By Gary Dickson
I once applied for a job for which I was interviewed by a board of directors. All of the board members, except one, asked me standard interview questions like, “What can you do for us that other candidates can”t?” The first time through the rotation Mr. different demanded, “Sell me this glass,” as he pushed a water glass over to me. So I did my best to sell him the glass. In round two he commanded me to define irony. I thought for a moment and responded, “It is when you expect one outcome and get a totally different outcome instead.” I didn”t get the job, but I was pleased that my definition of irony closely matched the dictionary”s.
Sunday evening I experienced a personal irony. I was watching the Sunday night ESPN baseball game when the announcer stated that ABC News was reporting that Osama bin Laden had been killed. I said to my wife, “I just started reading Morgan Spurlock”s book, ?Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” Now I know the answer to the question.”
The book had been gradually working its way up to the top of my reading list over the past six months. I figured there was no reason to hurry; it had been almost 10 years since Sept. 11, so I didn”t expect us to capture or kill bin Laden in the next few weeks. I think I”ll finish the book, though. I should know more about the man who caused dramatic changes to our lives.
Even though bin Laden was becoming a well-known name in the 1990s; it wasn”t until 2001 that it became a synonym for evil in every home in America. Aside from the American president, he may have become the most recognizable face in the world over the past decade. It is amazing how he impacted our lives; some much more than others.
A couple of days after bin Laden”s death I read a column by Marian Fontana. Her husband was a New York firefighter who died on Sept. 11. Fontana is a professional writer who has had articles published in the New Yorker, Elle and Vanity Fair. Her book, “A Widow”s Walk,” made the New York Times bestseller list.
This particular column was about her son, Aidan. He was 5 when his father was killed. He is now 15 and over 6-feet-tall. There are thousands of other stories that can be told or written; about mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers who died on Sept. 11 and after, all related to the actions of Osama bin Laden.
I read another column last week with a headline that preached, “Bin Laden couldn”t change American character.” I strongly disagreed with the writer. I believe bin Laden caused temporary blindness to long-held American principles. For the first time in the history of our country, civilian and military leaders, beginning with the president, ignored American ethics. They ordered soldiers to torture prisoners and this country incarcerated people and held them without cause.
It caused many Americans to look at anyone living in the United States who appeared to be from the Middle East with a jaundiced eye. And, many of those residents received much more than nasty looks.
Normally, Americans don”t easily give up freedoms, but we seemed to be willing to quickly forget about rights to privacy and to open government due to the fear of terrorism. The Patriot Act eroded freedoms granted in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments.
Good luck trying to convince me these are not changes in fundamental American character.
What will our world be like without Osama bin Laden in it? Only time will tell. The only thing I know for sure is that it will never be the same as it was before Osama bin Laden and Sept. 11.
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
