Celebrating Bin Laden's death is unnecessary, will not end the wars we are bogged down in right now and will inflame those who want a reason to be so. It will not change anything. We've removed one icon of defiance and made him a martyr.
But still, quoting Clarence Darrow: I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.
Update: Marc Lynch's viewpoint on the death of Bin Laden. Amanda Marcotte's.
6 comments:
I thought the quote was attributed to Mark Twain, but that turns out to be a different quote I was remembering:
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. "
Oh, and... I agree with everything you say about bin Laden's death. It will have no effect on terrorism against the US, other than adding to the list of grievances of those who already hate the US. Capturing him and trying him... now THAT would have made a statement for the world to hear! But the politics would not have worked out as well for Obama.
Yeah, the Darrow quote is ping ponging about the net as a Mark Twain epigram.
Once went on a religious wingnut site and found a quote by one of the founding fathers declaring our nation a Christian nation... and finding that odd, looked it up. And found that it was fake.
I try to verify the quotes I run across. Awfully tempting to take them and run with it...
And as for Osama Bin Laden... his policies and heavy-handedness was taking its toll across the Arab nations anyway, and al Qaeda was no longer the new and improved religion/ program/ route to heaven it was promising in the beginning.
But we've made a lot more enemies in this last decade than in the many decades before 9/11/01. Bin Laden was just the first to strike.
Congratulations for being one of the few people in the "Tubes" who knew who said it, Ellroon.
Thanks, Steve, I knew Twain said something similar, but it many ways more sarcastic, which is why he wanted the publication of his autobiography held up for a century.
"Once went on a religious wingnut site and found a quote by one of the founding fathers declaring our nation a Christian nation... "
The best list of actual founding father quotes about Christianity can be found here....
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/quotes_founders.html
Here are a couple...
James Madison (1751-1836)
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. what have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my own part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel."
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
And so on....great stuff ..and all verified.
Thanks, Dusty! I did a collection of Jefferson's quotes on a few posts when someone showed up to rant about how Jefferson's gift of bibles to the Washington DC schools system meant that he would have supported 'intelligent design'....
Here and here if you're interested....
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