For folks around my age, you will remember the days that the television only had 3 channels and despite the lack of variety, there were a number of annual programs that reduced your channel surfing even more. One of the programs you could always count on was the age-old good conquering evil epic of the Wizard of Oz. Oddly enough, there are lots of great lines and comments in that movie, and when you have probably seen it 40 times, one tends to remember at least a few that shed some light on recent events today, bringing some levity to a harsh but fitting end or the World’s Most Wanted Terrorist.
The first that comes to mind is “Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead,” which is fitting with the death of Osama bin Laden.
Kidding aside, we as Americans owe great thanks to our military and intelligence professionals who found and removed this blight on our way of life. That much evil in one person is hard to even imagine for most Americans. We are raised to protect life at all costs, taking it only when we have to, which was necessary with bin Laden. The action of our Navy Seals was a just response to his attack on thousands of innocent people on September 11, 2001.
His death does generate the possibility of retaliation against us as individuals and as a nation. Thus, it is important for each and every one of us to assist our law enforcement professionals as they do their daily jobs and as they are increasingly ever vigilant to protect us. Certainly, we can guess that al Qaeda will attempt something over time, but there could be lone individuals or small groups that were supporters to the extent that they could attempt small scale attacks or shootings.
Believe me, along with the best military in the world, we also have the best law enforcement agencies in the world here at home protecting us every day. But they cannot be everywhere at every moment. They will need our support and cooperation in watching for suspicious activity and things such as packages left alone. No, they do not need or want people attempting to do anything about the activity other than just reporting it. Certainly they will get many calls that do not amount to anything, but it is always better to be safe than sorry at these times.
Please join me in thanking our men and women in the military and law enforcement. They are putting their lives on the line each and every day to protect us and our way of life.
I’ll also add – for the younger folks who grew up with 400 channels (which includes the History Channel) sorry for the history lesson. Please be vigilant.
