My Belated Huzzah Post

So I caught the live news coverage as it unfolded a week ago Sunday night, as we learned that Osama bin Laden was shot by a team of Navy SEALS. I guess people with better internet connections learned it beforehand, but I got screwed by work and was busy all day, so I watched and speculated along with the rest of the 20th century hosers as NBC first played their “breaking news” intro (which doesn’t mean much, as I’m jaded by them cutting into regularly scheduled broadcasts regularly), then Brian Williams said it had to do with OBL (ears perked up), then the kill was confirmed, then Barack Obama finally finished his speech and delivered it after suitable build-up.

I thought the flash mobs immediately following appropriate, but the cheering, flag waving, and “U.S.A.” chanting eerily reminiscent of effigy-burning “anti-US” demonstrations in the Middle East. I subscribe to the line of thought behind the Dalai Lama’s response.

With hindsight 20/20, Obama’s direction and handling of the situation was superb. As the talking heads have already talked to death, the predator drone attack would have been the easier, less risky path to take — but less rewarding, as we now know a “small college library” amount of intelligence was collected from OBL’s compound.

I saw talking heads compliment “both past presidents” on Meet the Press this morning, for changes to the intelligence community that allowed this success to take place. Concurrently, I’ve been catching up on a past (pre-OBL demise) Time article which followed FBI Director Robert Mueller. It’s occurred to me that George W. Bush likely did not have much to do with the changing intelligence landscape (other than following other’s recommendations regarding the appointments of new people); while Obama had an obvious, tangible role in getting OBL. But that’s just the partisan in me talking.

There’s not much substance to this post, other than that I’ve kept this blog alive for this long and I would feel remiss to pass this story by without giving my two cents.

I’ll have additional cents to come, if not on this topic, on others.