The failure of "labels"...

This is tough to write, but I feel compelled to try to put it down. However, I do not hold any high hopes that it will spark any kind of productive discussion in this forum.

I'm laying down last night, getting ready to turn off the TV and get to sleep, and my wife says something about the latest she's seen of the news concerning OBL. I don't recall her words, but I do recall reacting rather sharply to the acerbity in her voice. Her comments were about the nature of some of the "celebrating" that was going on across the nation, and whether it was appropriate in its form and scope.

I must have been a bit dismissive in my comments, because the talk got heated and she ended up going downstairs so that our "discussion" didn't wake children. We ended up on the porch smoking and (basically) fighting. Not strictly about OBL and the celebrations associated with his death... more about the nature of our mutual opinions on numerous topics.

Liz seems to "want" to be a liberal... but can't bring herself to embrace all that is modern liberalism. She wants to see increased funding from the government for things like education and health care, but hates the products associated with past efforts like No Child Left Behind (and the PSSA tests that our children now take every two years). She wants to see low-income and poverty-stricken families recieve assistance from the government, but firmly advocates that these same families need to speak, read and understand English ONLY while doing so. She wants to see opportunities presented to the poor in this country, but would build another "Iron Curtain" from Califonia to Texas to ensure that no one from outside the country ever benefited from those opportunities.

I call myself a "conservative", yet I advocate an open-border policy, I defend Keynesian economic theory in many instances, I am against the death penalty, and I am utterly opposed to the thought of an "official" language for this nation (English or otherwise).

The spark that ignited this debate last night was the scenes of celebration in which images of OBL were burned, tee-shirts are being sold depicting his death, and other such acts. Liz seems to think this is as "wrong" as the scenes of Saudi citizens dancing in the streets of Riyad after the WTC collapsed on 9/11/01... and that it will only bring more hatred and violence to Americans as a result.

I recall pissing Ryan off something fierce when I said I was no fan of the tee shirts printed with images of the dead sons of Saddam Hussein in 2003. He defended not only the printing of those shirts, but promised to buy some for his boys to wear proudly about town. I wouldn't buy these OBL shirts either, of course... but I'm not sure the reasons are entirely the same.

This nation has invested more time, blood, treasure and tears into the fight against OBL than it has in almost every other shooting war we've ever fought. Very nearly 10 years of some of the toughest combat under the toughest conditions, with tens of thousands of US servicemen and women exposed to untold dangers... that kind of effort has a price. Eliminating OBL and his ilk as a threat to the US and the world was our primary goal in invading Afghanistan, and in remaining there, we have dedicated ourselves to ensuring that the Taliban (a repressive regime that harbored, protected and supported OBL and his like) did not have an opportunity to regain power. Hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of Americans have someone they know and love that has served or is serving in Afhganistan, and in seeing OBL dead, we can see some of their efforts and sacrifices vindicated. There is no question in my mind or heart that having OBL dead makes the world a much safer place than it was 48 hours ago.

My point is that I think it beyond my place to judge or criticize someone who may be a "Gold Star" parent that chooses to celebrate the death of OBL any way they please. I, personally, prefer not to celebrate the death of anyone, even OBL... but I will celebrate the victory that this means to the US military: the culmination of nearly a decade of effort and sacrifice under extreme conditions with a successful conclussion. OBL is no longer a threat to the world in general or the US in particular. I also recognize that this brings a lot of closure to those that lost loved ones on 9/11... and that there can only be real relief in knowing that the man who masterminded that entire nightmare from beginning to end is now dead and gone.

There may be no perfect justice in this world at the hands of mortal men, and his death can't return anyone that OBL killed or injured to health... but it should be a clear and tangible lesson that we have a responsibility to both God and our fellow Man, and failure to understand that responsiblity has a heavy price indeed. In short, OBL has "reaped what he sowed" and that many times over. I'm satisfied with that.