“The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.”
– Barack Obama speaking on the death of Osama Bin Laden
I went to bed early last night, falling asleep to a documentary streaming on Netflix. Odd as it may sound, it seems like the world changed a little bit when I woke up this morning close to 6AM. My phone’s alarm went off, followed by its regular morning routine of constant buzzing, as emails and texts from the past few hours came roaring in. Most of these are never important, or very much wanted, but amongst today’s bevy of messages were a few containing the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I checked the calendar to make sure it was indeed May 2nd, that I hadn’t gone back in time to April Fool’s Day. I checked various sources, only finding confirmation, and President Obama’s official statement on Osama’s death. I don’t really know what to make of this right now, or if it is more than a symbolic act, although if so, it is one of immense importance. For so long we engaged in war in an ever evasive opponent, and our inability to find Osama Bin Laden a constant punchline in jokes and cynical statements on our country’s ineptness. While this won’t end any wars, it won’t stop gas prices from escalating, fix our school systems, or any of the multitude of hardships we face each day as Americans, perhaps it will give us an extra boost as we face them and send a message to the rest of the world that there is no quit in the U.S.A.