and the birthers shall becometh deathers

I was basically indifferent to the death of bin Laden.  I’m not denying that his

demise wasn’t helpful to the healing of American wounds from 9/11.  And I hope

that it brings genuine closure to those folks directly affected by the attacks, and

other OBL actions like the USS Cole bombing.  But the demonization of a horrible

enough man placed him in the Hierarchy of Evil between Hitler and Satan.

Who could live up to such expectations?  The U.S. needs a larger-than-life-itself

foe to base foreign policy on.  Pissants like the coke-dealer Manuel Noriega or the

easily-folded Hosni Mubarek just can’t cut it.  It requires an Axis Alliance or Evil

Empire or both.  As soon as W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil” lost its head with the hanging/

near decapitation of Saddam Hussein, it fell on the lanky shoulders of bin Laden

to embody that responsibility.

My neutral postion on the Big Arab’s death gave me a useful vantage point for the

start of the OBL death myth.  Right after 9/11, I lost any objectivity I usually might

have had in the maelstrom of fear and anger that engulfed the nation.  Irrational

thought ruled and I was susceptible.

This time, though, I calmly studied the revisions of the official report of the raid.

I realized that an accurate account might never be known.  Obama’s critics found

fault with breathtaking speed and illogic.  He was soft on terror before the head

shot, just thinking about his poll numbers after.

And, of course, the net was awhirr with conspiracy theories that will continue to

spin out the rest of all our lives.  What a terrific break for the folks insisting that

Obama was born with a bone in his nose.  The birthers can now become deathers.

Not because they’ve repeatedly been provided with contrary evidence, but simply

because they’ve got new meat.