Hobbs’ Monday Musings: Osama Bin Laden is Killed/Royal Wedding and a Funeral/Obama tours Alabama
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…a time to kill—a time to heal”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-3
At long last, American forces cornered—and killed—Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the rise of Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks. The politics of Bin Laden’s death will be debated endlessly in the months ahead, with both Democrats and Republicans seeking to take credit for fulfilling the wishes of former President George W. Bush, who once exclaimed that Bin Laden was “Wanted: Dead or Alive”
Well Bush got his wish—death—but it occurred on his successor’s watch. One of the biggest perceived weaknesses of past Democrat presidential candidates has been national defense. The death of Bin Laden will greatly help Mr. Obama during next year’s reelection campaign as he will be able to boldly declare that justice was served at his command.
Unless you are cynical or a rabid hater of the president, or simply anti-American in your political orientation, one has to admit a sense of pride when hearing or reading Mr. Obama state “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda…we must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
Indeed, we must, Mr. President. But as we respectfully pay homage to the American troops that secured this victory, is it not time to fulfill your old campaign promise and bring the troops home?
I ask because, while the mission’s reasons certainly morphed from justice to nation building under Mr. Bush, we all remember then candidate Obama promising to end “offensive” warfare.
Well, in my estimation, it is time for the president to declare victory and leave the glorified rock quarry that is Afghanistan to the radical opium dealers who historically have run it, and keep just enough air and drone power in the region to destroy any terrorist buildups that threaten American security.
ROYAL WEDDING AND A FUNERAL
“A time to mourn…” Ecclesiastes 3:4
I admit that I did not watch one second of the royal wedding last Friday. I do, however, understand that for millions of American women, the royal wedding allowed them a few moments to relive their childhood dreams of fairy tale weddings.
As a father of a daughter, I am sure that she, too, will one day dream of a story-book wedding. And while there is nothing wrong with that dream, while attending the funeral of Reshard Morell, 15, this past Saturday, I kept wondering what type of fantasy or reality will be there for her and thousands of little Black girls dreaming to meet their prince?
Morell, a princely sort, was a young scholar-athlete gunned down following a party last week hosted by the Tallahassee Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity’s Kappa League, which is a mentoring program for high school boys. Last week, Tallahassee Police Officers arrested local gang banger Darnell Eutsay, 19, for First Degree Murder in Morell’s death.
As I sat in Tallahassee’s Bethel A.M.E. Church for Saturday’s funeral, my heart poured out to the hundreds of mourners who braved a brutally hot spring afternoon to pay their last respects.
As I watched the end of the two hour proceeding, the one thing stood out the most to me was learning that Morell had recently been Baptized. His pastor informed the audience that Morell had attended a Good Friday celebration at church a day before he was killed.
Perhaps the most telling part of the service was when the same pastor asked how many in the audience were “un-saved”, meaning, had not been Baptized in Jesus Christ’s name. I was amazed to watch the high number of young black men whose arms shot up.
It was at that moment that I became even more convinced that the future for many Blacks will remain in jeopardy so long as young Black men remain averse to living Godly lives. Ask any Black person over the age of 60 what sustained our people through the rigors of Jim Crow and they will immediately refer back to the fundamental belief in God and the literal belief of eternal salvation—or damnation.
We have become so enraptured with the concept of sugar coating the truth—also known as political correctness—that we spend more time seeking not to offend atheists or other religions as opposed to seeking the development and nourishment of righteous living within our young. Absent this spiritual awakening, it is only logical that a wayward young man will kill with no thought of eternity.
Until that changes, the scrutiny that a young man will receive when he seeks to court my daughter will begin with “Have you accepted the Lord?”
OBAMA TOURS ALABAMA
“A time to build up…” Ecclesiastes 3:3
As we continue to assess the damage in terms of lives lost and property damage from last week’s deadly tornadoes that ripped much of the South, it is clear that the Federal response to this disaster is far better than the days following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP Oil Spill last year.
If nothing else, the criticism that George W. Bush received following Katrina, and the beating that President Obama took last year for waiting nearly 12 days before visiting the oil soaked Gulf Coast, has impacted not only the coordination efforts of state and Federal leaders, but also the empathy factor from the commander-in-chief.
It can certainly be argued that both Presidents Bush and Obama took too much of the blame for failing to respond early to prior disasters. Nevertheless, the lessons clearly were learned, as evidenced by Mr. Obama’s statements that “We’re going to make sure that you’re not forgotten and that we do everything we can to make sure that we rebuild.”
As a friend of mine reminded me last week, the only thing that truly matters is that the relief efforts begin. There is a certain element of truth to that, however, one can only hope that when future disasters strike, that future presidents follow the Obama administration’s recent lead—as opposed to its–and W’s—past missteps.
