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.
