When Death Is Made Proud

What a week to offer my inaugural posting - so much to comment on. In reality, though, there's one overarching issue that cannot be avoided: The Death of Osama Bin Ladin. Rejoicing poured out, the news outlets kicked into overdrive and we found ourselves in a peculiar position—Americanizing Revenge.

We own many things here in America. In former days we yielded the cotton gin, the production line and the light bulb. But it seems in recent years our feats of intellect get shadowed; incredible gifts wrapped in hubris and sealed with a kiss. I feel it is this sentiment which now adorns the Navy SEAL operation that claimed Osama Bin Ladin.

I'm not defending OBL at all—I am very proud of my president for following through on what he promised and taking action. I'm glad that our brave American troops finally got a sliver of vindication, so that their struggles and efforts across the Middle East have some visible benefit. The act itself had been a long time coming, and initial celebration was necessary; America needed its closure.

But from this point forward is where we dropped the ball. To the contradiction of John Donne, we made death proud. The capture and execution of OBL became not a closure, but an opening. We want the photos of Osama Bin Ladin. We want to revel in it. We want to analyze the political bump it's going to give to President Obama and all those involved. We want this death to signal stability in the Middle East and bring gas prices down and fix our credibility and economy. In short—we want.

It's a case of Super-Sizing, really—another one of those American inventions.

Don't ask me, cashier...of course I want more. More for a deal? I deserve it! I work hard.

We as Americans had been yearning for this, feeling as though we deserved the death of Osama Bin Ladin. Now we want his death to bring solution to all the bad things that happened since his horrific plan took action some almost 10 years ago. The problem with this is that this death only brings what it is—nothing more, nothing less. Osama won't be out there to scheme attacks against the United State... but many remain with that goal. Gas prices will continue to fluctuate like they always have. Airport security won't be loosening up. We want to return to that idyllic world before the bubble of American protection was burst open. But it won't happen.

The more we act like this—like something is coming to us for this death—the more we keep the spector around and the more the sword shimmers above this American Damocles. Our pride and sense of entitlement will be a cultural undoing.

You may be asking yourself at this point, after allusions spanning American ingenuity to Greek mythology, what my point is. My point is that our reaction, and the media coverage of our reaction (which may be entirely different than the thing itself), is indicative of a dangerous path that America finds itself on. We must not expect anything more than what we truly deserve.