Surely the death of Osama bin Laden is greater than what divides us at home; finally both left and right can together celebrate an American victory.
Alas no. Petty peeves and polarized politics prevent us from coming together to celebrate a common triumph for all. In reacting to President Obama's announcement, many of the leaders and minions on the right exhibited boorish behavior in not being able to congratulate the president for this successful operation. Political reactions are nicely summarized here on HuffPost.
To his credit, George Bush was magnanimous in his formal reaction, praising Obama for his action. John Boehner split the difference, congratulating Obama but only after making clear that he really did nothing but complete what Bush had started. Others were not quite so magnanimous. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) praised the intelligence community, never mentioning the president. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) gave props to the brave men and women in the military without a word about their Commander-in-Chief. Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) went as far as saying that the terrorist's death was a consequence of Bush's declaration that he would get bin Laden, going on to praise the military but not their leader. Mike Huckabee took the passive approach, noting blandly that "President Obama confirmed the announcement...", implying that he had no role other than spokesperson. Others who praised the intelligence community and military with no recognition of the president include Sen. John Thune, Sarah Palin (of course), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who surely should know better, did not once even nod in the direction of President Obama as he celebrated "this great victory in the War on Terror."
I would like all, both on the left and right, to ponder honestly what the reaction would be if President Bush had made the announcement. Can anyone deny that all those politicians who could not utter Obama's name would be heaping praise on Bush? Would they not use this triumph as proof that Bush's manly foreign policy was the only thing that protected American from a weak left wing? Seriously, I would love to hear someone claim otherwise with a straight face. We all know, absolutely, that this same group of politicians would be yelling Bush's name at the top of their collective lungs. But now we get nothing but silence.
So let's fill that silent void with truth. Let us be clear about the facts: Bush lost bin Laden in Tora Bora; President Obama found him in a mansion in Islamabad. Nothing Bush did during his terms in office had anything to do with the operation in Islamabad. Intelligence two years old is not valuable even in the best of circumstances. Bush did not lay the groundwork for this triumph; he delayed it ten years by going into Iraq instead of focusing resources in Afghanistan, where we would find the terrorists responsible for 9/11. Dick Cheney never stopped repeating that Saddam Hussein had a hand in the attack on New York, even though he knew then and we all know now that to be a complete fabrication.
The right's reaction to this great American victory speaks volumes about their motivations, and about their worldview. Such a cynical outlook and petty perspective is shameful. If such an important American triumph cannot bring us together, one can hardly imagine what would. If bin Laden's death does not induce the right to suppress even for a moment their antipathy toward Obama, nothing will. The right has declared itself permanently alienated from mainstream Americans, who gladly give President Obama and his team appropriate credit for a great success. We all deserve better than what the right has to offer.
Jeff Schweitzer is a scientist, former White House senior policy analyst and author of, A New Moral Code (Jacquie Jordan, Inc) Follow Jeff Schweitzer on Facebook.