On Air America Radio today, Sam Seder noted the numerous benefits for Bush in the hurried-up Saddam Hussein execution.

These include the traditional "what, me report?" Friday news void (an especially yawning gap, given the holiday weekend) and helping drown out coverage of the 3,000 dead American troops milestone.

On the other hand, the execution's timing relative to the Muslim Eid holiday — potentially convenient for helping keep the peace — was, in fact, an extra affront to those who view Hussein as a martyr.

For Sunnis like Hussein and his supporters, the holiday — a period of forgiveness in which such punishments are forbidden — had already begun at the time of the hanging, but it was just before the holiday begins for Shi'ites. As Seder noted, this is a flagrant insult to the now disempowered Sunnis, and not exactly a smart move for the U.S. or the al-Maliki government.

Actually, outside of the U.S., who held Hussein captive up to the end — a chilling statement about the occupation in its own right — it's hard to know who's running the show: al-Maliki or Moqtada al-Sadr, whose ski-masked fan club did the deed.

In any case, the next big American achievement (even bigger than killing thirty or forty Al-Qaeda #2s) is slated to be the killing of the popular al-Sadr. Let us hope that Iraq's florists and chocolatiers are fully prepared for the forthcoming surge in demand.