It's now become a fact of life that when a major news event happens, you can stroll through public opinion simply by scrolling down on your Facebook feed.
As I saw my friends react to the Osama Bin Laden's death, it seemed more and more that the overall feeling was confusion as to how to feel.
I shared in that confusion.
I'm happy that this may help the families of the victims of 9/11 feel some sense of peace, but I also find it alarming that this man has basically become the bogeyman and now everyone feels that we're safe. If anything, I worry that we're in more danger now that we've killed a symbol. Then again, I also worried when we started making him a symbol ten years ago.
I worry that people are cheering for bloodlust, but I understand that many feel it's retribution for what happened on that day in September. Still, I feel like asking people--"Do you really think one person was the cause behind all of that? Do you really think we've caught everybody who had a hand in the attacks?" It's disturbing to see some of the blind Nationalism that was exhibited in the post-9/11 days return with such energy. People were standing outside the White House singing the National Anthem as if somehow the pride of our country rests in the fact that we're able to hunt down a psychopath.
I'm repulsed at how political this whole thing has become. Whether it's Republicans blasting Obama for taking credit or Democrats effectively taunting Republicans because Bush couldn't find Bin Laden, it all seems like children playing video games.
"Kill a Terrorist--Gain 50 Points."
I feel odd rejoicing over the death of anybody. I don't believe in the death penalty. I believe in long prison sentences where someone rots in an eight-by-ten cell. That being said, I understand the greater magnitude of this situation.
More than anything, I'm confused by the fact that people are using the term "win" today. We caught Bin Laden, we won. Obama won. America won.
Meanwhile, all those people are still dead and costly wars still rage on.
Am I the only one who doesn't feel like the word "win" is appropriate?
As I saw my friends react to the Osama Bin Laden's death, it seemed more and more that the overall feeling was confusion as to how to feel.
I shared in that confusion.
I'm happy that this may help the families of the victims of 9/11 feel some sense of peace, but I also find it alarming that this man has basically become the bogeyman and now everyone feels that we're safe. If anything, I worry that we're in more danger now that we've killed a symbol. Then again, I also worried when we started making him a symbol ten years ago.
I worry that people are cheering for bloodlust, but I understand that many feel it's retribution for what happened on that day in September. Still, I feel like asking people--"Do you really think one person was the cause behind all of that? Do you really think we've caught everybody who had a hand in the attacks?" It's disturbing to see some of the blind Nationalism that was exhibited in the post-9/11 days return with such energy. People were standing outside the White House singing the National Anthem as if somehow the pride of our country rests in the fact that we're able to hunt down a psychopath.
I'm repulsed at how political this whole thing has become. Whether it's Republicans blasting Obama for taking credit or Democrats effectively taunting Republicans because Bush couldn't find Bin Laden, it all seems like children playing video games.
"Kill a Terrorist--Gain 50 Points."
I feel odd rejoicing over the death of anybody. I don't believe in the death penalty. I believe in long prison sentences where someone rots in an eight-by-ten cell. That being said, I understand the greater magnitude of this situation.
More than anything, I'm confused by the fact that people are using the term "win" today. We caught Bin Laden, we won. Obama won. America won.
Meanwhile, all those people are still dead and costly wars still rage on.
Am I the only one who doesn't feel like the word "win" is appropriate?
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