President Obama Announces Death of Osama Bin Laden

Everyone remembers where they were the day the towers crumbled. High school classrooms around the country hushed as teachers received the news, workplace phones rang off the hook with urgent callers wanting to confirm that what they’d just witnessed was real. It seemed as if the whole world stood still, gaping at this devastating destruction that violently shook Americans to the core. This was something that happened “somewhere else, anywhere else.”

We huddled around 24-hour news cycles with bated breath as the threat level hit every color on the spectrum and we were introduced to our new way of life – one filled with fear, suspicion and sacrifice.

Thousands of victims and heroes of that horrific event paid the ultimate price, but those left behind had their debt to pay as well. We took off our shoes and removed our belts, subjected ourselves to full body scans and searches, and carefully chose our words lest the Patriot Act pick them up over the airwaves. We sent our brothers and sisters in uniform overseas unsure if we’d be wrapping commemorative ribbons around trees instead of our arms around them upon return. We became suspicious of “them” and “the other” for a long time before realizing that “we” could easily become “them” by allowing hatred and ignorance to dictate our decisions. We learned to lean on each other, built memorials to those who lost their lives, and vowed to never forget.

Eventually the terror stopped glaring so brightly and we were able to refocus enough to function again. Consistently taking small steps (and flights) back to normal. Knocked back every so often with new jolts of terrorism, the American people persevered, ensuring that terrorists would not be rewarded for their malicious efforts.

Little did we know as we went about the business of rebuilding our lives and mending ravaged family trees, the government was quietly working to avenge its fallen citizens.

From the East Room of the White House President Barack Obama told the nation on Sunday May 1, 2011 that the mastermind behind this generation’s worst terrorist attack on American soil was dead.

“The American people did not choose this fight.  It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.  After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war.  These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded,”

“So Americans understand the costs of war.  Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed.  We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.  We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror:  Justice has been done.”

Questions to ask in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death are piling up higher by the minute:

• What does this mean for us as a nation and the global community?
• What kind of backlash, if any, can be expected and what is the government doing to prevent it?
• What did the Pakistani government know about bin Laden’s existence and when did they know it?
• Is he really dead? What were the circumstances surrounding his death?
• Did bin Laden have a contingency plan or second in command to take up his cause?
• How are the families of those directly affected coping with bin Laden’s long coming comeuppance?
• Will this development change the tone of the 10th year anniversary of September 11th this year?
• Is there any such thing as “closure” at this point?
• What does this mean for President Obama and his administration in the upcoming election?
• Where do we go from here?

Hopefully in the coming days these, and several other questions, will be concretely answered. However, no matter where you stand on the war, how you feel about President Obama, or your feelings about the events leading up to September 11th, those who value freedom from fear and terrorism can agree that this – while not necessarily cause for celebration – holds a certain amount of relief.

Racists React to Obama Victory

[Disclaimer:  This article was e-mailed to me in the hopes that we remember that although we have come a long way there is still a long way to go.  Hopefully the deplorable acts of a few will not spoil the progressive acts of the many]

By David Knowles
Nov 13th 2008 9:40AM

It should come as absolutely no surprise that, despite the historic election of the first African American president of the United States, the scourge of racism has not been magically wiped away from every nook and cranny of the country. Just dip your toes into the comment section of this, or any other blog that deals with politics and you’ll encounter plenty of it. Despite that regrettable fact, for those who lived through or have studied the milestones marking the advancement of blacks throughout our nation’s history, the seeming lack of racially-motivated clashes has been a noteworthy marker of how far we have come.

That said, just as many of us can feel proud of a country so enlightened that its majority can elect a minority to the highest office of the land, we must not shy away from the uncomfortable fact that a significant number of Americans dislike Obama based, first and foremost, on the color of his skin. By the way, that’s not the same as claiming that if you criticize Obama you are, by definition, a racist. I’m talking about that proud band of citizenry who’ll tell you openly of their disdain and fear of darker skin tones.

Now that the rush of excitement is starting to wane, a spate of media stories is shedding light on those people who wish history had not been made, would never be made, when it comes to black equality. So then, via Editor & Publisher, here’s a rogues round-up. An up-to-the-minute cataloging of that which we all know is out there, alive and well.

