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May 01, 2011

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As a Contrarian, I agree with your contrarian analysis, however, in the short term:

Thank you George Bush.
Thank you President Obama.
Thank you CIA.
Thank you Navy Seals.

Job well done.

We'll step back into the real world after a few days of celebration.

While disappointed at the 10 year wait for this... I am going to enjoy the rest of this evening watching the celebration at Ground Zero.

From the BBC blog:
"Haron in Lahore, writes: "I think we all need to ask ourselves if this is the beginning of the end or the end. Osama was not an individual, he was a mindset. I am surprised that the whole world just refuses to recognize that he was just one of the many manifestations of inequality, injustice and insanity that still prevails. We in Pakistan have a far greater insight into the war against terrorism to make jubilations and take the simplistic view that with OBL eliminated, our lives, streets and country is safe."

From another blog:
"I feel a little relief since this will give some necessary political cover to finally withdraw from that place. No guarantees though. The most striking thing about this terror-terror saga is what it has spawned: multiple wars, trillions of dollars spent, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and an empire on a course of permanent war. 9/11 hit the Western world at its height of optimism (or arrogance). Remember those happy times of the late nineties when democracy&capitalism everywhere seemed inevitable? The 21st century though began with a bang when the bubble was pricked.

Reinhold Niebuhr said: "One of the most pathetic aspects of human history is that every civilization expresses itself most pretentiously, compounds its partial and universal values most convincingly, and claims immortality for its finite existence at the very moment when the decay which leads to death has already begun."

Supposedly 9/11 "changed the world", well it certainly changed the outlook but international terrorism was nothing new, the apocalyptic images were. This led to an ongoing period of self-destructive tendencies. Insofar bin Laden and his cohorts were successful.

The outlook has changed from undue optimism to desperate pessimism compounded by the economic crisis. China proves capitalism and democracy don't necessarily have to go hand in hand. The rest of the world is rising and reverting to authoritarianism. Therefore the latest Arab uprising was seen as the latest flicker of hope that Western values were indeed universal, that the old dream had not died. Thus the Libyan war is to a big part ideological self reassurance.

This period of relief will prove to be a temporary self hypnosis if the West doesn't use the little breathing room afforded by bin Laden's demise to change the self-destructive course and get its own house in order. Or it could be that bin Laden was the mad scientist who released the monster that now lives on without the creator. In that case this is just another blip in our crazy times."

Bin Laden has been hyped as a symbol by both sides of the propaganda war. But the sober realities continue. What I found most poignant while watching TV was the young man in the crowd in front of the White House, wearing a Superman T-shirt. Cruel irony.

Just like so many people who've flocked to Gilbert or Surprise, bin Laden knew that he could move to the 'burbs and never be bothered. He was, after all, an American creation.

Well-said, Jacob.

I don't begrudge the victory dance of the hunters. However, I do find the dancing in the streets by people waving flags in one hand, and a latte in the other, to be highly disturbing.

Osama baited our empire by dangling a hook in front of us, which we swallowed whole. Of course, for the empire's moral centurions, this was a gift from heaven: a rationale to keep the empire and its prerogatives as the primary purpose of American life. Behind all the noisy triumph, Osama's death is necessarily bittersweet to these warriors. For the American right, it has to be perplexing that America's main enemy (Obama, not Osama) was able to accomplish this. I'd like to see a few of their heads explode as Obama takes a victory lap. But I'm not naive. Americanism is not love of our common project nor even a devotion to a collective ideal. It's what we saw at midnight in Washington, a loud and rowdy display of me-first bravado. That's what the flag stands for now. In Al Davis' words, "just win, baby".

As always, well-said, soleri.

Wasn't it also May 1 that "W" landed on the carrier with the "Mission Accomplished" banner? Now, I'm not at all sure that we know what that "mission" is. Our befuddled national sense of global purpose has many heads and most of them are talking, not listening. Obama's death is just a period at the end of a long, ugly paragraph.

morecleanair,
that slip can happen to anyone. You're in good company. The German government spokesman accidentally twittered: "#Kanzlerin: Obama is responsible for the death of thousands of innocents, has scorned the values of Islam and all religions."
Also, Foxxy news on its ticker: "Obama Bin Laden is Dead."

When I think about the meaning of those mistaken sentences our contemporary confusion becomes painfully hilarious.

Thank God they waited for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to exit the church before they started shooting Osama full of holes!

I agree with most of the above and hopefully we didn’t kill any children while taking out Osama. As usual on the political philosophical view I have to go with Jon and Soleri. In my opinion not much will change, human survival and greed will be the driving forces that continue to move US citizens away from the days of “American Graffiti” and the planet Earth closer to destruction by humanoids. I believe Osama Bin Laden went to his seventy celestial virgins as a happy and very satisfied man. He will now be a figure in religious history rivaling Abu Bakr for a seat next to Mohammed. More famous than the; who were the Christian Crusaders? For those who stay abreast; most everything since 911 was predicted by a number of analysts as far back as 1991. Many members of law enforcement were not surprised at all by the Trade Towers incident. Just appalled that we knew and nothing happened to prevent it. And why would anyone be surprised that Osama was holed up in style by the Pakistan government. Someone in that circle (for whatever reason) decided to give Osama up otherwise we would still be clinging to the theory “he is hiding in a cave in the mountains”. Regarding AZREBEL’s thank you. I praise the men and women that took care of this dastardly deed but nowhere in my mind can I thank Obama or Bush ll for much of anything. I don’t think we can find a presidential candidate out there that would even closely resemble Eisenhower and challenge the industrial/military complex that now rules the world in a manner Attila the Hun would admire.

