Spontaneous Celebration Of Osama bin Laden's Death At The California State Capitol

Sally called and said the local TV stations were reporting a small celebration at the California State Capitol mirroring the much-larger spontaneous celebrations in New York City and Washington, D.C. over the report of Osama bin Laden's death. So, at about 11 p.m., I went down to check it out.

There was a dominant group of about ten Anglos waving flags, and a smaller group of about three Hispanic conspiracy theorists also waving flags, with about thirteen others milling about taking pictures of them. So, not the largest demonstration ever to occur at that site. Everyone would break out into patriotic song now and then (I sang the 'Star-Spangled Banner' with them) with hoots and hollers when passing motorists honked.

As soon as the singing stopped, the disunity between the two components would surface. The larger group seemed goofily-giddy with happiness. The smaller group muttered about the naivete of the larger group, and attempted to persuade anyone who would listen that Osama bin Laden had been killed eight years ago and that his body had been frozen in anticipation of this moment. They also spoke darkly of the World Trade Center having been brought down by explosives, a point with which I do not concur, because of contrary evidence (explosives leave impossible-to-miss aerosol fingerprints that were not found). But as soon as the singing started again, unity triumphed above all else, and everyone sang together in happy unison.

One of the flag wavers from the dominant Anglo group wandered over through the darkness to try and read the hastily-written sign of the smaller Hispanic group. His attitude was one of simple curiosity. There was no hostility at all, just a willingness to try and figure out the political position of his fellow celebrants.

For about three months after 9/11, there was a brief detente between Red and Blue America, which featured a willingness of both sides to listen to the other. I sensed that maybe we might have such a moment again. Already, there are forces working against a detente. Rush Limbaugh speculated darkly this morning on the radio as to why people in D.C. and NYC might have been able to obtain American flags so quickly on a Sunday evening (Rush, they own them) and he also started spinning stories regarding Obama's plodding pace on this military action. Nevertheless, I sensed Rush was thrown off his normal rhythm by the pace of events. We are, after all, the United States of America, under God, and indivisible. Sometimes that matters more than anything; sometimes even more than Rush!

I've also sensed a sort of backlash to the celebration of Osama bin Laden's death. It masquerades in some quarters as a liberal backlash, but I suspect it's more of a religious backlash, particularly among Catholics, or people influenced one way or another by Catholic teaching. According to Gabe, Sunday was the Octave of Easter, when one proclaims God's mercy. Plus, there was also the beatification of John Paul II going on simultaneously. A celebration of death on this particular Sunday did not go down well with traditional Catholics, and maybe other religious people too.

For myself, leftie liberal that I am, I thought a celebration was highly-appropriate. We've lost a lot in this war against Al Qaeda - our constitutional protections, the lives of our servicemen and women and huge amounts of treasure. We've suffered endless amounts of wasted time, air travel inconvenience, and lost some of our dignity as human beings, etc., etc., and we've had very little to show for it. It's time for a concrete victory, and a party!