Tonight's News

Post-note: *Warning* these late-night thoughts turned into a fairly unedited political rant. Don't read if you are easily offended.

We just heard that Osama bin Laden has been killed by US special forces, and they have his body. I just feel like I need to talk about it a little bit, though I don't even know what I want to say.

My first and overwhelming thought is, "Good, now there is a good chance we won't be a Republican nation next year." Then I feel shallow, because I think my first thoughts should be grief for those who died in 9/11 and a sense of victory for America.

But really my current concern for us is what a Republican president might do to our country and the rest of the world. The corporate take-over of the conservatives -- the Tea Party movement, which I thought originally had some merits, has become a front-man for corporate fascism. You know, the definition of fascism is a government controlled by corporations (hello, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio. How? How? How did public employees become the new cause of the Great Recession, while Wall Street Execs are walking free???). Where will more of this take us? I am truly afraid of that, and discouraged by Americans' short attention spans, poor memory, and willingness to roll over and take it. Things are bad now. They can get a lot worse. I don't want to think about what will happen if the Corporate-Republican-Fascists get in control. And then there's the Uber-Christians who are *praying* for the destruction of Israel to help bring on the 2nd coming of Christ (excuse me, but I think Jesus has better things to do these days). These are the people I am afraid will lead us into nuclear war with Iran, albeit by subterfuge. So I'm glad bin Laden is dead (and I'm sure, Mr. Trump, that they will produce the DNA to prove it is really him) because I think another term of Obama, while not the paradise we'd dreamed of, will save us from a lot worse.

And I hope bin Laden's death brings us closer to the end of the wars we are involved in. Support for our troops -- true support is bringing them home rather than having them fighting/killing/destroying their mental health for Bush-Knows what reason. Every Veteran's Day when they read war memorials over the radio, stories from the trenches of World War One (what an *awful* war), I think, "If we really loved and valued our servicepeople we would do whatever we could to get them home and keep them home. Waving little flags isn't support. Not sending them to kill and be killed so that people can make money and promote their own personal agendas is."

I don't have any deep thoughts here. I hope his death will help us end these stupid wars. And I hope it helps President Obama win re-election. There have been a lot of flaws and disappointments with his presidency, but he inherited a mess. And as for the disappointment, he is, after all, a politician and I should have known better. But it seems like recently he is growing some balls, and I do have some hope that he can leave our country better than he inherited it.

Oh, and I also think that someone who has so much death on his hands has given up his right to be alive. So, I'm also glad Osama bin Laden is dead because he no longer deserved the gift of life.