Like so many Americans, I remember the morning of 9/11 so vividly it's like it just happened. I was working for my local FOX TV affiliate in Mobile so there were TVs everywhere. Somebody called out from their office the breaking news that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings and, well, you know the rest of that story.
Even in Mobile, Alabama that morning it was an unseasonably cool, clear, and bright day. Not a cloud in the sky and then you noticed no airplanes either as all air traffic ceased. Nobody knew what had happened, if it was over, who had done it. Like many I thought it might be domestic terrorism in the Timothy McVeigh vein.
I remember telling my boss I had a dental appointment that morning so I could go for a job interview elsewhere as I had grown tired of my job. I remember driving to the interview and seeing a Muslim gentleman with long beard and head covering in a car next to me; me looking at him with anger and him looking back with fear. I'm not proud of that moment.
I remember walking out of the interview and saying "Fuck this!" just not being in the frame of mind to deal with it.
I remember driving by a local restaurant run by a guy I knew and him standing outside on the curb passing out little American flags on sticks.
I remember being all patriotic and full of piss and vinegar and going back to work with a vengeance.
I remember being totally behind our president, our troops, going into Afghanistan.
Then it went all stupid.
Then it was Iraq, spending of political capital to kill Social Security, etc.
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the whole 9/11 strike, was as elusive as a snipe.
And finally, May 1, 2011, nine and a half years after the fact, bin Laden is finally dead. Our guys just went in and took him out. Just like that. Nine and a half years later.
I don't know that bin Laden was much more than a figurehead at the time of his death and I think this stroke by our military may simply mean more aggression from terrorists around the world. I'm sure many retributive strikes are in the works.
But, as trite as it sounds, this does feel like a moment of closure.
I hope President Obama doesn't try too hard to turn this into his own political capital, but you can damned well bet that he'll be re-elected in 2012 on the back of this.
Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, will be biting their tongues or crediting the Bush administration but, at any rate, this event is a game changer.
Obama finally sent in our military, to Pakistan, where we've all known bin Laden to be all this time, hidden behind our delicate relationship with that country. Finally somebody said "What the fuck!?! Let's take him out!"
It's about freaking time! Job well done!
"we're smoking him out", "we got him on the run"
ReplyDeleteI recall people who just looked ethnically Arabic were getting killed. There was a guy from India that got beat to death because of the anger and sentiment towards anyone who even looked like they may have terrorist ties. Crude hit 16 bucks a barrel. People worrying about getting gas and groceries. If I only had 500 dollars to invest I said! No planes for a week, the stock exchange closing. I never was for Iraq so, I hope this may change something for the better in that respect.