My first thought when the ringing phone woke me last night was, “Why the hell am I dreaming about fighting hand-to-hand combat with a horse? Why won’t he just let me ride him?” (Too much Game of Thrones maybe.)
Then, seeing the time and a few text messages all saying, more or less, “Are you seeing the news?” I thought immediately we were under attack. As my friend Corey said, I slept through 9/11, so it would be fitting.
Of the sixteen million possibilities that went through my head before turning on the TV, Osama bin Laden was not a consideration. Indeed, he’d become all but irrelevant–and I think that will become readily apparent in the upcoming days.
So, TV on, Osama bin Laden is dead. Other thoughts.
Hmmm. Attobad is not a small, frontier village near the border with Afghanistan. It’s closer to Islamabad.
Did Barack Obama know this while he was making jokes about Donald Trump at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner? Awesome, though I don’t know how I would have been able to keep my mouth shut in that situation.
How many of these people in D.C. acting like it’s a Super Bowl party are also the type who profess to be horrified when Palestinians do the same thing?
Why is it that Wolf Blitzer, no matter the situation, manages at some point to make himself sound like an asshole? (Last night, he all but shook his head at the guy on the ground outside the White House and gave him instruction on how to use a microphone.)
How long before someone mixes “I Had a Bad Day” with “I Attobad Day”?
How much sleep will I lose watching this foolishness on a Sunday night? (Answer: five minutes. Back to bed. And, thankfully, no more dreams about horse wrestling.)
KEN WHEATON 
You’re really comparing last night’s crowd to the palestinian cheering on the death of innocents? Bin Laden was our (war) enemy, he was responsible for thousands of dead people – whereas palestinians cheer when innocent civilians are killed. There is a difference Ken. A huge difference.
Yes. I am making that comparison. Cheering the end of a war? Fine. Even feeling good about the death of Osama? Fine.
But running out into the street and chanting “We’re No. 1” and “USA” like your team had just won the Super Bowl? Neither dignified or all that civilized.
And, if we want to talk about the actual impact his death will have on anything, not all that historically or politically astute.
Guess what cheering the Superbowl and cheering the death of our number one public enemy while chanting USA is appropriate. Although one doesn’t have anything to do with other except that it is one of many ways how people express joy & community! What kind of response did you want Ken? A somber orchestra playing some mournful tune? What would be dignified & civilized according to you? Osama is the equivalent to the moral fiber of Stalin & Hitler and Americans shouldn’t cheer at his demise – when we have suffered at his hands for so long? So why is this different from a celebration of an end of the war and celebrating the demise of a man who started the war? Cheering on the slaughter of innocents versus cheering the assassination of a killer two very different things – and something that doesn’t need to be sneered at.
Military wise it might not be a big get – I don’t know enough to speculate on that front, yet the symbolism of his death is huge. I’m not sure yet if his death has no political or historical significance – so many things are worth looking into because of it- Gitmo’s integration methods, Pakistan’s role in protecting Bin Laden, and the moral & spiritual support him being alive gave to the Al Quida – all things that have come out since his death was confirmed.
Victory celebrations in these matters should not involve beach balls. End of story.
It took too long for me to celebrate. I am happy it happened and glad none of the Seals were injured but this one man should not have been able to remain free this long. The proper object lesson wasn’t delivered. He was able to be free for a decade. This is like tearing down the goal posts because LSU beats Southeastern by a point.