I was going to avoid writing anything on the death of Osama bin Laden. Mostly because no right wing yahoos would write an editorial giving me the fire to do so. Most of them were anti-climatic, downward gazing, slow clapping for Obama, just trying not to convey any emotion of gratitude for him. Denying him the ticker tape parades and instant need for a national holiday had W. done the same thing. For weeks, I’ve been left wanting a right leaning buffoon to decry Obama as not excited enough, lacking a “glint” in his eye, or riding in on a giant mutated bald eagle draped only in the American Flag, fireworks shooting out of his nipples, the founding fathers rising from their graves to join him in a rousing musical number celebrating the end of American‘s most wanted. Whatever fever dream that could be imagined just wouldn’t be sufficient to the needs, nay, demands of the right wing. Finally, my old friend Tommy Felts came to my rescue.
To say that I’m (still) not a fan of his award winning writing (yup, the Kansas Press Assoc. awarded him 1st place for column writing) is an understatement. So I’m not completely surprised that A) He’s not a fan of Obama. B) He thinks W. “began and doggedly pursued the fight against the terrorist leader”, showing he has that knack for revisionist current events. C) His practical reason for wanting Bush to capture bin Laden: the need to somehow not be labeled racist for the Obama/Osama name switch. Tommy, you live in the middle of Kansas, I’m highly doubtful anyone would call you a racist for the Osama/Obama slip. You’re also typing this out presumably on a computer, and you’re the managing editor of the paper, god help you if you don’t catch that before printing the paper!
First off the bat is the tired old trope of “Obama doesn’t care” argument. “…Obama was somber as he delivered the news. He didn’t smile. He didn’t seem happy. He delivered his lines and left.” Tommy, that’s called giving a speech. And when has Obama ever came off as a firebrand? Isn’t the main beef the right wing has with Obama is that he’s too stiff, professorial? He “talks down to people”, “lectures”….on and on (here I must try and stifle a yawn. It’s like, “Really? This again?). Tommy even tethers the Muslim connection “…particularly with the terribly volatile Muslim population whose friendship Obama has been courting” You mean the “friendship” with the Muslims that’s taken up about 5 or 6 past administrations Tommy? You’re afraid of being labeled a racist? Oh how about lumping all of Islam in to the terrorist wagon. Also, hyperbole much?
How Tommy Felts feels that announcing bin Laden is dead becomes political maneuvering reveals that the blinders are on for anyone representing the Democrat party, or moderate independents in general. Do families of murder victims publicly whoop and holler when the killer is executed? No, they don’t. It would be in poor taste. Sure, we would understand and sympathize with their relief, but it would seem callow. The death of bin Laden was going to be political capital for any president and their party. Period.
Tommy then goes on to confuse liberals for peace loving, tree hugging anti-war hippies. I think most people were fine with global war on terror, to a point. A lot of scared post 9/11 people weren’t reading the fine print, however. We wanted bin Laden and the Taliban done away with, but we didn’t sign up to pervert American citizens constitutional given rights. No one certainly wanted us to go in to Iraq, especially under curious speculation, and eventual bald faced lies, used as evidence to invade a country that had zero to do with 9/11. Also curious that most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi’s, but again, Tommy doesn’t relate any of this. On top of unfunded, illegal invasion, we strip away human dignity from supposed “terrorists” by humiliating and torturing them in gray area (Gitmo, black site) prisons. Sentencing people in kangaroo courts without due process. Finally, illegal and warrant less wiretapping of our nation’s citizens. Liberals aren’t pushovers. We do believe in a pragmatic foreign policy, which was never on W.‘s table. He was too busy trying to be a cowboy on the world’s stage, and fight a ceaseless war. But let’s forget all that and focus on how much work W. put in to catching bin Laden.
Oh yea. Tommy I’m sure you’re old enough to remember in about 2006 when W. said he wasn’t really concerned with bin Laden and wasn’t actively looking for him. This about the time he closed the CIA operations force tasked with finding bin Laden, and stopped special forces from actively searching the mountainous area around the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. I’m pretty sure W. was never interested in catching bin Laden, and it’s pretty evident that was the case. The point was to start a bunch of warrant less conflicts and make a lot of money for the war profiteers. Of which most of the Bush administration were stockholders of.
Osama bin Laden’s death was a good ego boost for our nation, but it was too little too late. On top of this, any credit that could be given to W. is undercut by his hand in the torpedoing of our economy, the staggeringly idiotic legacy of his tax cuts, the cost, both financially and physically of two unneeded wars, and the souring of nation’s international relations. Just to name a few. I refuse to allow W. to become the next incarnation of Reagan. I will shout down all apologists, like Tommy Felts, who will try and canonize this man and his legacy. We as a nation cannot allow this, regardless of parties. Especially now, when most of the right wing admonishes most of W.’s presidency and the damage he caused. I am proud that Obama isn’t a clown, and that even though he’s been a huge letdown in terms of what he campaigned on, he’s at least trying to lead this country somewhere.
Finally, Tommy Felts wishes that Obama would show the picture of a dead ass bin Laden because “We saw the horror of Sept. 11... We can handle a photo of a terrorist’s corpse”. This is the mentality that I hope we can leave behind, but it’s highly doubtful. It’s that same “poke them towel heads in the eye” mentality that has lead to so much bloodshed from Americans in the sands of the middle eastern region. We weren’t shown the complete horror of 9/11 and it remained illegal for much of the 00’s to publish photos of flag draped caskets returning from the wars, so to say we can stomach it is a joke and insulting to our better judgment. We need to not make a martyr out of bin Laden, that should be our principal goal. What we don’t need is more logs for the undying fire that represents our place in the globe. Now that’s being honest Tommy Felts.
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