Bin Laden--The Fall Out

Judging from the reactions starting to come in from around the world, I was not the only one with questions about the recent death of Osma bin Laden. Some European nations question the legality of the operation that finally found him, others point to what they see as U.S. violation of its own claim to be a nation of laws--unless inconvenient they are saying--in not bringing the man back for trial. Justice is justice, they say, until the U.S. wants revenge. 

But the point for me is not whether there was confusion and wild shots, or whether the U.S. was justified in executing what was obviously a long-planned operation (CIA agents had the house under observation), or whether Pakistan "knew" about what was going to happen (if they didn't "know" bin Laden was there, I suppose they might not "know" about the U.S.) although they certainly know about the billions they are taking from us in aid and for this reason alone their efforts to have it both ways are at best disingenuous.

The point for me is what it means about the U.S. as a nation and as a people.

I was disturbed when I saw the celebrations reported in the media: open-mouthed roars of approval and chants of USA, as if we had just won a medal at the Olympics. We killed a man in his home--and now we celebrate in a surge of mob chanting? It's not whether he was evil--he was. It's about who have we become?

In a way, I understand why the young people chanted. There is so little in our lives where we can feel part of someting larger than we are, something of which we can be proud. The elite branches of our military have some of that pride. Some may still linger with the Space Program. But that's about all I can think of. Sports and athletes used to be a source before all the strikes and lockouts and suspensions tarnished the image. Only sports writers can generate any enthusiasm for athletes paid in the millions and even then it's mostly about the charities that some of them support outside of their day jobs. Religion has become just one more thing to justify killing others, and mega-churches just convince us that it was all about money after all. Capitalism--while still the best system in theory--has devolved into greed and cheating: who can be proud of corporations who illegally foreclosed on active-duty military thus saving billions and are now offering only millions in restitution, all the while offering bonuses to the executives responsible? Even the Olympics has become merely a medal chase. And our media and literature seldom call us to become our better selves.

So I get it: for one brief moment, capturing bin Laden appeared to be something that could give young people the feeling of being part of something beautiful and something meaningful. The last times we had that feeling was when WWII was over and when we landed on the Moon. Those were jubilant moments of which to be proud.

But where is the pride now? My Tea Party  acquaintance has found some in the bin Laden raid. "See," he says, "torture works."  Is that really the message he wishes to draw from this? I find it very difficult to be proud to be part of a nation that promotes torture. I don't wake in the morning feeling good about human beings being water boarded. I was raised to believe that the US represented good things and that it was enemy who did things like that. I also don't feel good about being part of a country that values and rewards selfishness and cheating.

I had hoped that President Obama might build on the swell of community that got him elected because it was a mighty gathering of young people who opened the office to him, united to defeat the status quo and the ugly posturing of many politicians. But it was only a dream. No one person could stand against so many entrenched interests although he has tried his best.

So where do I end up? I feel strongly that we as a nation must decide what we want to be known for. Are we a people who cheat, let our elderly freeze to the floor in their unheated apartments, let children starve because we don't like their parents, deny education to the next generation because we want to go on our cruises, destroy the planet because it's there to make us money, and loot from one another after a disaster because we can?  Will we go into the history books as a nation of dog-eat-dog?

I'm sorry. But it will take a lot more than assassinating a man to get me feeling proud of being alive.