Hope

Osama Bin Laden is dead. Immediately, the world is a better place. I hope that the families of the victims of 9/11 can begin to finally heal their broken hearts and find happiness in this world. I hope that we as a nation can come together and remember that despite our political affilations, religious views, or ethnic backgrounds we will recall that we are all brothers & sisters united in a common belief that ours is the greatest country on the face of the earth. Over the ten years since 9/11 occurred, our solidarity has been tested. The deaths of our countrymen in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. on that day and the deaths and horrific injuries of our citizen-soldiers on the battlefield every day since have weighed heavily on all of us. We have at times turned against one another as our frustrations with the way the War on Terror has been conducted have mounted. Political discourse has degenerated into counterproductive rhetoric in the form of Bush-Bashing and The Birther (Bowel) Movement. The undeniable sense of unity Americans felt nearly ten years ago had all but disappeared--until today--hopefully.

Hopefully, we will remember that we're all in this fight for justice and the American way together. Hopefully, we will come together as Americans and not politicize this moral and military victory. Hopefully, we will begin to turn our attention once again to making America a better place for our children instead of living in fear and with revenge in our hearts. Hopefully, George Bush will be given credit for resolving to track down Bin Laden. Hopefully, Barack Obama will be given credit for remaining committed to that end. Hopefully the special ops forces who bravely took down the world's most wanted mass murderer will be treated as the true heroes that they are. Hopefully, they will receive a tickertape parade in New York City. Hopefully, they will be awarded the $25 million reward for the killing or capture of America's #1 enemy. Hopefully, we can bring home the rest of our brave men and women in uniform soon. Hopefully, we can focus on domestic issues that have been neglected since our attention has been rightly focused overseas. Hopefully, a new era of peace and prosperity has begun.

Hope. I don't want to live in a world without hope. Today, to honor the memory of all those who were lost on 9/11 and in the War on Terror, I hope we will all make the committment to come together and remember how lucky we are to be Americans. I hope that we will all tone down the rhetoric and remember that United We Stand, Divided We Fall. Today, I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am an American. And I am damn proud of that. And I hope that Osama Bin Laden rots in Hell. But as my friend Roger eloquently put it, "I pray for the soul of this man. I pray he comes to understand the horrors he unleashed in this life and is remorseful." That being said, I hope that Osama spends all of eternity in Hell and that he fully feels and appreciates the pain he has inflicted upon the innocents of this world. In this one case, if rejoicing in the death and suffering of another human being is wrong, then I don't care to be right. I hope I can be forgiven for that.