"Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we
consider it false and despise its adherents." -Kahlil Gibran
Osama Bin Laden is dead.
It's funny how writing those words still feels strange two days
after the announcement was made to the world this past Sunday
night. The whole idea of Bin Laden, dead at the hands of the
American Special Forces in a wealthy suburb in Pakistan seems
like it was lifted out of a video game. In the brief time span
since the news broke out and President Obama's confirmation
in his address, the entire country, if not the world has gone on
a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Hell, I did the same thing. I
must've taken all of 15 minutes to go from disbelief to elation
to calm. But one feeling undercuts everything else here. And
that feeling is irritation.
Why? Because all I'm seeing from some people is a wave of
flat out foolishness. Granted, Bin Laden's death is a turning
point in history but there is NO reason to go out and dance
like you're at the Burning Man Festival with Miley Cyrus' 'Party
In The USA' in celebration. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!! Sure, we all
know there were people who danced up a storm in some Arab
countries and even on rooftops in Brooklyn but there's no need
for that nonsense. And there's also no need to vandalize a
mosque like the one in Maine that was broken into Sunday night.
We're supposed to be better than this. We've a right to rejoice
because evil's vanquished but we've got no cause to act like
drunken donkeys in the bleachers at a baseball game. Oh, I
forgot...that's become the norm these days as far as the behavior
and attitudes of some Americans.
Another thing that gets me is the sh*tstorm of left-field and random
conspiracy theories that have flown all across the Internet. I think
some of you people uttering these things need to step away from the
cheeba and booze and stay off Youtube and message boards for a
minute. Now I am skeptical about things and I'm a firm believer in
knowing the truth and seeking it out but some of you WHO KNOW
BETTER are sounding like you took your knowledge from one of those
Lyndon LaRouche booths. When a random 'Net page and a fringe
podcast host is your ONLY source of information, you know what that
makes you? A sucker. And of course there are those who feel that
President Obama made this move only to get re-elected. Or that he
faked it along with his administration. Or that they're faking Bin Laden's
morgue pictures, as seen on a Youtube clip. Or that he died years ago.
Reality television, subpar music and fear politics have scrambled some
of your brains like a Western Omelet.
Bin Laden's death means two things to me. One being that all of those
people who have lost their lives from the World Trade Center to Iraq to
Shanksville to Afghanistan and elsewhere died to keep our way of life
the way it is. And we're cheapening that by acting like people who can't
reason, who cling to bigotry and division. The second thing is, while his
death doesn't mean the end of the struggle against extreme terrorism,
it marks a turning point in this country. We've got a new beginning in
front of us, all of us. Are we going to finally stand up and be the United
States other nations percieve us to be? Or are we going to still let the
bogeymen and partisan profiteers compel us to turn on each other?