Monday, May 2, 2011

My $.02

This morning as I logged onto the computer to begin my day at work, I read the huge headline Osama Bin Laden is Dead.  Only I got stuck on the first word and my mind read Obama yadda yadda is Dead.  After I nearly shit myself and realized our president was not dead, I breathed a sigh of relief and mentally fist-pumped the air.

Later on as I perused countless Facebook status updates about the news of the century, I became a little irritated at a particular sentiment being passed around by a handful of people: 
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"  - Martin Luther King, Jr.
In a different situation I think I would agree with Mr. King, but with regards to Bin Laden I couldn't disagree more.  My reply:
"You spend years planning, funding, then carrying out a plan that kills thousands of innocent people and terrifies a nation. You praise its success, then like a coward you run and hide...hell yes I am rejoicing your death."
While this does bring a certain amount of closure, it also brings with it uncertainty about who might do what to us next.  Terrorism will never be completely vanquished, but if nothing else there is now one less leader amongst them, and for that I am grateful.

***Update*** 
Apparently that quote was taken out of context, not sure by whom, but this is the correct quote by Dr. King:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.The chain reaction of evil-hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars-must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
My apologies for the inaccuracy.

1 comment:

Steve said...

I have to agree Kimmy. It's nice that Dr. King can stand so tall which makes his untimely death even more of a loss. However, I am not Dr. King, I am Steve, a red blooded redneck and I couldn't be happier that the biggest piece of shit on the planet is gone. My only regret is that I didn't get to pull the trigger.