world conferences on the environment that had hundreds of environmental groups from around the world in the early 1970’s.

I am deeply concerned with our policy of backing violent militias. In Libya the majority of the people in the popular uprising were non-violent and the rebel fighters were a minority of the people but the people we backed. Our list of helping violent overthrows is very long:

The 1953 Iranian coup d'état that overthrew the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953 was orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States. The coup placed the Shah of Iran into power where he moved from a constitutional monarch to an authoritarian one who relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979.

According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage pro-Shah riots and other CIA-paid men were brought into Tehran in buses and trucks, and took over the streets of the city where 800 people were killed during and as a direct result of the conflict.

The CIA also backed the School of the Americas graduate Augusto Pinochet the Chilean army general and leader of a military government that assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973 when he overthrew Salvador Allende's democratically elected socialist government and killed hundreds including Allende.

Our long list of helping tyrants includes such brutal dictators like Somoza in Nicaragua, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan (who we armed and trained to fight the Russians), Marcos in the Philippines, and Franco in Spain to name a few.

We also trained and backed the Death squads in El Salvador and other countries throughout South America like Honduras that had death squads active through the 1980s, the most notorious of which was Battalion 3–16. Hundreds of people, teachers, politicians, and union bosses were assassinated by government-backed forces. Battalion 316 received substantial support and training from the United States Central Intelligence Agency and at least 19 members were School of the Americas graduates.

Some information was provided from Wikipedia.

Karmic justice can be harsh.

Karmic justice can be harsh.

I find it chilling to celebrate anyone's death no matter what he or she did. It's scary to consider how tarnished the human heart can become.

Sad day for the poor people of Libya. Here was a man that told Reagan off and people are celebrating his death. He had free education and health care. I wonder if education and health care will still be free. Looks like the Batistas in Libya finally regained control while the world watched. Libya before Gadaffi was the poorest country in Africa. Under his control it became the richest. We will watch as Libya sinks to the bottom again. I predict that the vast wealth of Libya will once again go to the top 1% and the 99% will sink back into poverty. America before Reagan was the richest country in the world and after Reagan it has become the biggest debtor nation in the world. The people before Reagan took office were doing pretty good. Now it is the top income owners doing real good and everybody else is getting poorer. What a sad day for the people. A benevolent dictator overthrown. Meanwhile our dictators vare killing their own people.

This man deserved to die, and at the hands of his own pepple . He jailed, tortured
and held his people down for 42 years. This was not a man to be exiled somewhere living on the treasure that belongs to the people. This ended
the way it should.

"a despotic Mid­dle East­ern ruler forced out of power after a pop­u­lar up­ris­ing that turned into an armed re­bel­lion"

I think this does not capture the reality.

Whatever was good or bad about him, he is out of power now because NATO (i.e., us) and its mighty air force drove him out, so that we can grab the oil.

Libya has been conquered and recolonized.

Whoever the new leader is, he won't cross NATO (i.e., us).

And we'll see if the new leader gives his people the benefits (health care, $50,000 interest free loan to newly weds, great manmade river, etc) that Gadaffi did.