Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Fahrenheit 2011?

I have a tendency to liken real life events to literary or movie references, I guess I think of it like pop-up video, but in real life.  And I realise the topic I’m about to broach is a hot topic, to say the least.  This past week US forces found and killed known terrorist Osama Bin Laden.  His body was destroyed at sea, though there is DNA evidence provided to prove the identity.

Doesn’t anyone think this is a little odd?  I understand that an operation of this sort isn’t something you post on the front page of the newspaper, but it stinks of contriving circumstances.  It just doesn’t add up.  I am the paranoid type, I’ll wholly admit that, but in this instance, it strikes me as strange.

I have to also admit that when the news broke, I wasn’t overwhelmed with relief, more of sadness.  I am not saying I knew anything that Osama Bin Laden did was good, in any way, but for people to be so joyous over someone else’s death, no matter his/her character, seems vulgar.  I almost felt like we were in a war environment, in which those circumstances would be normal.  But we weren’t, not with him, he wasn’t at the head of an army, leading the good fight. 

He was hiding in his house hoping not to get caught.  And when he was caught, why wasn’t he brought in?  Isn’t that what happened to Sadaam?  Bring him in and question him, have him stand trial for what he’s perpetrated?  Is due process totally gone?  I actually have a second pop culture shout-out, Star Wars.  I’m sure Osama falls into the same category as the emperor, and was ‘too dangerous to live’ – but that really wasn’t the end of the discussion.  And will he now be more powerful dead than alive?

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury paints a futuristic picture where the government regularly paints any dissident as a criminal.  Man hunts ensue and the hero of the story goes on the run.  He didn’t do anything.  The things he’s accused of doing are untrue, but he has no way to fight back, to defend himself.  In the book, he is able to go on the run.  In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, in the beginning of the movie, Anakin kills the emperor’s apprentice, using the excuse that he is too dangerous to live.  He knows he’s done something wrong, and when he hears the phrase again spoken by Jedi Master Wendu about Emperor Palpantine, he fights back.  In both cases, the truth is never able to come to the forefront.

I have more questions than answers in this scenario.  I am not saying I’m sad that the threat is gone, I’m sad that things have come to this.  That it was a unilateral decision made, and there was no place for someone to argue why he should be allowed to live.  To me, it reeks of something behind closed doors, something inappropriate and seething in deceit.  Our government shouldn’t make me feel like I need to take another shower.  I feel disgusted.  I can’t be proud of this.  It isn’t in me.  I believe in fairness, I believe in honour, I believe in due process.  None of these things were upheld.

But does it matter?  No, it doesn’t.  Someone who was perceived a threat is gone.  Was he ever really a threat?  We’ll never know.  Was this an entire ruse to direct attention one way, while doing something different?  Didn’t the stocks suddenly jump up, after falling dramatically since the earthquakes in Japan?  Will gas prices go up or down because of this?  If they do decrease, then I think that lays more credence to my argument, something stinks in the state of Denmark, or in this case, something stinks in the United States.

2 comments:

  1. Good lord you're starting to sound like either a birther Republican or one of those conspiracy theorists. Aye!

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  2. I'm always grateful you're willing to listen to other ideas.

    ReplyDelete