I've been hearing comments about the age of the revellers: that they grew up hearing Bin Laden's name, and his serving as our national boogeyman goes back as far as they can remember.
Sam Seder has some discussion of that here. He also points out how much Bin Laden really did "win"—considering a goal of his was to bankrupt the US.
Of course, deficit—which "matters" only when a Democrat is in office—is also an excuse to force the policies a minority has alway wanted. The true bankruptcy is the moral one Sam notes; our bankruptcy as a culture is shown in ways from post-2001 approval of torture to absurd airport security to this week's young crowds, celebrating a death as a mass pop culture event.
Despite Bin Laden's sudden end, the usual crowd has not missed a beat in commencing the history rewrite: from claiming credit for Bush, to pretending the needed intelligence was obtained through water boarding.
The end of the Cold War created an Enemy vacuum for those profit centers and political interests that need one. Bin Laden came to the rescue; with his demise, new boogeymen will be found.
Yes, he was a terrible person responsible for many deaths—including those of fellow Muslims. If we limit ourselves only to what most Americans bother thinking of: the Bush administration ignored all warnings until they had themselves a situation to exploit without limit.
Threats... Enemies...
The ones most likely to harm us are always those close to home.
An ideology of greed marching us backward politically is the most basic one—pretty much everything else stems from that.
Pogo had it right—
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