MLK Never Met OBL

Does the fact that we find ourselves profoundly un-bothered by the death--execution, if you will--of Osama bin Laden make us a bad liberal? Understand, we don't revel in his death. When we heard the news, we felt no temptation to run out into the streets, waving a flag, and chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" But if forced to choose between "happy" or "less-than-happy" about bin Laden's death, we come down strongly and without the slightest feeling of guilt on the "happy" side.

Many of our friends have shared sentiments from the likes of Martin Luther King about the utter pointlessness of violence. We want to respect our friends' feelings and believe them sincere in their measured responses to bin Laden's death.

At the same time: Really?

What would people have preferred? That Seal Team Six arrest Osama? And then what? A trial? Where would you find twelve impartial jurors in the US? And where would you hold the trial? New York City? Last year, New York authorities objected to holding trials for mid-level terrorism suspects in lower Manhattan on the grounds that security would be unmanageable. How would they manage a bin Laden trial? And if New York couldn't manage it, who could?

Could the international community set up some kind of Nuremberg-like proceedings? Possibly, but there is no chance the US would cede custody of bin Laden to any third party, particularly if this third party (as would likely be the case) foreswore the death penalty. And presumably if, despite all the logistical, jurisdictional hurdles, a trial were ultimately held, the verdict would be a foregone conclusion (if there were the slightest chance of bin Laden's acquittal, the US would never allow a trial to begin. See: Guantanamo). In the meantime, though, we would have subjected ourselves to months--years, probably--of political squabbles, legal wrangling, and angry protest. What happened Sunday night was far more honest.

In the end, we turn to Mark Twain (why not?) for a fitting expression of our own sympathies: "I've never wished another man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."