“We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the big difference between us.”– Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden is dead.
Thank God.
It is currently nearly 3 a.m. on the West Coast and I have been working on covering the story since it broke over seven hours ago. I will be working on it for most of the coming day as well, including a three-hour broadcast.
There has already been a pot of coffee consumed, and I just got back from a 24-hour taco shop run.
I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Many times, if I am pulling awful hours, it is because a disaster has happened. The wildfires of 2007, or the earthquake in Japan a few months back. Tonight, though, I am happy to be pulling an all-nighter, celebrating a death.
I have seen and heard a few people say we shouldn’t celebrate a man’s death. That it is awful and morbid. That perhaps it is not the Christian thing to do.
I am celebrating his death. Get over it.
I was just shy of my 18th birthday when the attacks happened. I was one week into my senior year of high school, what should have been a really exciting time. Instead, I sat there, watching everything change, and my adulthood take a whole new course.
I watched that second plane hit. I watched those towers fall. I watched everything change.
Since then, I have seen the world I grew up in disappear.
I live in San Diego, a military town, and I have watched countless friends leave without knowing if they would make it back. I have covered story after story of men and women my age that have died fighting for this country because of what bin Laden orchestrated that day.
Yes, I celebrate his death.
I watch the footage of those planes hit, and I feel like I am back in high school, watching it for the first time. I can’t help but cry, every time.
If you are wondering if it is okay if we celebrate his death, would you feel sad if you were around for Hitler’s death? Bin Laden sought to annihilate our way of life, our very existence. He sought nothing but death and destruction for the world in a perverse religious shroud.
I celebrate his death, because he has caused too much mourning in this world.
I celebrate his death, because unlike him, I value life. I celebrate his death, because I believe that there is good and evil in this world, and he was evil to the very core.
I have no illusions that this is somehow the end of this decade-long battle, but I do wish to take a moment and cheer for the good guys’ victory.
If you are feeling a little bad about all this celebration, I challenge you to examine the world around you compared to ten years ago. I dare you to think about how much your life has changed, and perhaps how different it would be. If nothing else, go through the names of all those who have died at the actions of bin Laden.
Then celebrate.
Anna Good is a talk radio producer and personality who is currently producing the Mike Slater Show on 760 KFMB in San Diego. She has produced for other known hosts including the nationally-syndicated Roger Hedgecock Show and has also been seen on ABC World News.