ALL ABOUT BIN LADEN (2 of 6): TO REJOICE OR NOT TO REJOICE

From AlterNet:

Cheering a Monster's Death Is Not the Same as Patriotism

There was something unseemly about that gathering of college-age Americans outside the White House just before midnight on Sunday, cheering at the news of Osama bin Laden’s death. Some of the kids had draped flags over their shoulders; they chanted “USA, USA, USA.” I doubt there was a true patriot in the bunch.

Patriotism is not the same thing as cheering in the streets when your side wins the Super Bowl. Patriotism is truest and best when it is quiet, the acceptance of civic duty, as a kind of fate—never with childish glee, but with mature resolution. I think of Pat Tillman, sitting alone in a football stadium after September 11th, deciding that he needed to abandon the boyish game that he loved and instead enlist as a soldier.

More here.

I'm not quite sure what, exactly, a patriot is anymore. After the "War on Terror" era, and all the fucked-up flag-waving, all the bashing of dissident citizens, all the chickenhawk cries for mass violence, my understanding of the term as meaning "somebody who loves his country" no longer seemed to fit actual usage in the real world. Actual usage seems to be drawn, more or less, from that stupid Mel Gibson movie of the same name. That is, "patriotism" in this day and age seems like how you're supposed to act at a football game or while watching an action blockbuster. Blind rah-rah. Rocking out for your team, the good old US of A.

No doubt the American reaction to OBL's death includes the chanting and cheers of numerous "patriots," as defined above. Lots of morons shaking their booty because America just scored a touchdown. And yeah, that's kind of sick.

But what about my own reaction?

I was continuing my move to another apartment that Sunday night when I got the news. I was behind a day because of an audition that had dropped into my lap. It seemed like I would never finish and I was falling into a major depression because of it. I was bringing in yet another in a seemingly endless series of boxes when Carly told me that they had gotten bin Laden. I immediately turned on the TV and sat in amazement for a few moments. And that's when my mood changed. I went from despair and angst over my move to really happy in just a couple of minutes. The rest of the night was pretty easy to get through.

I'm not one of those patriot-idiots. But I'm extraordinarily happy that bin Laden is dead. Yeah, yeah, I know: there really does seem to be something "unseemly" about my rejoicing in the death of a fellow human being. But what can I say? I'm happy they got him. Really, really happy. And guess what? I think that's just fine.

Bin Laden was a scumbag. I mean, he had some legitimate grievances against the West, but he was a murderous asshole. Worse, his actions opened the door for the patriot-morons here at home to run roughshod over the country for many years. Sure, these piece-of-shit Americans bear the lion's share of the responsibility for that, but OBL lit the match. I have absolutely no grief or sympathy for him. I'm glad he's dead. No apologies. I'm not going to feign stoicism, not going to pretend to be solemn, not going to fall into the typical liberal seriousness mode. Fuck him and all he stands for. You live by the sword; you die by the sword.

Besides, I crossed that line a few years back when I danced a jig celebrating Jerry Falwell's death. If I can rejoice in his passing, I can certainly rejoice in the death of Osama bin Laden.

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