Retaining Our Humanity

The White House has decided not to release the death photos of Osama Bin Laden. Critics on the airwaves and in Congress are decrying the secrecy and fanning the flames of conspiracy. "How can we be sure he's dead?" they say. Can't we, just this once, believe our Commander in Chief? No? How about believing in Seal Team Six? No?

What will releasing the pictures accomplish? People who do not want to believe this President will not believe any proof that is offered. We could put Bin Laden's body on public display at Ground Zero and still these people wouldn't believe. Unless George W. Bush himself testified that he personally shot Bin Laden, carried his body back to U.S. soil and conducted the DNA analysis, conspiracy theorists and Obama haters will refuse to believe the truth. Can't we just praise the bravery and professionalism of those involved in taking down Bin Laden while honoring our dead?

By not releasing the death photos, Obama is doing his best to protect the safety of our service men and women around the globe and at the same time regaining some of the restraint, dignity, and humanity that our country has lost during our war on terror.

Well done Mr. President and God bless.

A day to celebrate?

I awoke this morning to the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead. An event more than 10 years in the making. I made the mistake of reading the Facebook posts and reading the comments in news articles. I have been struck by the jubilation, the crowing, and the political finger pointing.

Over and over I hear that this should be a day of celebration for the nation. But I cannot celebrate the loss of human life, even if that human is as despicable as Osama Bin Laden. How can I celebrate the death of one man that came at the expense of thousands upon thousands of innocent Afghani and Iraqi women and children and the thousands of brave service men and women from countries around the world.  Can I really celebrate the death of a man, a death that came at the costs of thousands of lives and billions of dollars?

And let's not kid ourselves. His death is not going to make us safer. This is not the same as "cutting the head of the serpent." It's more like killing off the CEO of McDonald's. There may be a little corporate chaos for a few weeks, but don't think for a minute that Mickey D's doesn't have a game plan for just that eventuality. And don't think for a minute that Al Queda didn't have a game plan in place for the inevitable death of Bin Laden.

I do hope that his death brings closure to those who have suffered from his life. I hope that it brings comfort to those who are grieving their losses. I do hope that it mean we can bring our service men and women home. But I don't think it will.

Before I am called unpatriotic or an enemy sympathizer, I'm not saying that his death didn't have to happen. It did. Bin Laden had to die. There was no way he could have been brought to trial to stand justice for his crimes. I just don't have to celebrate his death.

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.,

I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.

Who's to blame?

I don't know about you, but I'm still reeling from the news of Saturday's shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and death of 6 people at a political rally in Arizona.The finger pointing and fist waving began almost immediately. I am not innocent here. I was one of those people drawing a straight line from Sarah Palin and Jesse Kelly's violent gun-filled imagery to the tragedy in Arizona.

But as we learn more about Jared Loughner and his troubled past we learn even less about why he committed this horrific act. The left is arguing it's Sarah Palin's fault for putting the Congresswoman in her crosshairs and for telling her followers "...don't retreat, reload!" The right point to Loughner's reading list (the Communist Manifesto) as evidence that he was a left-wing nut job. We may never know what were Loughner's political influences - if he had any at all. But this doesn't absolve our "thought" leaders from their role in feeding a madman's delusions.

Today Ms. Palin issued a video statement on the shootings absolving herself from any blame for the tragic events. She's right. It's not her fault. She didn't put the gun directly in Loughner's hand. She didn't tell him to hunt down Congresswoman Giffords. There's no proof that Loughner had ever listened to a word that Ms. Palin ever said, or saw her map with the rifle sights over Giffords's name. But she missed the point and the opportunity to show the American public that she is capable of self-reflection and personal responsibility.

Earlier this week Keith Olbermann issued a mea culpa for adding to the political vitriol that has plagued our airwaves and issued a promise to try and tone it down. While I applaud Olbermann's sentiments, I believe that when the election cycle ramps up and sweeps week approaches, his self-aware sentiments will go right out the window.

Pundits like Palin, Olbermann, Glenn Beck are like parents who feed their kid a steady diet of Twinkies and soda and then act shocked when the pediatrician tells them that their kid weighs 200 lbs and has diabetes. Having access to America's airways is a privilege and responsibility. It's time for our pundits and politicians to step up and accept the responsibility that comes with the privilege they've been enjoying for years.

We'll never know why this disturbed man decided to open fire at a busy shopping center. What will be more productive is to try to understand how he was able to do it. How was it that an obviously disturbed individual went without proper mental health care? How was an obviously disturbed individual with a criminal record able to LEGALLY purchase a handgun? But that's for another blog.

For now, I just want to tune out the shrill, ugly voices on the airwaves. I want to ignore the blame game that is going on. I want to pray for those who were injured in this terrible tragedy and for the families of those who lost their lives. And hope that we can all grow up and learn a few lessons in humility and personal responsibility.