Osama bin Laden is dead!

[JMohegan]

Seventeen months is an eternity in American politics.

And by the way, the job situation still sucks.

The re-election is not a lock.

 

[midwestyankee]

I don't know about that, but I do think it's not going to affect 2012 as much as they're currently suggesting. People are saying re-election is a lock... but there's way too much time for things to go bad between now and then.

Absolutely. I think it will be harder to boldly claim that this President is a wimp and unwilling/unable to use force when needed. But the other side will find clever ways of minimizing the import of getting bin Laden regardless.

As JM said, the time between now and the 2012 election is an eternity in American politics. We have no way of knowing what other salient events will occur and how the electorate will view them.

For now, it's enough to say, as Jay Leno did, that Obama has a new campaign slogan: "Yes We Did!"

 

[DVS]

ya know..i really appreciate how this thread has actually stayed somewhat reasonable throughout. I mean its nice to have a group of people that while differing on some emotions, really all understand the implications of these actions.

As another interesting piece of information, an Abbottobad man actually live tweeted the event. He didn't realize until later what he had actually done, but its kinda interesting how twitter (along with facebook & even literotica!!) captures these moments in history.

http://www.ksat.com/osama-bin-laden/27753257/detail.html
The article only mentions a few of the tweets, but implied that there were more

Ah, you spoke too soon.

 

[FurryFury]

Absolutely. I think it will be harder to boldly claim that this President is a wimp and unwilling/unable to use force when needed. But the other side will find clever ways of minimizing the import of getting bin Laden regardless.

As JM said, the time between now and the 2012 election is an eternity in American politics. We have no way of knowing what other salient events will occur and how the electorate will view them.

For now, it's enough to say, as Jay Leno did, that Obama has a new campaign slogan: "Yes We Did!"

True. Too bad people just want him out and to blame every bad thing on him. The possible candidates to go up against him are not promising in my eyes. It should be a slam dunk but politics have gotten so mean and fear based it won't be.

 

[Primalex]

What I think a lot of people don't get is the fact that he is NOT just a "figurehead".

He actively raised money for and recruited to his organization, up until the day he was killed. He financially aided Al Qaeda from his own personal fortune and he didn't just command the attacks on 9/11, but many more. He was not only the voice behind Al Qeada, but the person directing their violence.

And you know all this because you have been his clerk? Or because the government said so, the one that said that there are weapons of mass destruction?

Anyway...

Well, the rabid minion is finally dead - but if you think his legacy are terrorists, then you didn't get it at all. He slingshotted the "civilized countries" human and constitutional rights back into the dark ages. War of aggression, Blackwater, Abu Ghraib, Guantanomo, No-Fly-Lists, ..., .... - we befouled ourselves just to be able to have our revenge. We have recreated the 21st century version of the Spanish Inquisition and people are dancing in the streets. This makes me sad.

 

[intothewoods]

Seventeen months is an eternity in American politics.

And by the way, the job situation still sucks.

The re-election is not a lock.

Someone hasn't been watching the news. This is clearly the defining moment of Obama's presidency.

 

[JMohegan]

Someone hasn't been watching the news. This is clearly the defining moment of Obama's presidency.

Ha - very amusing!

But this... well... this is fucking hilarious -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecu...rules-by-editing-her-out-of-white-house-photo

 

[intothewoods]

Ha - very amusing!

But this... well... this is fucking hilarious -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecu...rules-by-editing-her-out-of-white-house-photo

That's nuts.

 

[YourCaptor]

You know what I love about this one, the military didn't just do it right, they went above it.

Usually you'd hear something like, fire bombs killed 300 children after osama cardboard cutout was mistakened for the real thing, and then me complaining in the background about how much army sucks.

For all I care they could have bombed that house and I would have been happy. But no, they do a few better and send in some dudes to scramble his brains.

Sweet deal, I actually feel good about paying into that massive death machine for once.

I think the US should do this regicide thing more often, like around north koreaish

 

[lorencino]

And you know all this because you have been his clerk? Or because the government said so, the one that said that there are weapons of mass destruction?

Anyway...

Well, the rabid minion is finally dead - but if you think his legacy are terrorists, then you didn't get it at all. He slingshotted the "civilized countries" human and constitutional rights back into the dark ages. War of aggression, Blackwater, Abu Ghraib, Guantanomo, No-Fly-Lists, ..., .... - we befouled ourselves just to be able to have our revenge. We have recreated the 21st century version of the Spanish Inquisition and people are dancing in the streets. This makes me sad.

This is the closest remark I could find in this thread that approximates my reaction to the killing of Bin Laden. As a non-USean I was staggered when I saw on my TV screen the images of people dancing in the streets in celebration of an extra-judicial execution. I felt embarrassed for the people of the USA to see what struck me as an unfortunate obscenity that befouls the sanctity of life. I don't mock the citizens of the USA, rather, I feel deeply saddened by what they have given up or had taken from them.

At the Nuremburg Trials there was a distinct aura of dignity in providing an unquestionably fair trial to the monstrous instigators of industrialized murder during the reign of the Hitler and the Nazi party. The Nuremberg Trials promoted the concept of the rule of law as a bastion against lawlessness and the brutal extreme of human nature that the Nazis had so successfully depicted.

When one considers that the collective crimes of Bin Laden are not more blameworthy than the collective crimes of the Nazis, one has to wonder whether the failure to put Bin Laden on trial (remember even Eichmann's treatment by Israel involved the kidnapping of the man in a foreign country in order to put him on trial) has chilling implications for what respect the US authorities currently have for the rule of law.

Bin Laden succeeded in robbing all of us of our freedoms as our supposedly democratic countries turn to justifying wars with lies, abandoning habeas corpus and meeting peaceful demonstrations with police brutality. From a certain angle, Bin Laden has succeeded in destroying a certain level of democracy in our societies.

What happened to Bin Laden has implications for your and my safe passage through life in our democratic countries. His death does not make us safer if it encourages international lawlessness and domestic oppression.

 

[Etoile]

Paging Mr. Godwin...

 

[lorencino]

Paging Mr. Godwin...

“. . . the United States is now a post-legal society.” —Tom Engelhart

. . . and Mr. Godwin, regrettably, has become a quaint anachronism in this new society. The USA, which sees itself as a revolutionary society with a revolution that preceded the French Revolution, has become immune to reform and thus destined to exhibit greater corruption and decadence as the years role on unless the country can be saved by a fresh revolution.

 

[Etoile]

“. . . the United States is now a post-legal society.” —Tom Engelhart

. . . and Mr. Godwin, regrettably, has become a quaint anachronism in this new society. The USA, which sees itself as a revolutionary society with a revolution that preceded the French Revolution, has become immune to reform and thus destined to exhibit greater corruption and decadence as the years role on unless the country can be saved by a fresh revolution.

What does that have to do with it? You proved the law's validity, regardless of what country NOW holds the title (or will soon). It's about Nazis, you brought up Nazis, therefore the law stands. If you wanted to make a different comparison, you should have done so. But apparently Godwin is not as quaint or anachronistic as you would claim, because - hello - you used a Nazi reference.