Monday, May 23, 2011

Note to self

Make shepherd's pie one evening this week!!!

But Mel's a vegetarian

...maybe try making it with chicken instead?

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Death of a Salesman

I feel somewhat uncomfortable celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden. News reports all seem to focus on the joyful crowds and everyone cheering the death of a terrorist, or lauding the President's decision, or perhaps praising the effectiveness of the military. However, all this media coverage of such a 'proud moment' makes me wonder if I'm the one with a cold heart. Have I've forgotten all the victims of 9/11?

Who cares if it was legal to kill him. Was it ethical? It sounds strange to hear that justice has been served. Outright killing a man doesn't sound like the kind of Justice I learned in my middle school Civics textbook. Even if he's responsible for something as horrible as the death of thousands of Americans, in a society in which we cherish equality and individual rights, is it correct (ethical and logical) to just go out and shoot him? Doesn't that contradict the moral basis on which our judicial system was supposedly founded? It all just seems to me like a case of revenge thinly veiled as righteousness.

But, to be honest, I don't actually know if a trial would have really been better or resolved anything. I think we all agree he would have been found guilty, and killed somehow no matter what. Indeed, maybe a trial would have just delayed the inevitable. Not to mention that legal proceedings automatically imply detaining him at some physical location, which could have potentially been a security risk in itself.

There probably isn't any right answer. It must have been a really tough call, and I don't envy President Obama for being the one to make it. I do hope it was in fact a difficult decision for the President, one that he weighed heavily. Otherwise, he'd be just as barbarous as the man he killed.

Isn't it funny how one man (as a symbol of one particular event) has turned us all paranoid? I admit that even I sometimes feel brainwashed by all the terrorist hype. 'How are they gonna strike next?!'; 'Are we safe?!' Unfortunately, Bin Laden's death won't remove the everyday threat. And, our retribution doesn't really change the fact that thousands died in the collapse of the Trade Center towers, and thousands more in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nor will it strengthen our economy and erase our military-industrial-sized national debt just knowing that the most wanted man in the world has been eliminated. So again, what's all the celebrating about?