Or rather, I should say the current event. It's all over the news, nearly everyone's facebook/myspace/twitter account in some way or another, and it's been on most of our minds recently: the death of Osama Bin Laden. Many, many people are very happy that he's been executed, and most have either posted some sort of celebratory message on their pages, or they have posted something along the lines of "Justice has been served." However, while many patriots have been celebrating triumphantly, others outcry that any sort of victory celebration and happiness should be quenched because any death is tragic, even that of a terrorist. Still others have become disgruntled or upset because they think people are making too big a deal over this, saying that anyone who thinks it's a big deal no matter their viewpoint is basically stupid. And finally, there is the group that simply doesn't care. They don't complain about the issue, they don't celebrate, they don't outcry any on-going celebrations, they simply carry on with their daily lives as if nothing really extraordinary happened. Where do I fall in these categories?
As predictable as this will sound, I find myself falling somewhere in the middle of all four, with various leanings that put me closer to certain factions than others.
To begin explaining my stance on the matter, I will first address the issue of those protesting that a celebration of any kind that is in some way happy and/or joyful because of Bin Laden's death is unquestionably out of line. I will agree with you: there is a something precious in the life of every human being, and it can be tragic when someone dies. However, I also think there is a distinction between the accidental death of someone innocent, such as a child standing too close to the World Trade Centers on September 11th, 2001, and someone who has brought meaningless death on many, many people, such as Bin Laden. The child did nothing to deserve the untimely demise he met, yet Bin Laden seems to have rightly earned death as a reward for the actions he committed. A question I pose to those who wish to, in a sense, mourn his death rather than celebrate it: If it had been your loved one in the World Trade Centers, would you feel differently? If your son or daughter had enlisted and gone to Afghanistan, never to return home, would you still oppose the celebrations? And another viewpoint to consider: Would you feel the same way if you had lived in a different time period and the one found dead was someone as historically infamous and notorious as Adolf Hitler?
Having said that, I feel the need to explain my stance on the next faction: celebration. While I do believe that justice has indeed been served, and that even some sort of celebration may be in order, not for one second do I believe that we need to carry this on more than is necessary. Yes, Bin Laden was considered by many to be evil, and he was one of the most, if not the most, infamous terrorist in American history. Does that mean we should continue to portray ourselves as ignorant and gluttonous party animals? I don't think so. A small rest, a small huzzah, is more than appropriate for this. Why let our guard down now, when we think the "big threat" is taken care of? Who knows what may happen even later today?
Now, for faction #3, for those of you who are angry and/or frustrated because you don't think it's that big of a deal. Personally, I agree that it probably isn't as big of a deal as certain people make of it. However, at the same time, our special forces have been tracking this man for a good 9 years. I'm not sure about you, but if I had been chasing a goal for 9 years and finally reached it, I'd be pretty excited about it. If the raving about it is still going strong come autumn, then I might shift into your camp some more, but as it is, I think this very well may be the faction I relate to least.
And finally, the opinion of "I don't care; life continues on." I disagree with the first part, but completely agree with the second. Regardless of how things are handled, or whoever it was that was executed, life does indeed continue on. We cannot let ourselves become so absorbed in revelry or the act of protesting so as to lose sight of what we still have to accomplish. While May 1, 2011 will definitely be remembered in this country, it can't become our new focus. Looking back hinders us from moving forward.
To sum my entire opinion up in what is hopefully a smaller and easier to understand synopsis: I am not sad that Bin Laden was executed. I believe that justice has indeed been carried out and was correct. I will not, however, let myself become blind or arrogant in my feelings of satisfaction from justice being carried out. Beating a dead man in the face with the news of his own death accomplishes absolutely nothing but making you look ignorant. And while I'm not quite to the point of not caring anymore, I do realize that life continues whether we want it to or not. It doesn't matter how much we may want to relive that triumphant moment when we first heard the news, we'll always be moving farther away from it.
To complete my little tirade, I will simply say this. Justice has been appropriately carried out. Now let's take a deep breath, strap on our combat helmets, and focus our eyes on the next task ahead of us.
This has been a special edition of The Daily Moose, brought to you by the current surge of raging opinions on the news of Osama Bin Laden's death across Masterful Moose's facebook news feed.
Thank you for reading today. We hope you enjoyed this special report.
-Masterful Moose and the staff of The Daily Moose
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