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Editor’s note: Nathan
Eagle is a former News Editor at The Daily Advocate under my watch. He
is one of my shining stars as a responsible journalist who knows how to
report balanced news. He also represented something of a “check” to my
typical conservative views; much to the chagrin of some Advocate
readers in the past. Needless to say, our views don’t always coincide,
but I heartily welcome them. Look for more to come.
I’ll drink to that, I
guess
By Nathan Eagle
Columnist & Editor
The Garden Island
http://thegardenisland.com/
As the nightly newscasters slur their words between Osama and Obama, I
examine photos for Monday’s front-page news about U.S. forces killing
the al Qaeda leader.
One image captures a jubilant crowd outside the White House. Another is
a screen shot of an Arab television station supposedly showing bin
Laden’s bloody dead body.
Recognizing that this is a small community newspaper, I err on the side
of caution and pull a pic of Obama delivering his surprise late-night
address and another of the terrorist mastermind holding an assault
rifle in Afghanistan.
Was “justice” served, as our president put it? A different type, rooted
in the eye-for-an-eye philosophy, perhaps. What was actually
accomplished in gunning this old man down?
Bin Laden’s death won’t bring back the thousands of lives he stole from
so many families here and abroad. Nor will his being erased from Earth
dismantle the terrorist cells designed to operate independently from
him and his successors.
There may be some feelings of closure, a psychological win of sorts for
the Western world, but I’m not sure what more we gained from this
decade-long endeavor. One less bad guy out there.
So what do we feel? Triumphant?
On TV I watched mostly young citizens taking to the streets in
celebration, uncorking Champagne bottles like it was New Year’s in New
York. Yet I felt no burning desire to join them there or start a march
down Rice Street waving flags here.
All I could think was why haven’t I seen activism on this scale before
on other issues? The next generation has at last proven itself capable
of uniting in masses of solidarity for something.
There are major matters being decided daily in Congress and in Council
that impact their lives. I strain my ears but hear nothing but
excuse-riddled apathy.
To see these freshly cause-filled souls demonstrate as they did last
Sunday night on into early Monday morning was as encouraging as it was
frustrating for me.
We capture and kill Saddam. Nada. We finally find Osama and shoot him
dead. Bingo.
Surely some psychologist can muster up a better rationale than I, but
my thinking is we’ve been under a lot of stress the past few years.
What with the recession and all, unemployment galore, gas prices
soaring, natural (and not-so-natural) disasters devastating millions -
and no major holidays coming up — we just needed a reason to let loose,
pop some bubbly and say Cheers to the CIA and SEALS for a job well done.
With my mind unraveling from over-analyzing this mess, I’ll raise my
glass and join the toast.
More thoughts to come, focusing on such musings as:
** We can’t even agree on how to spell the guy’s name (Osama? Usama?)
*** It’s not a war against Islam
**** We never hear the other side of the story (like, why OUsama was so
pissed at us)
***** CNN brings closure, FOX doesn’t
****** Vatican says Christians shall not celebrate any human’s death.
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