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| Let's not forget who started it. |
There's an aftertaste of guilt going around about celebrating Bin Laden's snuffing. The high-minded, high-road position has been taken by some who say that it's distasteful or irreligious or wrong in some other way to celebrate somebody's death, even Bin Laden's. I must admit, these people do sound high to me.
The old sayings "don't speak ill of the dead" or "If you don't have something nice to say..." come to mind. Even as a child I wondered "Why not? If they're a big stupid then why can't I say so?" (Remember, this started as a child) It felt like a lie of omission to me even then. But let's give it a chance and see if it works.
What should we say about Hitler then, for instance- He was nice to dogs and had a flair for organization?
And Hannibal "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti" Lechter- An incorrigible wit with eclectic cooking habits?
Finally Osama Bin Laden- though a tall man, he did not use his height to peek down women's blouses.
All of that's true. But it kind of makes this murderous threesome sound like the regular guys you might bowl with or see down at your local watering hole. It also ignores the most notable things about them -they're monsters covered in blood.
Just as the truth will set you free, not saying it will hold you down. It generally isn't nice or necessary to speak ill of the dead, true, but if said dead is a terrorist and mass murderer it's not just okay. It might be needed. It might be cathartic.
You don't hear crowds cheering at the end of movies these days, but I remember the sound in the theatre when Roy Scheider blew up the great white in Jaws. Why? Because he scared the shit out of everyone in that theatre for over two hours and we needed the release. But that fish only killed six or seven. Bin Laden, who after ten years finally sleeps with the fishes, killed a helluva lot more and not just on that September 11th. Last week this real-life monster was finally killed. The fear was real. The blood was real. The relief is real. And now the whole world is better off for it. Cheer as loud as you goddamn want. For as long as you need to.
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He sees all; disappoint Him not.
I am not sorry he's gone. I'm not thinking for a moment he should have been "captured" and "tried". He didn't deserve those considerations. I didn't feel jubilant either. It was a time of reflection on the horror of 9/11 to me, not winning the World Series. My husband was sent to the Middle East and activated from his Reserve status because of Bin Laden. We lost two years of our lives because of the man. I don't forgive him for anything. But I didn't celebrate either. He's gone. Good!
ReplyDeleteMy only problem was that we made certain to bury him according to his religious customs and beliefs (so as to not piss off anybody). Sadly, his victims were not afforded that same respect.
ReplyDeleteI made this comment on Vinny C's blog, but I'm going to post it here as well. I'm like you, if the person was evil in life, why should I speak kindly of them in death? IMO, I don't have to and I won't. - I lived on a military base on the east coast when 9/11 happened. I saw it play out on the news and got the phone call to come to the school to pick up my sons. Many speculated that the weapons station we lived on would be one of the targets. None of us knew what would happen next. I will never forget that day. My first reaction when I heard he was dead was to post on Facebook that I thought people should be dancing in the streets. In my opinion, he deserved to die. The way the media is making a big deal out of how he died or where he was buried angers me. He is responsible for the deaths of thousands. I just can't feel bad that he's gone.
ReplyDeleteI like this. A lot. That's all, carry on.
ReplyDeleteOh, my dearest NAG,I'm afraid that for once I must disagree.
ReplyDeleteMy issue isn't necessarily with the celebrating (although, like Linda, I did not feel joy and the celebration fo death creeps me out slightly), but with the celebrating PLUS the "morally superior" myth that my home country is attempting to perpatuate throughout the world.
I know you're "above" such things (ahem), but for me, if a people want to claim the moral throne, they'd better hope that throne is travelling unwaiveringly down the high road.
- B x
The people who celebrated the loudest were the people who were just kids when 9/11 happened. They never knew anything but the world Bin Ladin created ...full of fear and limitations...they don't know what it was to meet a loved one at the gate at the airport.. they grew up with fear and now the boogeyman is dead.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very singular event, for a lot of reasons. There's really never been another like him, or the scars left behind worldwide. I think everybody's entitled to whatever closure feels right to them.
ReplyDeleteThe moral superiority issue is so subjective it would take a book the size of a Guttenberg Bible to address. But in day to day politics it's really just the makeup diplomats brush on to their countries faces out of pride to hide the blemishes and scars. It's done by peasant and nobility alike, even duchesses and other similarly titled personages.
Stephen King said he was rather shocked at the premier of Secret Window when Johnny Depp smacked his ex-wife's boyfriend in the face with an axe or something. The whole theater cheered. He had no idea the audience hated a minor character so much. Catharsis can surprise us when we need it most.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of outwardly celebrating the death of someone, even an evil, hate-mongering bastard like Bin Laden. We got the guy. Leave it at that.
ReplyDeleteI think about the most disturbing images of my lifetime . . . trucker Reginald Denny getting his head smashed by a gang-banger's brick and then the gang-banger does a little celebration dance. Hordes of folks cheering when murderer O.J. Simpson was acquitted. Images from the middle east of locals celebrating the death of American soldiers. It all seems so inhuman to me.
Certainly, the world is a better place with Bin Laden out of the picture, but there's nothing wrong with maintaining our dignity.
Stepping down from the soap box.
When the twin towers went down, I saw news video of people celebrating in the streets in the Middle East. I thought those people were savages. When CNN had video of hundreds of college students (maybe average age 19) behaving like their college team had just won a game, I was a little dismayed. Most of these kids were not old enough at the time to even remember the horror we all felt. I guess I'm doing it again, god. Trying to push my standards of "behavior" on others. Mea Culpa!
ReplyDeleteYeah what Fred said.
ReplyDeleteI do think it was cathartic, but count me amongst those that did not do a happy dance. Although I'm glad he's gone and I hope it created enough chaos in the Al Qaeda group so that their overall power disintegrated A LOT.
And for that? I am happy.
No fear.
Well not really. I'm sure somebody will rally and step up to the terrorist plate.
You make a lot of very good points here -- and I agree with all of them. I didn't jump up and down because I was just stunned. I thought he'd been dead for years. Having said that, had I been out someplace where they were high-fivin' and throwing back beers you could have counted me in.
ReplyDeleteMom always said that it pissed her off every time a bastard died, he instantly was spoken of as if he had been a saint. "A live bastard makes a dead bastard" she would say, and after I grew up I saw the wisdom of her words.
ReplyDelete