I turned on the TV last night to catch the weather, before going to bed (chance of snow, thanks Jonathan), I had been reading an actual book so it took my eyes a moment to focus on the TV screen where I saw “Osama bin Laden Killed”.
Osama bin Laden had been off my radar for a while. I really didn’t think we were ever going to catch him and I wasn’t even sure we were looking for him anymore.
What a pleasant surprise.
So I stayed up an extra few hours waiting for President Obama to address the nation and then to watch the commentary after his brief address. Apparently this military operation had been in the works since August and Obama gave the go-ahead during the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Which makes sense if you think about it because everyone was watching that, probably even bin Laden and his minions.
My first thought on the whole subject was who can I call to tell. It was late Sunday night, too late to call anyone so I texted my ex husband. He and I had spent 9/11 in the hospital watching the Twin Towers and Pentagon getting hit and then we sat together in stunned silence for what seemed like days watching it on TV. I couldn’t help thinking how much things had changed in those nearly ten years.
After texting my ex husband I texted my son who was downstairs in his room. I could have gone downstairs but I didn’t want to miss the President speaking and I was kinda comfy on the couch. Son never texted me back, he’d already fallen asleep. I thought about sending an email to Cardiogirl to let her know what was going on. Cardiogirl doesn’t pay much attention to the news so I thought I might be able to be the bearer of good news. My computer had already been turned off for the night so I didn’t bother (though, I did IM her this morning and was not surprised to learn that she did not know what had happened. So I did get to break the news to her which was pretty cool).
I thought about how I really wanted to call my dad and talk about this great development.
And then I realized that I could never be President of the United States, or any country for that matter, because there is no way I could have kept this secret. I would have been filmed while out doing presidential things with a huge shit eating grin on my face and I would have given it away. I would be unable to sit still, fidgety as other important meetings took place, bursting with the knowledge that Osama bin Laden finally got what he deserved.
I found out this morning that the whole thing had been inadvertently live blogged on Twitter, it’s actually pretty funny.
I was surprised at how pleased I was that they finally got the bastard. And I hope people dust off their American flags and start displaying them proudly again.
When everyone got up this morning we talked about it a little. My son wants to see proof as I am sure a lot of people do. There will be the nut jobs out there who insist on a long form death certificate and pictures and the DNA tests and all that and even then they won’t be convinced. I doubt we will see any pictures since they would only become fodder for the radicals who support him. According to several news sources he was buried at sea following Muslin tradition. See, that’s how we roll, you can be an ass but we will still respect your religion even if you can’t respect any one elses (seriously, why isn’t there a possessive for else? How the hell do we type this word?). If any of his followers want to mourn at his resting place they can do it underwater. I hope the fish don’t choke on him.
I was surprised to learn that my daughter didn’t know who Osama bin Laden was. Really surprised since we have watched movies about 9/11 and the memorials together. Apparently they haven’t covered it in school yet.
I’m glad he is dead. I’m not sure how this will play out for terrorism, I suspect it will always be around, but I hope that with all the unrest going on in the Middle East in a push for democracy that one of his seconds can’t take control of the movement. I’m not sure what bin Laden’s role has been these past several years either. Seems he was in poor health these last several years. It’s been a while since we have seen any videos of him robustly shooting off guns in the desert. I suspect he has been sitting around his mansion (nice cave, buddy) playing poker and eating Hot Pockets.
This won’t be the end of terrorism but I do hope it quiets some of the reemerging hatred of America. Even for just a little while, that would be really nice. My hat, if I had one, would be off to President Obama and all the people who made the death of Osama bin Laden a possibility, including former President Bush. And my heart still goes out to those who lost someone on that horrible day back in September of 2001.
We were flipping channels when we saw it. Quite the surprise.
It is good he is dead but holding dancing celebrations in the street is a bit much I think.
I don’t know, if I had been in DC or NY I would have danced a jig with everyone else. It’s not polite but I don’t think any of them could help it.
I bet Donald Trump will send scuba divers looking for the body. I fell asleep with the television on and woke up to it at 11:30.
I think he is out there right now looking for it. There have been so many spoofs of him, and his show was preempted in the west for the announcement, I am sure he wants proof.
