Celebrating Bin Laden's Death
By Symi Rom-Rymer
When President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden in the late hours of May 1st, the country breathed collective sigh of relief. Spontaneous celebrations broke out in front of The White House, at Ground Zero and in Times Square. College students mugging for the camera chanted "U-S-A, U-S-A!" There were even some reports of kegs. Eugene Robinson, a columnist for the Washington Post, wrote the next day, “The flag-waving, horn-honking crowd that converged at the White House Sunday night was brimming with unrestrained joy, unmitigated patriotism and a sense of unlimited possibility—which meant Osama bin Laden had suffered not only death but defeat as well.”
The frat-party atmosphere, however, made others queasy. The sense of unease seems to come not so much from the question of whether it was right to kill...
