That said, I’m saddened to a degree concerning the “celebratory” aspects that we as a country are exhibiting over the death of Osama bin Laden.

Let me get this out of the way. I’m not “sad” he’s gone. The world is a better place without him. I won’t mourn his passing and I’m extremely proud of our men and women in uniform, in particular Navy Seal Team 6, for the manner in which they carried out their raid/mission. I’m not a radical Muslim apologist. I believe that what happend on 9/11 was an act of war and that the response from the USA has been appropriate, even if it’s a protracted battle.

What I find disheartening is the public euphoria over his death. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear that the cheering throngs outside the White House and other places were radicals celebrating a successful terrorist attack. Are we not better than that? Do we seriously delight in celebrating the death of one man? Isn’t that something we deplore about Muslim radicals? And yet here we are acting in the same manner.

I won’t say “shame on us” since I too feel a sense of closure that he’s gone. What I will say is that I’m disappointed that we as a great nation find it acceptable to publically revel in the death of a man. I thought we as a people, as a nation, would be above this type of theatrical reaction. Stoicism was what I hoped for instead of the resulting carnival.

I don’t know why it’s taken this long for someone to just state what all of the readers and watchers have always known: It’s impossible for anyone remain netural and unbiased when talking/writing about anything. Everyone has a position and it always comes through no matter how many rules or layers of oversight are deployed.

I think that Fox News should be commended for actually being conservative and sticking to its guns. It’s the other stations (NPR, CBS, MSNBC, NBC, etc) that kept the farce far too long. Fox News played the “fair/balanced” card and beat them at their own game. “Sure, we’re objective just like you’re objective, fair and balanced”, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Grow up “dive by media” and at least be transparent since it’s impossible to be objective.

Two reporters that I never “turned off” were Juan Williams and Mara Liasson. They always came across as fair and objective in their reporting. Imagine my surprise this morning when I read about Juan Williams being fired for honest comments he made on The Factor. Juan’s not a bigot or a racist and his comments were not either. They were honest, personal feelings. Read Juan’s own words on the matter and judge for yourself.

If we can’t even express how we feel for fear of being fired, then of what worth is our 1st amendment rights? NPR can certainly hire and fire who it wants to with and (in this case) without cause and if Juan came across as racist or bigoted I would agree with them.

Unfortunately that’s not the case and I can tell you one thing more: I’ll not listen to NPR or give them anything ever again. It’s sad since there’s a lot of programming on there that I still like, e.g. Car Talk, Prairie Home Companion, etc. I can only hope that NPR comes to realize they made a huge mistake and apologize to Juan Williams.

To Juan Williams, thank you for your honesty, integrity and class.

Fast forward several years.

A political cartoon in the New York Post that depicts police shooting a chimp has outraged the “Al Sharpton” gang enough to protest because they believe the chimp represents President Obama. The cartoon makes reference to the massive economic stimulus bill that was recently signed, but there’s no label on the chimp. Never mind the fact that a chimp was recently shot by the cops for attacking a person. They would rather have a conspiracy to shout about rather than believe in Occam’s Razor. If anything the chimp represents Congress to me.

I guess we’re not that different. Some elements of our advanced American society are just as over-sensitive and reactionary as Muslim extremists. I’m sure I’ll be tagged as a racist or religious bigot for that statement at some point.

Update - The Post issued a statement on the cartoon.

I didn’t vote for President Obama, but I wish him well, for the future of our country depends on his ability to lead, to inspire and to make critical decisions. It’s incumbent on all US Presidents to do that. Some do it better than others. I truly hope that he has the audacity to renew our hope in government and politics because mine’s about gone.

The past 40 years have left me with fading hopes for this great country. The political divisiveness on both sides has got to go if we’re to continue to be a great nation. Too many citizens have given their lives in the cause of this great country to let that come to pass. We’re all to blame for the state our country is in. It’s not the fault of any one individual or party or philosophy or plan. We did it to ourselves over the course of years. And like most damaged things, it’ll take time to repair it. I hope that the time to start is now. I truly do.

I don’t know why the phrase “and so it goes” has stuck with me over the years. I first heard it on NBC News Overnight. Linda Ellerbee would close with that line. It always reminds me that things continue on despite the fractured and fragmented glimpses that we try to capture, remember, contain and brand “good” or “bad”.

It’s President Obama’s turn now to continue leading this great nation.. and so it goes…

Americans’ get to peacefully (I didn’t say non-contentiously) elect people to represent them. This election cycle has been particularly long and at times acrimonious, but here we are today electing a new “team” to lead us in the next executive and legislative cycle. I’m hopeful at the prospects of some new dialog, but realistic enough to understand that it won’t happen over-night and even that it may not happen this cycle or perhaps my lifetime.

My election day was made more special because I took my 19 year old to register and vote in his first election and talk to him about freedom of choice, voting your conscience, beliefs and values along with recalling the sacrafices of men and women who protected and defended that right.

That we as Americans can peacefully and without repercussions select our leaders and transition authority is something to be extremely proud of.

While perusing the blogs today I ran across this video. While it doesn’t explain everything about the crisis, it explains how the Community Reinvestment Act contributed to our current state of affairs:

Pass it on…