It would be “else’s”, since you’re speaking of “anyone” which is singular.
I hope this well-executed military action will boost the credibility of the US. Heard on NPR that our military kept the project a secret from Pakistan because it seemed that whenever they shared military intelligence with the Pakistanis it always seemed to make its way to Bin Laden.
Can’t wait for Don@ld 7rump’s reaction. Also looking forward to whatever Jon Stewart has to say.
I just read that the donald was dredging the sea looking for his body so he
could do the DNA testing.
“I was surprised at how pleased I was that they finally got the bastard. And I hope people dust off their American flags and start displaying them proudly again.”
All I can say is “Hallelujah”!
Ditto that. Not sure that works since I said it too already but whatever. It’s worth repeating.
🙂
The bastard needed killin’. He was a special sort of evil.
It indeed won’t eliminate terrorism, but we have taken out the poster boy, and sent a message that we will relentlessly hunt them down, even through different US presidencies, even through opposing US political parties. We were awesomely united in this!
That was pretty cool wasn’t it, being awesomely united. Woohoo!
I saw Cardiogirls blog post headline and thought it was a joke! I don’t have the TV on in the mornings, so was completely unaware.
We will always hunt out these evil men, because we are all united in fighting the horror they cause.
I can live with that.
Yeah, Cardiogirl isn’t usually on top of the news headlines but I gave her a heads up and she posts really early. You’d think with all this technology we would know these things sooner but since no one reads papers anymore and we all spend way too much time playing Farmville, maybe we really aren’t more informed.
You could be right there. I can’t remember the last time Mo and I read newspapers.
I wonder who’ll they’ll get to play him in the movie. (You know one’s coming)
He’d have to be tall, lanky, and on a career skid to want the role. Hmmm -Jeff Goldblum?
YES!!!!! Jeff Goldblum would be perfect!
Eating hot pockets. Lol. I hope they were moldy.
I don’t think Hot Pockets can get moldy, aren’t they like Twinkies?
I cried… well, actually I got teary. I don’t do that often and it took him being killed for me to realize I was holding on to a scared breath that I couldn’t exhale when I was pregnant with my oldest. I know it’s not over but it was a relief. I’m comfortable saying I was beyond happy, did a merry little jig and called my friends/family in NYC with too much enthusiasm when i saw the news unfold on twitter… I mean if you are going to be happy someone is dead it may as well be Captain Hot Pockets and not the dude that cut you off on the freeway!
I was thinking the same thing. I was really glad they killed the mofo but felt bad that I was happy someone had been killed, it was a little weird. Not something I couldn’t get over but still, never was so happy that someone had been shot in the face and chest.
I am relieved that, although that doesn’t end terrorism, at least one chapter is finished. It is much better that he’s dead than captured because he can’t hurt anyone ever again. If here were in jail, he might still order attacks, and his followers could attack or threaten attacks to get him released. There could be retaliatory attacks anyway. Just my 2 cents worth.
I’m sure he would have had a lot of power even if he had been in jail. I don’t think jail was ever an option for him. A) He probably wouldn’t have gone down without a fight and B) I don’t think any of our guys were meant to go in and wound him.
I really had mixed reactions to this. I understand the people dancing in the streets. I’m not happy he’s dead, but I am relieved. I worked near the airport in September of 2001 and I can still remember the television in the conference room showing the towers and the people. It was horrifying. I went outside at lunch and looked up at an empty sky and listened to the silence. It was eerie and frankly, frightening. So, yes I was relieved to know he was no longer around to mastermind anything like that ever again. I’m also worried. Worried because this makes him a martyr to the cause. He was assassinated by the infidels and what it might stir in his followers worries me.
The Al Qaeda leader said after death of Bin Laden, Qaeda was not and Bin Laden was a leading member of this bad organisation. Thier is still a question raising shall we end this terrorism or not or this will birth more Bin Ladens like Al Qaeda has it is.
I’m with you. The president has to keep too many secrets. I know it is the right thing not to show the pictures of a dead Osama. I would have had the whole thing on youtube.
Osama dedicated his life to hate. I’m glad America cut his life short.