Bookends

I just saw the live speech by President Obama, after waiting an hour to do so. I have to say, I always kind of assumed we'd never find Bin Laden. I never saw that coming on a random Sunday night in May...

It is a little frustrating, however, that some of the media chatter is already implying that it was just a random coincidence that this happened under Obama's administration. I absolutely believe this was the culmination of years and years of intelligence work, most of it done by the Bush administration. However, this was anything but total, hapless chance. Obama specifically authorized this strike after months of research into it, it was a human operation instead of drones, and there was a specific target and firefight. It was also done with a lot of cooperation with Pakistan- this was methodical, calculated, and not at all random coincidence. I don't think Obama should get all the credit/glory, at all (clearly, the men who carried out the strike actually did the deed, and the Bush admin worked for years on it, and we should be focusing on the closure this must be giving the families affected). At the same time, however, it's annoying that I'm already hearing implications that this was just dumb luck, or that it "doesn't matter at all" who was Pres, etc. I'm sure if this had happened under Bush it would have, in part, been credited to his good leadership and discernment of intelligence info. People on FB are ALREADY saying inane and ignorant things about how this was done for his approval ratings... so ridiculous. I'm choosing to ignore them and focus on the last part of Obama's speech, where he reminded us of the unity we felt after 9/11:

"Tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to- that is the story of our history.. let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". Pres. Obama, 5/1/11