I was trying to figure out what I should write in response to the news that Osama bin Laden was killed yesterday by American troops. It is not an easy topic, given my general abhorrence of the tools or war and my opposition to the death penalty, and my sense that his death might have some cathartic impact on our culture.
And yet, the chants of “USA, USA, USA,” and the tears and jubilation I witnessed on TV last night leave me feeling oddly disembodied.
I think the reason is that I remember the speed with which our political culture descended into jingoistic chest-thumping and I am concerned that the chanting and rooster-like crowing we are engaging in now will only lead us back to that uncomfortable place.
Just as significantly, there resides just below the surface of this apparent unity a festering ugliness that has only grown worse during the Obama presidency.
Reading the comments on my Patch sites, I was struck by these comments:
God bless America. Funny how Obama jumps right in to take all the credit!!
Then:
Barack Hussein, who never wore the uniform one day in his life, will take credit for the brave men who went in to a hostile country and rid us of Bin-Laden. How did Barack Hussein get this by Holder and the Justice Dept.?
The fact that bin Laden was living in a suburb of a major Pakistani city will be explained by some B.S. rather than the plain truth that the Pakis despise us and, while taking our money, give full support to our enemies.
Great job by the CIA and military. It is they whom we must rely on, and not the venal politicians like Barack Hussein.
A later respondent summed up what I think is the best way to view the two above comments — comments that are flying around via email and on Facebook and not just on news sites:
I assume that if Bush had given the order, you would have given him no credit as well? And that you would have repeatedly referred to him with thinly veiled bigotry?
Everyone, from our brave troops to our intelligence community to the President and his advisors deserve credit for finally putting this creep in the dirt. Let’s enjoy the achievement and celebrate being Americans.
There are other dangers, as the historian Rick Perlstein writes on his Facebook page:
I’m already seeing my liberal pals naively saying: neato! Now BHO can do his thing and bring the troops home, and end this “Global War on Terrorism” business just like he’s always wanted. But the only thing he said about the GWOT in the speech was that it ain’t over, and so did George W. Bush in Obama’s support—”the fight against terror goes on.” The modern presidency never gives up its power.
The modern presidency — which dates from the Kennedy administration — has only grown in unilateral power over the last 50 years. Obama, in far too many ways, has used the Global War on Terror as an excuse to maintain the powers accumulated in his office by his predecessors and to expand them (unmanned drone strikes in a nation with whom we are not only not at war, but that is supposed to be our ally).
I wish I could say I feel good about where we are this morning, but I am fearful that the imperial presidency and the rah-rah jingoism evident today might just give each other sustenance and push us one step farther down the road to fascism.
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Hank Kalet 