Is today the day for partisan politics?

I do not find it disrespectful that people are discussing what this death means and questioning the many angles+factors surrounding this issue. This person was a symbol, used and re-used for the means of different politicians and therefore, yes, we need to discuss politics. Finally, his death isn’t anything to celebrate – that’s a bit too simple and superficial. Some of the greatest threats to America lie within.

I am saddened that we were forced to resort to just killing him. I think it would have been better if he had been captured and tried.

@marinelife Apparently there was a firefight. When bullets are flying, its hard to make sure that the target doesn’t end up dead.

I don’t think any day is really a good day for partisan politics, but it will never end. One of my first thoughts when the news broke last night was that a lot of republican political strategists may have said “oh shit.”

Bin Laden was not a big threat to us. The man was on his last legs and Obama had to assassinate him before he died of natural causes to get the glory to save his re-election bid. Now we have an even bigger bulls-eye on our backs….keep your heads down everybody!

@klutzaroo I agree. I also feel that Bin Laden could have intended not to be taken alive, but I wish that the President had not said that justice was served. Since it was essentially an assassination not justice.

@marinelife Osama has basically admitted to the guilt of orchestrating 9/11 and other terrorist events. He did this not under durress of questioning. A trial is unnecessary.

We eliminated an old threat, not a major one. OBL was past his “sell by date” and was primarily a figurehead. I doubt that he did much more than send an occasional tape to a radio station recently. He created a truly evil organization that has taken on a life of its own and is fully capable of creating murder and mayhem with out his inestimable leadership.

This is exactly the time for partisan politics. You can bet that conservatives are working hard on either taking the credit for this incident or finding a way to show that Obama stumbled into success. It also takes the attention away from their efforts to collapse the government and give it to their corporate sponsors.

Stating that we “eliminated a major threat against the safety of the American people” is taking a political stance. You can’t remove politics from politics.

@marinelife – If Bin Laden resisted arrest, shooting at the special forces and getting killed in response, I would argue that justice has been served too. He was a mass murderer and needed to be apprehended. Do you agree?

I found the cheering gatherings in US cities rather shocking. Of course everyone is relieved, but this wasn’t a sports event. And in our countries we shouldn’t copy cheering events from the Middle East burning posters.

I was also disappointed at the chants of “USA!” I saw on TV. It looked like most of the people I saw doing it were probably 8–10 years old when 9/11 happened. Just seemed kinda dumb.

It’s not always a good thing when Americans get super fired up and “patriotic.”

I second @mattbrowne comments and find it disturbing that there should be celebrations akin to football rallies in the streets. I am glad that the symbol of hatred, repression, and death is gone but am disturbed by the celebrations. They are eerily like the one seen in some backward middle-eastern countries when the Twin Towers were destroyed.

Rather than celebrate we should be looking for the reason that person became an international hero in some places. Remember bin Laden, like Qaddafi started out as a hero stamping out repression. You have to ask yourself how freedom fighters become oppressors, dictators, and terrorists. This says something very bad about human psychology and the fact that we have not evolved very far from our primitive tribal heritage.

Revenge begets revenge in a never ending cycle. Our only hope is that al Qaeda can elevate itself to resist revenge. That is not likely so I expect an expansion in “the war on terror” as futher revenge for near future acts of violence.