Portraits of the Dead and Famous

Torn between celebrating Zarqawi's death and wondering if it will even matter? Try satire instead:

Wow, if there was any doubt about where the contemporary art market is going, they were dispelled this morning at Christie's Baghdad, where the US Government paid a record-setting $286 billion--plus $240 for framing--for this portrait of the dead Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

(Link via Kottke.)

Postscript: In a conversation with my friend Michael this evening, he pointed out the creepy similarities between the decapitation videos shot by Zarqawi's troops earlier in the war and American commanders' display of his (presumably unsevered) head. Chacun à son goût, I suppose, but it's a disgusting, pornographic parallel.