Mission Accomplished

It’s been a bad week for the Obama-haters.
 
First it turns out he was born in America. Then he orders the raid that kills Osama.
 
Curses, foiled again!
 
Now, how long will it take Donald Trump & Co. to question whether that really was bin Laden’s corpse?
 
I was struck by the jubilant celebrations that greeted the news of Osama’s killing. Especially among young people. They’re the ones who got the news first – on Twitter, Facebook and by text – and alerted their parents.
 
For them, 9/11 was what Pearl Harbor and JFK’s assassination was to earlier generations. For college-age Americans, the war on terrorism has gone on for half their lives.
 
I think of Jimmy Carter’s failed helicopter mission to rescue the hostages in Iran. His hopes for reelection burned up with those helicopters.
 
Bin Laden’s killing doesn’t necessarily mean Obama will win reelection. But it could be – could be, not will be – a turning point that we look back on.
 
For sure, Obama would have been blamed if the mission had failed.
 
Obama, like President Bush before him, never lost sight of the symbolic importance of capturing or killing bin Laden.
 
Whatever happens next, it’s a welcome burst of good news for a nation that has undergone a relentless barrage of bad news.
 
So let’s celebrate. It’s a good day to be an American.
 
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Gary Pearce

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Mission Accomplished

It’s been a bad week for the Obama-haters.
 
First it turns out he was born in America. Then he orders the raid that kills Osama.
 
Curses, foiled again!
 
Now, how long will it take Donald Trump & Co. to question whether that really was bin Laden’s corpse?
 
I was struck by the jubilant celebrations that greeted the news of Osama’s killing. Especially among young people. They’re the ones who got the news first – on Twitter, Facebook and by text – and alerted their parents.
 
For them, 9/11 was what Pearl Harbor and JFK’s assassination was to earlier generations. For college-age Americans, the war on terrorism has gone on for half their lives.
 
I think of Jimmy Carter’s failed helicopter mission to rescue the hostages in Iran. His hopes for reelection burned up with those helicopters.
 
Bin Laden’s killing doesn’t necessarily mean Obama will win reelection. But it could be – could be, not will be – a turning point that we look back on.
 
For sure, Obama would have been blamed if the mission had failed.
 
Obama, like President Bush before him, never lost sight of the symbolic importance of capturing or killing bin Laden.
 
Whatever happens next, it’s a welcome burst of good news for a nation that has undergone a relentless barrage of bad news.
 
So let’s celebrate. It’s a good day to be an American.
 
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Gary Pearce

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