1. Yesterday, Tommy Christopher detailed the story of a bus load of Idaho elementary school tots chanting “Assassinate Obama! Assassinate Obama!”

2. In a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a high school teacher’s aide berated a bi-racial 16-year-old Obama supporter, with the following predictions:

“…[the aide] said that Obama was going to be shot and killed,” Mara Gilligan told KDKA News. ” And that our flag is going to be the KFC [Kentucky Fried Chicken] flag and that the new national anthem will be ‘Moving On Up’–and that all my daughter’s beliefs were wrong and her children’s lives were going to be ruined because Obama was elected.”

3. The Associated Press reports several cars in Long Island, New York, vandalized with anti-Obama messages, including promises to kill the president-elect.

4. At North Carolina State University, four students face expulsion for spay painting the phrases, “Let’s shoot that (N-word) in the head” and “Hang Obama by a noose.”

5. In Texas, Baylor University students awoke the morning after Obama’s victory to find a noose hanging from a tree in front of Morrison Hall.

6. In Maine, several black figures were found hanging from nooses on Mount Desert Island the day after Obama won.

7. California vandals went on a spray painting binge in Torrance, targeting cars with Obama bumper stickers. On one house the words “Go Back to Africa” were inscribed.

8. Of course, we all know of the Tennessee skinhead plot to kill random African Americans, and, with a wing and a prayer, Obama himself.

9. In Pennsylvania’s Apolacon Township, situated in an area known for KKK activity, an interracial couple looked out their front window to find the remnants of a burned cross.

10. Two men in the ironically named Friendsville, Pennsylvania were arrested for “racial intimidation and trespassing.”

These are but ten incidents. Thankfully, none resulted in physical violence.

Joe Biden Chosen as Obama’s VP

According to an article in the New York Times, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama announced that he has chosen Sen. Joseph Biden to be his running mate in the election for president of the United States.

Reports all over are rife with assumptions that Obama chose Biden on the basis of his age and sense of familiarity he will provide voters on election day.

The question that immediately comes to mind is who will be the marionette and who will control the strings? Since both are prone to saying things that are hard on the American ear (Obama’s speech on race and Biden’s blunt approach to politics) there can only be two possible outcomes:

1. They find a happy medium where they can convey their messages with impact without discouraging voters. An approach that displays cohesion, respect, and balance.

2. One will continuously have to apologize for the other, holding countless press conferences to state firmly that “well he didn’t mean what you thought he meant when he said that…”

It will certainly be interesting to see which path is chosen in this extremely historic royal rumble-esque election. This move by Obama may have leveled the playing field or just made it harder to play through.

Words, Words, Words!!

Words are one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. They are the making and unmaking of nations, the triumph and downfall of communities, and the cure as well as the disease of the human condition. Individuals have died, ascended to power, been imprisoned, and lived all by words and, more often than not, words alone. Since the naming of Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, race has received a center stage platform for discussion. Unfortunately it seems that all anyone wants to talk about is the fact that it’s a problem. The next step however is taking responsibility, holding each other accountable, and truly thinking about the deconstruction of race as a way of life.

Recently the controversy on The View over the use of the n-word sparked a small skirmish of newsroom activity. For me, however it sparked yet another “head-in-my-hands-moment”. What was supposed to be a short segment on a mid-day talk show turned into a dialogue about race for the nation. It is extremely rare that women are seen speaking intensely about race, this conversation is usually reserved for panels of men scowling at rap videos on massive projector screens. This unexpected and heated debate unearthed a lot of confusion, misinformation, and perception than anyone really expected. Each side held valid points

• Children should not be taught hate-speech
• Everyone should be taught comprehensive history
• Cultural sensitivity needs to be apart of the societal conversation

No matter where you lie on the issue, it is more important to remember that one does not speak for all. This was a conversation between a handful of individuals and was the opening act to a fashion show. Not all of any kind of people uniformly think the same thing. That’s what makes debates like this so complex with shades of understanding that take so much more than the roughly 7 minutes The View spent on it. It would be irresponsible to take to heart everything heard on that episode.

Maybe you should go have your own conversation about race with your friends, your family, neighbors, coworkers, and most importantly yourself. Trust me, it makes the fashion show after a hell of a lot more interesting.