Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- It was the first long-awaited day that truly felt like spring, coinciding with the long-awaited demise of a man who was truly a tyrant.
With clear skies and un-February-like temperatures, people on the street walked with a little hop in their gait. All day on cable television, reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden was similarly giddy. Even Rush Limbaugh gushed praise, saying, "Thank God for President Obama." (take your own measure of sarcasm.)
Wolf Blitzer presided over a blitzkrieg of developing news, and nearly every pundit and politician, including the President, began with something like, "This is a great day for America."
In Florida, people displayed American flags and broke into spontaneous applause.
And yes, it was not too soon for a quintessentially American reaction - the instant marketing of target+-blank >"bin Laden is dead" t-shirts and coffee mugs.
Not that he deserves to be mourned, but the nature of the reaction to his death says a lot about his impact on our national psyche. He has been the face of terror, the personification of evil - plotting and insidious -- always lurking in the backseat of our collective consciousness.
Until Sunday.
There is, and should be uneasiness about the celebration of his death. A Philadelphia writer blogged how bin Laden has now taught her children to "cheer death."
Psychologists can opine on whether it's healthy to find joy in the violent silencing of a villain. A decade ago, bin Laden taught us about fear and vulnerability. We recognize in reality, the disappearance of any single individual will not erase that most horrible lesson. But like the advent of milder weather, his purging is a tonic. Macabre or not, vengeance has been exacted and there is a sense of closure.
Closure, but not peace.
Email: cpsarras@kslc.om
