In the Wizard of Oz, the Munchkins rejoiced when Dorothy's house fell on the Wicked Witch. Their suffering was ended, so they they were jubilant. Last week we got the news that Osama bin Laden took one in the head, and there was great rejoicing outside the White House, with chants of "USA! USA! USA!" as if the US Water Polo Team just beat Lithuania.
As a result of this celebration, all sorts of analysis has been going on, as this AP story illustrates. Such reflection suggests there is something wrong with whooping it up after a scumbag like bin Laden gets his. Dennis Prager ran a clip of some goofy psychologist worrying about the signals it sends to children. Prager, being a sharp dude, rightly understands that children are relieved when monsters are destroyed. The fact is, so are adults. There is a marked difference in the comfort level of people in general to find a really bad person was executed as opposed to merely locked up, where, despite the level of probability, a chance at escape or release exists. Sure, a cretin might be locked in a maximum security prison, but that just doesn't feel the same as the cretin being dead and totally unable to cause any further harm. Ever.
So is it wrong to celebrate? Hell no. The death of bin Laden insures his evil intent will never again manifest. It's the ultimate closure for the survivors of his horrors and for those who fear what he might do next. By now, he's shark poop being fed upon by lower life forms at the bottom of the sea. What a perfect ending for one so evil.
But is that attitude unChristian? Well, of course, no one should celebrate the death of another. Back when John Wayne Gacy finally was put to death for his heinous crimes, a Chicago talk radio host (unfortunately a right-winger) wanted to host a party outside the prison where he would meet his end. That's wrong.
But at the same time, justice being served is worthy of celebration. It's not such bastards being put to death that should provoke rejoicing, but what their deaths mean that deserves rejoicing. Justice served and evil stopped. Fear alleviated and a message sent. Those are good things. The worse the criminal, the greater the celebration. So hoist one and throw the glass to the hearth! The witch is dead!
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13 comments:
The fact that there are many others of the exact same mentality waiting in the wings to step into Osama's shoes makes the death of bin Laden a bit anti-climatic to me.
However, at least we have rid the world of one of them, and that's a good thing.
If he really is dead. The White house refuses to furnish proof, and one can't help but wonder why.
Personally I believe he is dead, but the refusal to furnish proof stirs up conspiracy theories like a car speeding down a dirt road stirs up dust.
Still, I suppose conspiracy theorists have their purpose, and if theories cause some Obama lover to doubt his great leader, and not vote for his re-election, I say, let the theories propagate!
The more the better!
"if theories cause some Obama lover to doubt his great leader, and not vote for his re-election"
Seriously? Come ON Mark! He's our God, according to you guys. Why would we not vote for him because of a lunatic deather theory?
Based on the stat that the greatest number of searches on Google for users age 13-19 in the first 24 hours was "who is osama bin laden", I think that the celebrants were celebrating the the amazing and successful mission as much if not more than who was killed.
"Based on the stat that the greatest number of searches on Google for users age 13-19 in the first 24 hours was "who is osama bin laden""
Yeah, ain't that public education you love so much wonderful?
You Democrats must be so proud of that first class education.
"You Democrats must be so proud of that first class education."
Wait. I thought every county and city in every state had public education. And aren't there more red states than blue?
So why are you "blaming" Democrats for public education?
Furthermore, most of those young people were educated during a period when the president of the United States said he wasn't concerned with Osama bin Laden and didn't really think much about him or where he was.
Talk about an educated person!
For a moment there, I thought Parkie was making a comment with substance. He wasn't.
The troll can call anyone anything he likes. Mentally challenged people often do that. Providing justification for accusations is required in order to avoid comment deletion. The troll needs something other than his opinion or his word, neither of which has any value here.
First of all, I just want to say that on occasion readers will view only half of a "conversation" between Parkie and me. Unless you were unfortunate enough to view his droll remarks, you'll just have to imagine what inanity of his draws my responses. Few of them draw any but deletion, thus you'd never know the troll was here unless you DID catch his sad attempts at cleverness. But there have been a couple lately that merited a response, as one would respond to a stray dog crapping on one's lawn.
Troll-boy. Your angle won't play here. You don't get to act like an asshole and then complain when someone accurately recognizes that you're an asshole. So if you don't like being called a "troll", which is a common word used for one who acts exactly like you do, then you must stop being a troll. Talk this over with your keeper if you're at a loss to understand.
Blogger has experienced issues that required "unpublishing" of comments from a certain date. Supposedly, they were to restore them but I haven't seen that happen. If they restore any of the troll-boy's comments, I'll be sure to delete them.
OK. I've finally posted a new blog post. It's your turn.
Workin' on it.
Hey, troll boy! Do you really suspect that it's some kind of chore to delete your pathetic attempts at humor and cleverness? I check my blog regularly. Pressing a couple of extra keys is no sweat. And if I fail to get to it for a few hours, you're simply exposed as the sad little troll you insist on being. THAT is your only real success. You must be very proud.
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