We reserve the right to make judgements on people based on their actions. And not too many of us would dispute that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was a dictator who imposed and presided over a brutal regime, was responsible for thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands living in fear and suffering.

So we’re entitled to feel anger towards him, right?

But our actions are a reflection of us, too. What are we when we watch him being dragged from a drain pipe, beaten and then shot to death? What about when his body is paraded through the streets of Sirte and then put on display in a meat locker so locals can take souvenir photos on their mobile phones and we can look at them over our cornflakes? Should we feel ok about that because he was very bad man?

It would’ve been nice to show the world why Gaddafi was so wrong in his actions. Not mimic them.

Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.