This speaks for itself.

…If anyone needs me, I’ll just be off crying quietly in a corner somewhere.

“That fucking guy made me kill, like, sixteen old people in a nursing home. ‘Cause I thought they… they showed signs of something… Apparently, it was old age…”

Except I didn’t get the news until 7 a.m. and by then, the Interwebs had already amassed enough condescending theoretical bullshit and pointless contrarian diatribes that I was exhausted before I could even log into WordPress. And now there’s all this stuff I want to say… Stuff about the futility of ideals; how the word “fair” shouldn’t even be used in this conversation; how some people are just batshit crazy, making due process almost impossible. And most importantly, how there’s a huge difference between celebrating “a man’s death” and celebrating the end of a murderous tyranny, and how you damn well better make sure you know which is which before you start criticizing people’s morality.

I’m certainly not going to parade outside in my American flag gown* or spend the night drunkenly “whooo-hooooo!”ing the U.S., because I do think that sort of meaningless revelry would be distasteful. But what I do not believe is distasteful is an impromptu gathering of citizens outside the White House to say “Job well done, sir!” Nor is it distasteful for folks to gather at Ground Zero in remembrance, many of them probably hoping for that sense of closure they’ve been seeking for a goddamn decade. I don’t believe there is anything morally remiss in a collective sense of relief at the only justice available in this case, given that the batshit-crazy individual in question never once considered invoking his right to due process. And if you honestly think he was ever going to surrender, that he would’ve ever consented to a trial so that you can have your idealized version of what “justice” should be… then you seriously haven’t been paying attention. And I’d like to point out that I am against capital punishment; I don’t think anyone ever has the right to take another human life. That being said, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking there was any other plausible end to this game of hide-and-seek with a lunatic. Seriously.

So no, I don’t think Americans have exhibited any distasteful behavior (yet). I’m sure at some point, someone will prove me wrong, because the human race has a knack for disappointing me on a daily basis. But until that asshole does whatever idiot thing he’s going to do, I will be quietly reveling in the knowledge that there is one less tyrannical sociopath in humanity’s midst. And if you want to fault me for doing so, have at it.

~ r.

* For the record, I don’t actually own one of these. Just in case you were wondering.