My 2 Cents: The Next Step

Yesterday, it was announced that the United States had not only finally caught up with Osama Bin Laden, but had killed him. It was a day that will go down in history, and most of us didn't even know until the day was almost over. I uncorked a bottle of champagne, poured a glass, and took the time to relax and savor the end of the hunt.

However, today, my Facebook and Twitter feeds were flooded with commentary regarding last night's events that, at times, left me downright appalled and ashamed. There were people using this single victory as one more thing to rub in the rest of the world's faces, saying things like "Britain can have their dogshit wedding, look how we spent our time." Others were raving about how Bin Laden didn't suffer enough, that he needed to be publicly castrated and drug through the streets by his neck. America is a great country, and finding Bin Laden is undoubtedly a victory we have every right to celebrate. But why should we tarnish that by being petty and cruel? Why should we endeavor to cross that line and bring ourselves down by making ourselves the ignorant, barbaric warmongers so much of the world believes us to be? What's done is done, and now we have the choice of either sitting and squabbling with ourselves over whether he really got what he deserved, or we can turn our attention to the plethora of other problems we as a nation face.

We're still dependent on foreign oil.
Our economy is still barely limping along.
Many of our soldiers have still not made it home.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us, America, and it isn't healthy or fair to dwell on our anger when there is still so much to do. I understand that I, as an individual, lost close to nothing from the September 11 Attacks- I was scared and angry just as everyone else in the country had been, but I lost nothing I couldn't regain with a little focus. And I understand that it's easy for people like me- who were really so far away from the real tragedy- to not understand the overwhelming rage that many Americans may feel right now. All I know is that we have had ten years to grieve, and it will serve us nothing to spend another ten doing the same.

We've proven, once again, what we can do if we stand together and put our minds to something. Now let's really show them.