Confession of a celebrator
Hello.
My name is Erik, and I celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden...
I introduce myself that way because Americans seemed to be uneasy with people who celebrated the death of our tyrant for the last decade, much like they are around addicts, no matter which stage of the recovery they are in.
I had no problem with it. Unfortunately, I was in my undisclosed location getting ready for some early shuteye when I heard the news, not from CNN mind you, but my first ex-wife. CNN was confirmation, then MSNBC for pragmatic coverage of what was happening.
There were no flash celebrations in my neighborhood, but I enjoyed and reveled with the folks on TV. I was glad that bin Laden died on the same exact day as Hitler and I am assured that they are rotting in the same, well-deserved place.
Victory, by the way, is never morbid. A crazy man decided to use an act of terror to get attention and start a holy war. He succeeded, he got the attention he wanted, and now he is dead! Yippee!
If that is considered insensitive, so be it. I think it is insensitive to fly planes into buildings, killing innocent people. I think it is insensitive to blow up government buildings because you disagree with its presence in your region of the world. I think it is insensitive to convince young men to sacrifice their lives as suicide bombers based on ideological rhetoric.
So I was glad to see my fellow citizens celebrating an end to tyranny in their generation. The images will live in my memories forever. The Greatest American Generation had their victory celebration. The Founding Fathers had theirs. Now we have had our turn.
My name is Erik, and I celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden...
I introduce myself that way because Americans seemed to be uneasy with people who celebrated the death of our tyrant for the last decade, much like they are around addicts, no matter which stage of the recovery they are in.
I had no problem with it. Unfortunately, I was in my undisclosed location getting ready for some early shuteye when I heard the news, not from CNN mind you, but my first ex-wife. CNN was confirmation, then MSNBC for pragmatic coverage of what was happening.
There were no flash celebrations in my neighborhood, but I enjoyed and reveled with the folks on TV. I was glad that bin Laden died on the same exact day as Hitler and I am assured that they are rotting in the same, well-deserved place.
Victory, by the way, is never morbid. A crazy man decided to use an act of terror to get attention and start a holy war. He succeeded, he got the attention he wanted, and now he is dead! Yippee!
If that is considered insensitive, so be it. I think it is insensitive to fly planes into buildings, killing innocent people. I think it is insensitive to blow up government buildings because you disagree with its presence in your region of the world. I think it is insensitive to convince young men to sacrifice their lives as suicide bombers based on ideological rhetoric.
So I was glad to see my fellow citizens celebrating an end to tyranny in their generation. The images will live in my memories forever. The Greatest American Generation had their victory celebration. The Founding Fathers had theirs. Now we have had our turn.
I was a bit less celebratory. I think it rehashed the anger in me for the actions that he orchestrated. I was pleased for the vicims' friends and families, however, who psychologically needed this day.
ReplyDelete