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Rudy, knowing that I don't have an antenna connected to my TV, called about 20:05 to tell me that Osama bin Laden was killed tonight. The news says bin Laden was killed by "US personnel," without mention of a drone, and his body is in US "custody." This happened at an Islamabad-area mansion---interesting place for OBL to be hanging out, by the way, but not that surprising. I wonder who gets to collect the reward.A sampling of blog comments at HuffingtonPost shows how eager wingnuts and yoginis alike are to gloat in this event. They need to stop and think: bin Laden was a symbolic figure, not a strategic one. And now he's a martyr. A martyrdom is red meat to organizations and the Taliban, especially if there are bellicose infidel crowds assembling outside the White House gates chanting U S A ! U S A ! and wagging giant sponge-rubber "#1" fingers at the sky.
Assuming that bin Laden was guilty for the planning and logistics of the September 11 attacks---and I guess it's totally unpatriotic and unwise for an American to not assume that, anyway---no normal US citizen will be sorry to see him go. But jingoistic glee is just plain stupid. This event does not cripple al Qaeda, and there will be blowback. Maybe on US soil. But certainly in Afghanistan and Iraq.. to US military and civilian personnel. So with that in mind, I hope our stupid media and politicians will show some circumspection and restraint.
Won't happen, because it's already not happening tonight as I listen to the BBC chat with US "experts." Good night.
agree agree agree. will put no TV or radio on tomorrow. Don't like circuses anyway.
ReplyDeleteand I sure hope they don't neglect to get the long form of the death certificate
I'm intrigued and worried. Intrigued that you don't have your TV connected to an antenna. Worried 'cause Osama apparently wasn't electronically connected to the outside world.Is there a billion dollar tag on your head?
ReplyDeleteThis surely trumps Trump's mischief map making with Mr President's birth place.
Munchkins dancing around a dead witch
ReplyDeletejust read about place where he was hiding. Clearly this was done by high level officers in the Pakistan military/security apparatus-- the very guys with access to nukes. I sure hope our military/security guys are on top of the likely blowback from this.
ReplyDeleteAt least they didn't march through the middle east carrying his head on a pike, as some say the Bush administration would have.
I am very disturbed with the blood thirsty, revenge oriented rejoicing being broadcast to the world. I think it is good to rid the world of a mass murderer, and who knows, maybe this is a significant victory in the war on terror. Hopefully this is a blow to the resolve of al qaeda, and perhaps even a death knell, though that is unlikely. However, this is not the conquering of a warring army, or the defeat of an enemy. It is the assassination of one man, and such unrestrained celebration is, ahem, "unseemly." This is not VE day, or the fall of the Berlin Wall.
ReplyDeleteThis country has been so polarized by the lying GOP that we are desperate for some sort of unifying moment of national pride, and this is symbolically significant for millions of Americans. But I cannot get over my discomfort with the nationalistic fist pumping.
President Obama did a good job with his speech, being careful to not poke his finger in the eye of the rest of the world. However, some prick on CBN chastises him for not gloating enough, and actually says he's catering to thugs by trying to be diplomatic.
Jingoistic is exactly the right word. I didn't like it in the 60s and I don't like it now. Hell, I don't even like it at the Olympics. The USA chant drives me insane. I will be quietly proud of Obama for venturing cleanly and quietly into Pakistan, a position that was widely criticized and ridiculed by McCain et al. And I will be grateful to the men and women who fight our wars. I will not gloat and display blood lust. And I will despair of anything changing, or anyone agreeing with me.
Here is Credo Mobile's well worded response to Huckabee's "welcome to hell" comment:
ReplyDelete"Huckabee's sloganeering is stupid pandering and serves no useful purpose. It may even endanger us. Grim satisfaction, without taunting or actual celebration, seems more appropriate.
If someone cannot speak with restraint about death, they should be quiet."
Thanks, Credo. Taunting is another good word to describe the country's reaction. Even the NFL knows it's snotty, rude, bratty, immature and inappropriate.
Anon: "long-form death certificate"---haha! As you know by now, there are already more stupid conspiracy theories about this incident than you can shake a stick at.
ReplyDeleteMarginalia: the assassination of OBL trumping stupid political theater in America? Sadly, no. And thanks for your concern about my stealthy ways. My plan is to turn myself in for the billion-dollar bounty and then use some of the dough to hire Wall Street lawyers for my defense team. (Either them or the guy who is working for Rod Blagojevich these days.)
Toto: that pretty much sums it up with an image of fitting dignity.
BO: I've thought about the nukes, too. I'm sure Pakistan has no reliable way to deliver that kind of payload to the US mainland, but that corner of the world is target-rich, as they say, with US personnel and interests. There are any number of "statements" a terrorist sociopath could make with such a device. And there is a certain flavor of terrorist to whom detonation within Pakistan would be a feature, not "collateral damage."
Gurlitzer: don't worry. It doesn't look like GOP celebrities want this commando action to become a unifying moment... for Obama. Hearing more reports on the radio this morning, the whole post-Super Bowl ambiance of the gatherings just hit me as pointless, pathetic barbarism. I guess it's no surprise that reflection is for sissies. But you're correct about the downsides of trash-talking: any superstar can have the teeth smacked out of his mouth if the other guy is a nihilist.
Also, I thought Huckabee framed his "hell" taunt in a peculiar way, almost as if he sees himself as a resident thereof. We don't "welcome" a new resident to someone else's city. In general, you expressed many of my thoughts better than I could have in so few words---good job.
One more thought on the assassination of OBL...How in the world did the Navy Seals carry out such a delicate assignment wearing those flippers and goggles?
ReplyDeleteBa-dum,bum.
Boratt is my word verification? Really? Really.
While problematic in a number of ways, a trial (preferable the Hague?), if handled well, could have served as a world wide forum to likely condemn the entire Islamic-fascist sub-sect, while also taking a hard look in the mirror. Much good could have come of it, including the possible outline (but certainly not yet the realization) of reforming the religion of Islam itself. In the long view, in my opinion, many-many future lives lost could have been saved. And, the roots of a true world court could have gone a little deeper vs. the current ephemeral spider webs that Hericlitus' uberman just bats away.
ReplyDeleteEdgar Cayce
2nd thought: the deepest impressions (permanent indentations?) were made on those clustered around the age of 10 at the time. Now, they especially rejoice unreflectively as the big bag boogie man is "eliminated". As a release and psychic exhilation, sure, but as the song says, teach your children well.
hey, anonymous, you can't talk like that and expect to play professional sports in this country
ReplyDeleteGurlitzer: they don't wear that stuff---they're genetically engineered to grow it.
ReplyDeleteEdgar: here's a "cayse" where you're much more idealistic than I'd have expected. On one hand, I don't think there will ever be a true world court until our country gets over its love affair with jingoism; on the other hand, I'm sympathetic to the legitimate concerns many have about how a world court could threaten some important aspects of national sovereignty. The Congress never signed on to that deal, though, mostly I suspect to keep people like Henry Kissinger out of the dock. About the need to "reform" Islam: the other Abrahamic religions arguably need every bit as much reform depending on what strain you choose as being representative. Never a shortage of outrage to point at when looking at the general institution of organized religion.
OCH: Obama said he decided not to release Obama postmortem photos because he thinks America has no need to "spike the football" after this particular win. A wag on the radio this morning suggested that this remark shows just how foreign Obama really is because Americans *invented* spiking the football.