5.1.11 Adam News & Info

Me Too! The mission he ordered today took GUTS!

Oh and before I go ,that new Adam pic is too UNFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

for words. I love smokey eyes and I love Sauli's smokey eyes, too!!!

Guys, I thought about turning the computer off and not joining in this discussion, because I don't want to stir anything up and I certainly don't want to offend anyone, and I sympathize very much with your feelings. But this is a friendly, open community that I feel attached to, and we like to say how all opinions are welcome in these pages, so I decided to join in, hopefully carefully enough.

You see, I feel a little weird myself watching the cheering and flag waving and jubilation in front of the White House. I don't feel celebratory, personally. I really don't mean to sound callus at all, but this isn't about 9/11 for me, although I was living in DC on that day, and have many family members and loved ones in NYC. Nothing can undo the horrible tragedy of 9/11, and this isn't about retributive justice for me. I thought the tone of Obama's speech good, but I'd rather he hadn't said "justice has been done." I'd rather he talked more about the future. Honestly, I don't really believe in justice as retribution. Like I said, we can't undo past tragedy, so this isn't a happy ending. It also isn't a happy ending because the threat that bin Laden, as a figurehead, represented is far from over with his death--I have no idea how large a role he still played in that threat.

For me, this is about about the incalculable effect this death will or will not have on future terrorist plots and future foreign policy. And I really don't have a clue there. It is clearly a political win for Obama (which pleases me because I like Obama), but it's also clearly gonna piss a lot of people on this planet off, and be used by a lot of other people for their own various personal gains, and I really just cannot measure the balance of all these things, and its making me anxious. When a single man is used as a pretext for anything, its worrying to me. We'll see how this gets used by all the global parties involved.

Let me be clear: I feel no pity for Bin Laden. I couldn't give a fuck if he was killed. He was a very bad man. But I had no interest in his being killed as some sort of retributive act--that gets us nowhere, in my opinion, and in general I believe in punishment only as a form of future deterrence of violence, not as an end in itself. But a cheering crowd of flag waving people makes me uncomfortable in the best of circumstance (say, an olympic event). Maybe it's the German in me. Maybe its the Jew in me. A crowd cheering in unison at a death, however deserved it might be, does not make me feel like celebrating.

But I understand how devastated people were on that day--I was there--and don't want to offend anyone, start any fights here, or undercut anyone's relief and happiness at this news. I feel very aware of and sympathetic to such emotions. I'm just stating my opinions and feelings. I'm clearly in the minority.

I sincerely hope I haven't hurt anyone with those opinions. Respect.

ETA: I just want to be clear that I am by no means upset by this news! Part of me is hopeful and excited by it. Another part of me is just worried, but I am a worrier.

ETA2: Wow, I killed the board. SORRY! Please, carry on your happy discussion--I didn't mean to drown it with my serious. *hides behind rock*

For all of you from me with love !!