Monday, May 02, 2011

Osama is Dead ... Or is He?

The President scored a major victory yesterday with the death of terrorist and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He received praise from most, including the Republicans considering presidential runs. But some on the far left and right have already started to question whether it was in fact Osama who was killed: Fox News. It is hard to believe that the administration would fake such a story, but it is also hard to believe that no one would have been able to challenge a non-native born citizen before he became president. Conspiracy theorists are fecund in America and it appears that their appeal with the public has only increased since 911. Now I wonder how far they will go to try to discredit a major achievement of the administration -- one, lest us forget, that Bush never accomplished. An email from a leftist friend was just as troubling, leading me to continue wondering why the left can find little more right with Obama than the right. What I think is clear is we are headed for a serious psychological engagement with the pathos that has dominated American politics since 911, and potentially the birth of a broader movement to challenge the militaristic, security state tendencies that emerged in its wake.

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