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First off, I stand behind everything that rb has said in post #66 above.
Since 9/11, I think many of us have been so traumatized by what we've witnessed that there is no longer a clear picture of what we stand for or what our actions out in the world are meant to achieve. Hell, speaking for myself (and I think many others), I can't even say for sure whether my government represents me at all. Therefore the killing of Osama bin Laden doesn't hold any significant meaning for me. And I certainly don't celebrate it. Was he killed to revenge the people who died on 9/11? I think a question like that highlights the dividing line between Americans who still essentially respect the power apparatus in this country and believe in the old American ethic and those of us who have seen too much to believe that anything is truly what it seems to be on the surface.
I've come to think of this modern American life as a giant stage play in which radical script changes have made stagehands late for their cues allowing us to see the reign of chaos and the decaying theater behind the scenes. Either you suspend disbelief and are just glad when the scenery is finally rolled into place or you ask yourself, 'what the fuck is going on back there?'
So, no. It was interesting, but I didn't celebrate when I heard the news. I put on my scrubs and went to work a 14 hour day and I didn't think about it at all.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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