I was in Vietnam when Ho Chi Minh died. I remember being baffled by the joy that spread throughout the battery with the news.
The death of Osama Bin Laden is certainly far more consequential than that of Uncle Ho’s. There’s little doubt that Al Qaeda is now a spent force on the world scene. But I still find it unseemly to celebrate the death of another human being.
I wish I could say that I never take pleasure in someone’s death, but that’s not quite true. When someone like Jesse Helms dies, I can’t help—or at least I don’t help—saying to myself “good.” I repent my wickedness, but I still have it.
Radly Balko has compiled a painfully complete record of the grievous wounds that Osama’s all too ingenious crimes have inflicted on the U.S.—our trillion dollar wars, which accomplish nothing but suffering but which we lack the political will to end, because it would mean admitting that we made a mistake; a major political party—and, apparently, half the population—passionately committed to the “principle” that torture can be a force for good; and an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary all in agreement that “in time of war” the president shall have undefined, unlimited, and unreviewable powers to violate the most basic principles of law and human decency, such times of war to be determined by the president at his discretion and at his convenience.
It’s difficult to know when or how we can climb down from all of this. The pushback against the violations of civil liberties of the McCarthy era came mostly from Ivy League WASPs and Jews, and they did so mostly because they knew the victims as friends, colleagues, or, especially, relatives. Today’s Muslims are almost defenseless. The American Civil Liberties Union, which not so long ago was largely a solution in search of a problem, now has an overflowing plate.
Today’s Republican Party is a party vested in war, virtually any war. Republicans are convinced that they cannot win without turmoil abroad, and so they will find it. Ever since Reagan’s election, Democrats have been paralyzed with fear at the thought of getting to the left of Republicans on security issues. Obama clearly enjoys being a “strong” president, having the backing of the military and the CIA. What they will recommend, he will do.
Americans continue to amaze me with their willingness to spend money on defense. I keep expecting Congress to decide that they’d rather spend money on something sensible, like farm price supports, rather than foreign wars, but they’re never that rational. Even today, when so many people proclaim themselves terrified by the deficit, defense spending remains 99 percent sacrosanct. How often does aggressiveness trump acquisitiveness! And this is called greatness!
