By Tom KandoIs this a good title or what? My wife came up with it.
Lately, the news has been coming fast and furious. The most prominent recent issues have been demographic: Kate and William (marriage), President Obama (birth) and Osama Bin Laden (death).
Here is my take on the British Royal wedding: it was real nice. How is that, for excellent political analysis?
As to the other two issues mentioned, it is also difficult to make any meaningful comments about them at this point, since just about everything has already been said over the past week or so. Just this, maybe:
1. I am joining the chorus of those who argue that the death of Osama at the hands of Obama may be a good time to ratchet down our “war on terrorism.” See for example Katrina Vanden Heuvel’s article “It’s Time to End the War on Terror,” (Sacramento Bee, May 3, syndicated from The Nation).
And also this post by my friend Marc Hersch 'Ding Dong Bin Laden’s Dead, the Wicked Witch is Dead'
One reason why I side with these people is that I am fed up taking off my shoes at US airports. Not requiring you to take off your shoes would be a good start. Now that Osama is dead, maybe it’s okay to keep your shoes on?
2. At the same time, there is the nearly unanimous call for continued vigilance. Osama’s death has symbolic value, not much strategic value, etc. Duh…
3. Predictably, to which side you lean the most is largely determined by how ‘liberal” or conservative you are. And because Europe is more liberal than America, I detect more calls for “conciliation” over there, and a more continued bellicose attitude here (with all exceptions granted). For example:
On May 3, the Dutch NRC-Handelsblad and the British The Independent printed an article by Geoffrey Robertson, who argues that Osama should have been captured live and tried, rather than assassinated. According to this view, President Obama himself acted like a criminal.
I doubt that many people in the Western world will sympathize with Mr. Roberston.
There are also contrasting spins about how valiantly or cowardly Bin Laden died: Most of the American press (E.g. the Sacramento Bee) describe him as a coward who used one of his wives as a shield.
Other reports (E.g. the NRC-Handelsblad ) tell us that he either died (1) with guns blazing, or (2) killed while unarmed. Either of these scenarios make him look better.
4. Anyway, as President Obama said, “What a week!” The birth certificate flap was soon overshadowed by Bin Laden’s death.
There can be no doubt that the timing of the assassination was orchestrated, right? Not only for maximum effect against Donald Trump, the birthers and the Republicans, but also delaying the raid on Bin Laden’s compound until after the British Royal wedding. It now becomes clear retrospectively why our President and his wife were not at the wedding: They were invited, but they had more pressing business. In fact, Prince William was a member of the Navy Seal team which killed Bin Laden.
For additional buffoonery, see President Obama’s absolutely hilarious speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 30, where he addresses his birth issue, see: President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner
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8 comments:
I don't buy it! I want to see Osama's death certificate, the long form.
Thank you. Pres. Obama for dignifying our country by not publishing a dead evil man's face.
Will someone please inform trump that Hawaii is a state? He has a trump building in Honolulu...is he under the impression that he built in a foreign country?
Frances,
Thanks for your comment.
I suppose I come down on the same side as you on this issue - but only 80%.
In general, I am not enamored with government secrecy. For instance, regarding the Wikileaks/Assange flap, I could see things both ways. Of course, that's another matter.
Tom:
I just read your blog article on the news sequence of the royal wedding, Obama and the birthers, & bin Laden.
As usual, it was a wonderfully keen analysis! Great job tying this all together.
Yesterday, in running errands, I noted the 'talking heads' of daytime TV & radio already trying to make something controversial about the fact that he wouldn't parade the photo of bin Laden dead.
Never in the world would I expect that Obama would do such a distasteful thing. He's too insightful for that.
There were idiots like the birthers who said they wanted 'proof' in the form of released photos. I say they should be just ignored, as no 'proof' is good enough for them. They have only one agenda, and that is to discredit Obama. This is a very sad commentary on how the media has created a 'great divide'
in our society.
Obama's Osama play really set my imagination to reeling. Secrecy is the flip-side of lies. The mind is tricky thing in the most sincere of times. What hope is there then we pursue less benign agendas? What's real and what's not? Eliot's "A wilderness of mirrors", no?
Malcolm Gladwell's toys with secrecy, lies and our tricky minds in his most enjoyable essay,"Pandora's Briefcase"
I got to thinking about what really happened leading up to getting Osama and wrote a funny-cynical piece inspired by the book "Operation Mincemeat", a recollection of spy-craft at its best---"Why it took so long to get bin Laden"
By the time I had finished writing it, I was no longer convinced that I had created nothing more than a funny fiction. Maybe not so funny and not so fiction.
Anyone think Obama might have chosen to announce everything during "Celebrity Apprentice" on purpose? LOL
Hello Dr. Tom:
Its Gail. Well this post is very important to me. I am hoping that America will loosen up and not be so strict about every thing. I have had to throw away my favorite lotions at the airpot because of the increased security measures. As a Black woman, I have even toned down my empowerment for fear of being a potential threat risk. It is all so crazy, On the one hand, we all want to be free but on the other hand what human safety. I am sick of all this increased security- I mean if we dont preserve some amount of healthy anger and agression we will be very boring and lack creativity. I mean, it could be perfectly healthy to be angry if you are dealing with opressive conditions/or denied basic rights to services. I think that the government suspended many of our rights after 9/11 to keep this country safe. Now that Osama is died, lets get back to being America pre 9/11. I want the occassional "Angry Black Woman" to come out in me and not be mistaken as a threat or terrist. Do you know how high my blood pressure would be if I could not speak my mind every once in a while? Well, perhaps we Americans need to have a sense of humor and also realize that America is not so innocent-America has also done horrible things to other countries. So, I will be happy when we start reaching across national borders of cultural difference and create a shared sense of democracy that understands the humanity of others. Life is a struggle and a great blessing no matter to what soil one is born. By the way, Anita selected a great title. It is also ironic that both of their names rhythm-and that we are still wondering if President Obama is really a U.S. Citizen and if he Muslim. Interesting times-Gail
I want to thank BJC, Marc, Anonymous and Gail for their fine and largely supportive comments. I was overseas (In Hawaii, actually), and I am glad to report that the TSA people are doing a bang-up job, as always. Because of the cast I still wear on my broken arm, I was taken aside at every airport and thoroughly examined and chemically analyzed.
Thanks for your witty comments, BJC and anonymous. Gail, I share your ambivalence and your frustration about the safety-vs.-freedom dilemma.
Marc, your one-act play featuring Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Panetta and Obama (accessible by clicking on the link in your comment) is hilarious. You are right that catching Bin Laden was perhaps not everyone’s intention, that catching him alive was probably nobody’s intention, and that showing him to be not a real man was everyone’s intention. Don’t forget that they even found Viagra in his lair! Surely no real man would resort to THAT?
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