Morning in Young America
2011-05-03 - by
The media and political elites’ reaction to Osama’s killing was predictable. Not so that of Real America. Especially Young America.
Democrats – understandably – were all but gloating that it was President Obama, the supposed Muslim Manchurian Candidate, who “got” bin Laden. MSNBC endlessly reminded us that President Bush had minimized the importance of bin Laden. So far, the Bush critics haven’t noted that May 1 was (I’m told) the eight-year anniversary of Bush proclaiming “Mission Accomplished,” but I just did.
Republicans and Fox News credited Obama – sometimes fully and sometimes with varying degrees of reluctance and grudging praise. Of course, they quickly noted, all credit goes to Bush and the use of torture.
You could have predicted all that. But what you couldn’t predict was the wild jubilation and celebrations that erupted – in New York, Washington and, most surprising, college campuses all across the county.
At Appalachian State in Boone, which my daughter will enter this fall, boisterous students marched to the chancellor’s house. He made an impromptu speech. At Elon, where my son was visiting, hundreds of students gathered on a quad.
All across the country, young people chanted “USA, USA.” They sang the national anthem and “God Bless America.” They waved flags.
You would have thought every college had won a national championship. One young friend put it this way: “It’s like your team finally had a big breakthrough win after a long losing streak.”
What accounts for this joy?
Maybe they were the only ones awake and energetic enough to celebrate at midnight. Or maybe it was a tonic of good news that, maybe for the first time in their lives, made them all feel like they were part of something big and good: a country that can be united, a country that can do great and difficult things.
Maybe (I go on, sounding like a cynical old man) their hope and optimism will inevitably run aground on the rocks and shoals of harsh reality and disappointing developments in the months and years ahead.
But maybe not. Maybe this generation got a taste of a tonic that Americans need right now in a time of a sour economy and even more sour politics.
For their sake – and ours – I fervently hope so.
Morning in Young America
2011-05-03/
The media and political elites’ reaction to Osama’s killing was predictable. Not so that of Real America. Especially Young America.
Democrats – understandably – were all but gloating that it was President Obama, the supposed Muslim Manchurian Candidate, who “got” bin Laden. MSNBC endlessly reminded us that President Bush had minimized the importance of bin Laden. So far, the Bush critics haven’t noted that May 1 was (I’m told) the eight-year anniversary of Bush proclaiming “Mission Accomplished,” but I just did.
Republicans and Fox News credited Obama – sometimes fully and sometimes with varying degrees of reluctance and grudging praise. Of course, they quickly noted, all credit goes to Bush and the use of torture.
You could have predicted all that. But what you couldn’t predict was the wild jubilation and celebrations that erupted – in New York, Washington and, most surprising, college campuses all across the county.
At Appalachian State in Boone, which my daughter will enter this fall, boisterous students marched to the chancellor’s house. He made an impromptu speech. At Elon, where my son was visiting, hundreds of students gathered on a quad.
All across the country, young people chanted “USA, USA.” They sang the national anthem and “God Bless America.” They waved flags.
You would have thought every college had won a national championship. One young friend put it this way: “It’s like your team finally had a big breakthrough win after a long losing streak.”
What accounts for this joy?
Maybe they were the only ones awake and energetic enough to celebrate at midnight. Or maybe it was a tonic of good news that, maybe for the first time in their lives, made them all feel like they were part of something big and good: a country that can be united, a country that can do great and difficult things.
Maybe (I go on, sounding like a cynical old man) their hope and optimism will inevitably run aground on the rocks and shoals of harsh reality and disappointing developments in the months and years ahead.
But maybe not. Maybe this generation got a taste of a tonic that Americans need right now in a time of a sour economy and even more sour politics.
For their sake – and ours – I fervently hope so.