The barbarian outside our walls is dead. That's all to the good. But what about the teabaggers within who would dismantle our schools and yank the safety net away from our seniors?

Regarding dismantling education:

The New Scientist's "How Kindergarten made us brainy" is a phenomenal piece now behind their pay wall. But if you have time, you can still read the full article. I'll paste the link at the bottom. Here is the article's theme:

"Over the last few years, a handful of researchers have been building a case for the idea that cooperation arose from the development of a single behavior: shared childcare. They claim that the care, nutrition and protection of youngsters by adults other than the mother bring about profound psychological changes in a species. In humanity, this paved the way for the enhanced cooperation and altruism that ultimately led to culture, language and technology."

Got that? This is a huge and vital new argument! The authors, all scientists, argue that a culturally shared education lead to EVERYTHING that makes us human; from the size of our brains, to our language, to the very cooperation that built our cities. In short, education is the essence of humanity. As such, should it not be a prime target for barbarians? They sense inherently that if they can countermine education, blow it up, they can destroy our very essence. And they are right…

Regarding the senior safety net:

I remember when someone asked Marilyn Savant (Parade columnist w/highest ever score on IQ test) what was the greatest indicator of a culture's success? She replied: How that culture treats it seniors. I love the wisdom behind her barometer. For how a culture treats its seniors informs all its other values. Seniors after all, are defenseless, and so are easy prey. To cherish them and care for them requires devotional energy and shared sacrifice. It follows that if barbarians could devalue seniors, all other valuations could be debased as well. So after education, the next operationally rich target for barbarians, would be to go after the health care of our senior citizens…

So you see my drift?
See the barbaric bigger picture?
See the barbaric attack on all you should hold dear?

Barbarians are both within and without the gates of our civilization. Think about the bigger picture painted above, next time some glib teabagger opens his piehole, sharpens his scythe, and gets down to the serious business of cutting education or Medicare. That man is a barbarian. He is the enemy of all you hold dear...

http://stirling-westrup-tt.blogspot.com/2011/04/tt-ns-2804-kindergarten-co-op-how.html

Will the TSA stop feeling me up now? Can we cut 2/3s of the DOD budget and end the empire now? Just like the never ending War on Drugs, the War on Terrorism just creates too good of a cash flow for the playahs.......

usa usa

You are spot on RC.

Change? Not happening on the big things.

I think the one thing that might change is the 2012 election. The Repubs have no chance at the White House and may even lose all their gains from 2010 if they don't lighten up. And Trump should be a dead horse now (after all, every pundit had come out and called him an out-and-out racist as of yesterday).

If only we had treated bin Laden as a common criminal rather than puffed him up as the boogeyman. It would have saved the USA 5000 lives, 65000+ wounded, and multi-trillions in treasure and even more in reputation around the world.

Off Topic: On Sunday Square-Off, a fresh new face with common sense -- check out the blog at http://politicsuncuffed.com/. The Kook Districtwomen on the same show reminded me of Miss Almira Gulch, who confiscated Toto.

Thank George Bush? That is sheer lunacy. The defiant negligence of George Bush is what allowed 9/11 to happen in the first place. Bush received literally hundreds of warnings from Israeli intelligence and told them to go to Hell. He could have simply enforced immigration and visa laws, and paid a little bit of attention when the Israelis warned him, but he was too focused on globalization.

If Bush had actually tried, and not relied on a half-hearted effort, bin Laden would have been captured or killed by the middle of 2002. Strategically, Bush obviously did not try. He chose to allow bin Laden to escape, repeatedly.

Bush was a colossal catastrophe. He was the worst President in history. He betrayed the American people. He defiantly brushed off warnings of 9/11. He allowed millions of illegal immigrants and potential terrorists to invade the country simply to acquire cheap labor. He helped drive the process of outsourcing millions of jobs to other countries. He started two insane, stupid wars that only blazing idiots could believe in, and wasted untold billions, while putting millions of Americans on Food Stamps. There are no jobs in the United States and America is bankrupt.

We have wasted $400 billion in Afghanistan, when all we needed to do was execute a mission like Obama authorized.

bin Laden was known to have been anchored in Pakistan since at least 2002. What took so long?

Can we stop wasting money in Afghanistan and Iraq now?

Why are we in Afghanistan? Why are we in Iraq? Travel to Washington, DC and check out low-rent apartment complexes in the area. They are full of angry, militant Islamic immigrants. They drive cabs, work in hotels, restaurants, and service businesses. Our government doesn't give a flip if they are terrorists as long as they work CHEAP.

Thank you Mick!

mmm, Cal really man? You aren't going to give some credit to President Obama for a series of events that begs to have parallels made to old Chicago Mafioso playbooks? They even allowed him to be bless before sending him to a watery grave? Come on now...

You are absolutely right phxsunfan. One for Obama.
Thats why the there was a severed goat head in Osama's bed. Now if Obama just starts applying that to the rest of the biz. Maybe, someday we will have a holiday called the day of
the "dead fish" day, wrapped in newspaper of course.

cal,
clairvoyance?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2011/may/03/steve-bell-osama-bin-laden-cartoon

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