Killer Highs

The key piece missing from the photo of the dead Osama bin Laden was an Obama 2012 bumpersticker taped over his mouth.* But that would violate the equal-time rule, and we'd have to tape Trump, Romney and Palin stickers over dead mouths throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan. First we need new monsters to fear, then assassinate. Bin Laden's a tough act to follow. But I trust our owners to find suitable replacements.

Oh, do you think that the wars are coming to a close? That once bin Laden bit it, we were finished? It's a nice thought. Maybe in another dimension. As William Burroughs reminded us, this is the War Universe. We ain't stopping. Judging from the reactions to Obama's hit, that seems to suit many Americans just fine.

I always hear, usually from radicals, that Americans are largely antiwar. If so, I sure as fuck don't see it. As I noted in 2008, Obama would effectively kill whatever antiwar sentiment lingered after Bush/Cheney, and he's done just that. Whacking bin Laden all but guarantees another term (pal Barry Crimmins says that bin Laden's death is 9/11 for Republicans), which means four more years of war, torture, and plunder.

Oh, do you think that in a second term, Obama's "true" progressive colors will blossom? Well, every vote is sacred. Primarily those predetermined.

I didn't scan all liberal celebrations, but I caught a fair share. Amid the self-satisfied fist pumping was a lot of Bush/Cheney bashing -- which is fine by me, yet it seems odd. It's as if liberals miss the Bush era where a good number of them cut their political teeth. Going back in time feeds some dissident urge. Since Obama's largely off-limits, especially now, and the current GOP crop is weak, Bush/Cheney fits their needs. The joke is that Obama has continued and expanded the Bush/Cheney Terror War scenario. It's not a particularly funny joke, but death humor is tricky to pull off.

At Facebook I made the mistake of crashing a few death parties some "friends" were throwing for each other. A couple are feminist/hippie types, so their blood lust was confusing at first glance. Stupid me, thinking hippies can't hate. Call them on their twisted fantasies then watch out. Some of the shit they were saying bent my mind. How they'd love to personally kill bin Laden, how sexy the assassination makes Obama look, how Their President is manlier than the previous president. I suggested that all this boasting and crowing was unbecoming, that they were better than that.

Woo boy. That didn't go over well. How dare I question their elation at this great American moment. I was smug, insufferable, self-righteous, and worst of all unfunny (oh dear -- not that!). They really didn't address anything I said, but when you're smoking the death weed, arguments are moot. It was as if they were posing with bin Laden's corpse, a la Abu Ghraib and Kill Teams in Afghanistan. I doubt that's something you want reflected back at you, especially when you sober up. If you sober up. The ease with which many liberals were whipped into a nationalist lather was surely not lost on their Dem keepers. That vein will be tapped again.

For a Global Terrorist Mastermind, Osama bin Laden seemed fairly unproductive and quiet for the better part of a decade. If he was indeed the brains behind the 9/11 attacks, then he got in one lucky deadly shot at the infidels. Attacks like that are rare simply because they're nearly impossible to succeed. Calling bin Laden a Mastermind is hyperbole. It gives him too much credit. Of course, it does help keep powerless consumers afraid and prepped for vengeance. For this, large, inflated monsters are necessary.

So what does Obama do for an encore? Mr. Gaddafi, I'm looking in your direction.

(*Seems that the photo I saw is a fake. So there's still a chance that Obama's bumpersticker sealed his mouth before the big splash. Killer brand positioning.)