Mom On the Alert

Did You Hear The News?

Not that it really will change anything, but it has been announced that Osama bin Laden has been killed. His death will not bring those who died as a result of the terrorist attacks on 9-11 back, nor will it end the dangers that still exist in the world, but almost ten years after that terrible day, the man who planned and directed the attack is dead.

On the TV, we see young people in the streets celebrating and chanting; "USA. USA." They are making gestures as if to say "We're number 1!" Personally, I hate this cheer. It sounds to me like the cheers we might hear at a football game. And it offends my senses to compare war in any way to a sporting match. War and the fight against terror is not a game. It is sad business.

Satisfying as it might be, revenge does not make me feel happy. What would make me happy would be to see peace erupting around the world. Maybe that will come in my lifetime, but I suspect that it will take a very long time before the day I believe will come, does.

Here is LA, we can hear the police helicopters circling overhead. No doubt our first responders have been put on alert. It is both disturbing and yet comforting to hear the evidence of our government's efforts to protect us.

Pete and I listened the President make the announcement tonight. His words were brief and to the point. I support and admire our President, and thought his speech tonight was good, however one sentence of the speech gave me pause.

Toward the end of the speech, the President said; "And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people."

In my view, the achievement today is not evidence of our greatness. It is evidence of our military power and our determination. But dominance in war and and in military disputes is not what makes America great.

What makes America great is what has inspired us since our country's inception. It is the promise that was written into our Declaration of Independence. We declared; "We hold that these truths are self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."       

It is this promise that inspired people around the world and still does now. It is this promise and this ideal that has made America great.

Posted by Judi at May 1, 2011 9:20 PM | TrackBack