Because You Never Asked

(5/11, Spain . This is the second in a series that includes, in this order, “ Bin Laden University”, “A New Sherriff In Town”, and “A Post Osama World”. The preferable would be to read them in order, but it is not essential.)

     I have to admit, the title of this essay has no particular nexus to whatever will be discussed later on. But for 2 men who will be forever married in the historical records of time, the fact that their names are so poetically compatible, so deliciously sounding together, has an almost Kismet-like feeling. Obama-Osama, Osama-Obama, picking sea shells by the sea shore. Perhaps it had to come to this; perhaps this was some kind of preordained act of destiny neither man could avoid. Obama-Osama, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

     In any event, my books are not closed on this subject and the title of this essay is good enough to categorize what is to follow.

     It is relevant to state that when the news of Bin Laden’s death broke, I was trapped in the limbo-like existence of an international airport. This is like being between countries, or in no country at all. It is a very atypical situation for a person to be in, one in which a first hand feeling for what is happening in the reality of everyday life is missing. The only information coming in from the “outside” was, as said in the previous essay (see essay, “ Bin Laden University”), being provided by CNN. It did not take long to realize they were going to treat it as an extremely celebratory event, one that was bringing America together in a blaze of patriotic exultation and pride, USA , USA , God Bless America . But what was going on in the airport as these images flooded the waiting room?

     Remarkably enough, there seemed to be a lack of interest in the story, and yet, explaining it in such a way seems insufficient. One could almost say the hundreds of people gathered there were fleeing the story or avoiding it. They were surely conscious of it but they wanted little part of it. They continued dealing with their children, reading books, messing with their I-phones, napping, or doing whatever weary travelers normally do in such places. Although most people lent an ear or cast an eye at the breaking news (and I’m quite sure everyone did digest the essence of the story), nobody stopped what they were doing, nobody gathered round a TV screen, nobody began to discuss the situation. The prevailing feeling of when can we get out of this friggin’ airport was never displaced.

     I’m not here to say I thoroughly understand this reaction, but I do know this: it is important to describe just who was inhabiting that waiting room as the story unfolded.

     Without getting into the average demographic of who passes through the Miami Int’l Airport, suffice it to say the majority of people in that particular area were not Americans. Hispanics led the way, both Spaniards returning to Spain and Latin Americans en route to Europe. Such other traditional fixtures as the French, English and Germans were also in evidence, along with a smattering of others. The American presence was visible, but minority in nature. Obviously, for a great deal of the people in that room, language would be an inhibiting factor with regard to CNN. But everyone surely knew Obama had killed Osama and the weight this story carried in the eco-system of news. How could they not? It was the only thing being presented. It was the only news.

     Most Americans have never quite understood that their country is the only place in the world where, except for the rhetoric of official government sources, these wars in Iraq , Afghanistan and only God and Allah know where else, are given some kind of respectability. America is the only place where some division between good guys and bad guys is clearly made. America is the only place where somebody’s “freedom” is being defended. In no place else have people been conditioned to hate Osama Bin Laden institutionally. Although nobody in the west sympathizes with his ideology or tactics, outside of America he is seen as just one more fool in a ship of fools on all sides. The world has gone mad and Obama-Osama-Bush and such have had varying roles in creating this madness. There is no joy to be taken from all this, in fact, it is just another sign of the festering idiocy of it all. The images of massive celebration disseminated by the CNN airport services could only be seen as something adolescently American, as if your teenage daughter had decided to dye her hair chartreuse. Maybe some day they’ll grow up.

     In other words, the rest of the world’s rank and file has not been subjected to the daily rhythm of the American narrative (propaganda).

     The reaction of the Americans in the room is worthy of comment. Being that the joyful manifestations for Bin Laden’s death were being emphasized at a level where any other more subdued or negative American response was being excluded, it would be logical to suppose that many of my compatriots at the venue did feel the elation oozing from the CNN coverage. But the overwhelming disinterest and detachment of the vast majority of people there seemed to have an inhibiting effect on any Yankee glee yearning to be let loose. It had a party pooping effect. You cannot party when nobody else wants to and the Americans in the room seemed to understand that.

     There is one other concept that could be playing a substantial role in trying to interpret the behavior of human beings in the particular place and circumstance now under discussion. Strangers gathered in public places will instinctively avoid political discourse, and the murder of Osama Bin Laden was a purely political act. Its substantive effects on the world are virtually negligible. To involve oneself in this story is to involve oneself in politics, morality, opinion, ideology, policy, etc. How one feels about the death of Osama Bin Laden and its modus operandi, is an indication of how one views the world in general. An airport waiting room is usually not the place for such thoughts.

     If the extraordinary news event in question had been, for instance, the Japanese earthquake, with the unprecedented visual images our technology can now provide so instantly, most likely the room would have reacted. Something unheard of was happening, something we need not agree or disagree on, something unattached to the cultural propaganda voices that form us as human beings. One does not have to take sides or have certain beliefs with regard to an event of this nature. We can all feel the earthquake tragedy the same way, instinctively, as human beings. It was horrible, but beyond our control. It was nothing we had to feel ashamed or proud of. (Of course, the nuclear crisis slightly changed that later on). Can the same be said for the murder of Osama Bin Laden?

     I think not, and the diversionary avoidance of its dissemination throughout that airport waiting room is an indication of such.