So I was out dancing in the street Sunday night until I found out that the United States had authorized and successfully carried out a kill-op intended to eliminate Osama bin Laden.
I am on the brink of losing my faith. Not in religion, but in something harder for me to pin down. I am losing my faith in America. Up until this point, I thought I knew what a stranglehold the media (all 5 of them - TimeWarner, newscorp, disney, GE, and viacom) had on Americans, but I had no idea.
If you have read my earlier posts (I know it's been since September since I've posted) you may find that I am completely idealistic when it comes to this country, a hopeless romantic. I believe in the tenets that are the foundation of the leadership of our nation. Justice, honesty, the common good, freedom. There's been no sign of any of them in any recognizable form over the past three days.
"Justice has been done..." - From the mouths of experts and pundits and officials, from Geraldo Rivera to the President, I keep hearing about Justice and what an excellent job SEAL Team 6 did serving it. Now don't get me wrong. SEALs are bad dudes. They aren't heroes, they're fucking superheroes. THE Batman can suck nuts compared to these fools and their capabilities. However, it wasn't SEALs who designed and greenlighted this op, and it's not the SEALs trying to sell it to us, either.
I really am astonished each time I hear a talking head on TV and Talk Radio ( lol ) set up their current "open discussion" about whether we as Americans have the right to view photos and video of the body or whether we can now say "the war on terror is over" or whether we.... blah blah blah bullshit that doesn't matter AT ALL blah blah... I'm astonished when those discussions are set up with the line "Justice was served, don't get me wrong, I just wanna see the body, ya know? I mean, am I right guys? So we can get a little more justice outta this whole thing..."
Osama bin Laden. Not a sentence, I know, but that's how I said it. "Osama... bin... Laden..." We did not achieve Justice. Justice was not served. I heard a wet-eyed man sitting across from George Stephanopoulos (I don't pay for cable so we had to watch ABC's coverage on Sunday night... blech...) say "There is no court in the world, no court is high enough that could have brought that man to justice." And so the broadcast moved on. What message did we all take away from that? What message has been lying underneath the "National Discussion" around this? I'll tell you - it's this:
Only American bullets can serve pure Justice.
Our notion of Justice in this country is being perverted on such a level that is astonishing to me. Jon Stewart on the Daily Show could barely contain his giddiness (which I actually found surprising, but it helped me understand something, and it also spurred me to write this entry). THE DIFFERENCE between John Stewart and every other entity I've had the displeasure of hearing report "the news" is that John Stewart actually had the humility and the foresight to say the following: "I suppose I should be expressing some ambivalence about the targeted killing of another human being, and yet, uh, no. I just want details..." and "I am way too close to this whole episode to be rational about this in any way shape or form." At the close of the show he said "Tonight's program, uh, pure id. We will temper it over time." Hearing those statements helped me understand the mentality of those who actually were close to 9-11. I guess I have to recognize that "the death" does bring closure to many affected people, and I can appreciate that. However, we as a culture must be vigilant in recognizing the difference between closure and Justice. We must also be vigilant (since we were responsible in carrying out the mission) in recognizing the difference between Justice and revenge.
"In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior" - Sir Francis Bacon
Of course there was more in the planning and construction of this operation than I can probably ever imagine. Here is my problem with it: Reuters reported an official statement made which confirmed "...there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive..." (Yes it was reported on Huffpost but come on, they sold out their liberal bias a long time ago) WHY? Not even an attempt?
Why the fuck is no one asking this question? Were we so worried that he'd get away we might have to spend another hour or two (on top of 10 years) tracking him through suburb streets? SEAL Team 6 are the deadliest bastards on the entire planet. WHY NOT EVEN SPIN IT to say it was an 'attempted' capture mission?!
Look, even a sham trial would have portrayed Americans like we're not all bloodthirsty barbarians. Either way, he's still kicking at the end of a rope. What I really think, though, is that the images of us dancing in the streets and celebrating waving flags and chanting U-S-A over and over again - those images weren't meant for Al Qaeda management. Those images were meant for Americans. Everyday people like you and me. Media and politics (don't even pretend that the two aren't in bed on both sides) want us to believe (really, internally believe) that the WHOLE WORLD is dancing around like the drunk Sigma Chi (that's a fraternity if you didn't pick up on it) douchebags climbing trees and stoplights in DC and Times Square. We weren't. I wasn't. Were you? Or were you sitting quietly watching the news, trying to understand the implications of what had just happened?
I know I'm running long and I think that the feedback from this post will determine if I continue the thought in another post. But just bear with me for a couple more things.
Please don't let the media tell you how you feel about this. Just turn off your little glowing rectangular media-boxes and think about what is happening in the world, how you're personally being portrayed, and if you agree with it.
Also, yes, I know blogging like this allows me to anonymously (not really) lambaste those things and people I hate most, which is nice for someone so non-confrontational he has a hard time sending back poorly-cooked food at restaurants. We are a nation of followers. When we see looped "LIVE" video (and it was looped, you better believe it) of anonymous Americans crowding the streets where "the police tried to stop it, but America has to have this moment..." we immediately start to feel like that's the reaction all across the US. It wasn't.
I haven't heard a single person bring up Osama bin Laden at work, and I live in Baton Rouge, LA. The place (my job, not Baton Rouge) is filled to the brim with conservative hard-liners. And yet, it's like it never even happened. No one I know personally (actually maybe one person) is "excited" or "elated" that we rushed in and capped bin Laden's ass. Are people afraid to talk about it? Are they embarrassed? Ashamed? Too happy for words? I don't know, but when we lose our ability to discuss national issues like this within our own social circles, the only input is from corporate media, Liberal and Conservative. If we don't come up with a national voice of our own, through community, the talking heads become our voice. That's bullshit.
Don't let someone else do your thinking for you. That's bullshit, too.
That's all, lovesies!
