http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/65072100624445440
“Karen. The president is making a special announcement at 10:30,” Kevin says to me as I’m watching an episode of “Samantha Who?” on Netflix online.
I rolled my eyes. Excuse me for the sarcasm but that’s my general reaction whenever I hear Obama is about to make ANOTHER speech.
The man is stuck in campaign mode.
Still. Ten-thirty at night? This was unusual, but I figured I would hear about it soon enough and quite honestly (really, when am I NOT honest with you, Internet), I much prefer to read Obama’s transcripts so I don’t have to subject myself to his arrogant attitude, his haughty expressions and that annoying, drawn-out ssssssss sound he makes any time he says a word that ends in S.
Seriously. I picture a cartoon whistling snake slithering through tall grass whenever I hear him talk – I can’t help it.
I’m just getting back into the show (Christina Applegate is so adorable), when Kevin pops his head around the corner.
“Obama hasn’t come on yet, but rumor has it that Osama bin Laden is dead,” he tells me. Again. I remain motionless as I absorb this information.
My first thought was “about damn time,” and then a feeling of vindication for all the people who lost loved ones on 9/11 and a surge of pride for our country – you mess with us, we will hunt you down and make you pay. It may take us years, but we WILL seek justice.
My second thought was, “crap. This is going to make Obama look good.”
And that made me angry. Not because I’m hell bent on removing the man from office (because I am, actually), but because he would likely take credit for it, with the media’s blessing (and I was right), and spin it so that he somehow comes out as a hero in this whole decade ordeal even though he vowed to shut down the hunt and instead, try and offer an olive branch to a section of radical extremists who have no interest in anything other than displaying our heads on spikes.
Let’s be clear, to coin an Obama phrase, Obama gave the go ahead to instigate the raid, and kudos to him for doing so, by the way, but he did NOT, nor should NOT, take credit for any part in taking bin Laden out. Those policies/procedures/plans were firmly in place from the Bush/Cheney era and carried out by our very capable and pretty damn awesome special ops teams.
Period.
I’ve been watching people on Twitter celebrate the death of bin Laden and even though I’m glad the man is gone and in fact, deserved to die for the sheer number of American deaths that him, and his followers, have carried out over the years …
Remember 9/11 and the 2,977 innocent men, women, and children murdered by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.
Remember the 2000 USS Cole and the 17 sailors killed by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.
Remember the 1983 Beirut bombings and the 241 US servicemen murdered by bin Laden’s jihadi spiritual brethren.
… still, I felt a bit uncomfortable with just HOW jubilant people have been. In fact, some have been downright gloating and I’m not sure that reaction is exactly right, either. I even saw several people chastise Christians for not “turning the other cheek” on this issue. (Which, by the way, turning the other cheek is translated to mean ignore insults and mockery, it does NOT refer to social justice).
And there are some people who want to believe that now that bin Laden is gone, we can breathe easier and consider ourselves “safe” from terrorists.
I only wish that were true.
http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/65119208354222080
Osama bin Laden has only been a figurehead, there is still an organization, and I daresay it will never go away, not truly, that believe Americans are the devil’s spawn – we’ll never be truly safe until Christ comes back to save us.
Evil does, and will continue, to be present. People who think it’s possible to have a Utopia before Christ returns are naive and gullible.
I have questions; I can’t help it, I question authority, that’s who I am. I wonder if the person they killed was indeed Osama bin Laden. They allegedly compared DNA samples to his sister’s brain (who died last year from brain cancer) and that bin Laden’s wife called out his name during the raid, but what if, and humor me for a moment please, the DNA match wasn’t actually bin Laden but one of his brothers? After all, couldn’t a familial DNA sample match those within the same family? And why would the wife call out bin Laden’s name during the attack? Was that some sort of ploy to throw our soldiers off track and instinctively target the man she was addressing? What if it was a ploy to divert attention from bin Laden? And why was bin Laden buried at sea so quickly? I get that Muslim customs require a body to be buried within 24-hours of death, but considering the circumstances, wouldn’t it have been better to slow things down a bit and make sure it was in fact bin Laden before disposing the body?
I pray all of this is true and that bin Laden is indeed gone. Perhaps that will dissuade others, at least for a short time, to leave us alone. (Though I’ve heard a rumor that there might be a nuclear bomb hidden somewhere in the world that is supposed to go off if something happens to bin Laden – I pray that’s not true. It’s like an episode of “24”, isn’t it).
Anyway. Those are my thoughts on the issue. I have to purge this out of my system of I’ll never get anything done.
Thanks for hearing me out.
ADDED: Love how this is worded. From Sarah Palin’s Facebook page:
Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude. God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring Bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of these brave Americans who relentlessly hunted down our enemy.
This is a victory for the American people, for the victims who were heartlessly murdered on September 11 and in Al Qaeda’s other numerous attacks, and for all the peace-loving people of the world.
May God bless our troops and our intelligence services, and God bless America!
From President Bush:
This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.
Damn straight, sir.
Write From Karen 