So...
I was a day behind the times in hearing about Osama bin Laden. I woke up to find all sorts of depressing crap. Oh, Facebook News Feed. Even among my (mostly liberal) friends, there were numerous "'Merika! Furk yeah!" sentiments. Also plenty of comments about bin Laden getting what he deserved and wishes for his eternal torment.
That reminder of human viciousness was annoying enough, but the RSS feeds soon filled me in on last night's spontaneous celebrations. I think this picture best sums up my reaction to their reaction:
He was dangerous and it was prudent to kill him (if only to prevent continued harm). In that sense, sure, I think his death was probably a good thing. But the emotional shitstorm this killing stirred up in my fellow Americans scares me far more than bin Laden ever did. This morning I reacted to the news of his death the same way I reacted to the images of the WTC attack as I sat in high school a decade ago: Huh. This will probably have consequences. Neither event had much emotional resonance.
It's chilling that there is a vocal segment of the population who are happy not simply because the world is (maybe) safer, but because they are shamelessly vindictive assholes. Oh, human nature.
This concludes today's Two Minutes Hate. Hail Oceania.