A few of us – very few – knew who Osama bin Laden was before September 11, 2001. In those olden days, in fact, some policy and terror wonks knew him as “UBL,” back when we translated the first vowel of his name further back in our collective throats.
Either way, we take the word of our leaders that the man is dead. We do not shed a tear, but we do not pump our fists and bang our chests either.
We note that there is a superficial world of symbols, brands and public gestures that seems to approximate the real world, but not quite exactly. In this surface drama approximating life, the locus of evil has been slain. But on the true surface of the Earth, something smaller has happened: one man has been shot and his corpse fed to the sharks. His ideas, his images, his brand all remain. Some might argue that they are diminished by his death; some might argue that they are enhanced. But they remain and can only be adequately fought with a collective will for our nation to attend to its own shared needs for community, decency and genuine mutual regard.
We do not love our enemies, nor do we love to see them suffer and die. We must direct our public energies to much greater needs and more worthy ideas.
The.American.Word. 