Ambivalent.

Removing Osama bin Laden as a threat was a worthy goal, a necessary task, and I am glad that we accomplished it.  I am relieved that it is done.  I am not displeased at the fact of his death.

I am uneasy at the celebration of it. 

On the one hand, I am delighted to join in the celebration of the good things his death could represent:  greater security and progress in the battle against terrorism, closure for 9/11 survivors and families of 9/11 victims, etc. etc. 

On the other, expressing joy, congratulations, and so on for the death itself...   Yes, I feel the world is better without Osama in it.  But I also believe in the intrinsic value of every human life, in due process and the rule of law, and there just seems to me to be something tawdry and undignified in all of this.  Is this really where we as a people have come to?  Is this really what it takes for us to be (momentarily) united in happiness?

A friend of mine who is a pastor quoted a Talmudic story about Pharoah earlier.

“When the Egyptian armies were drowning in the sea, the Heavenly Hosts broke out in songs of jubilation. God silenced them and said, ‘My creatures are perishing, and you sing praises?"

I just don't know.

News roundup.

Well, I definitely don't seem to be the only one whose reactions are mixed, which is a great relief to me.  Here are some other articulations of similar reactions.

And of course, in the wake of that moment of unity (however torn I feel about some aspects of it), the politics start creeping back in around the edges.  Some of it partisan and nasty, some simply food for thought.

There are also some dispassionate summaries and, of course, the obligatory memes.

It has been a day without caffeine, so I'm feeling a little too in depth for more detailed elaborations.  Still up for discussion of the issues, though, as always usual.

ETA:  Moving along, in the wake of this there's definitely some things to worry about with Pakistan.

And I feel sorry for this guy.