A Tale of Two "American Presidents"

It had been a busy weekend, what with the Royal Wedding, and the fact that we had sung with the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale in their Pops Concert. So, late on Sunday evening, I was winding down, watching “The American President” again. This perfectly charming movie stars Michael Douglas as a bachelor President who woos an environmental lobbyist, played by a delightful Annette Bening.


The movie was almost over, and I decided to check Facebook and e-mail one more time before turning in.   I logged onto Facebook, and then I saw all the posts. “Osama Bin Laden is dead!” proclaimed post after post, along with professions of disbelief, and celebration, and awe.

Well, I didn’t believe it. I figured there was one of those bogus virus links going around, like the one proclaiming that Charlie Sheen was dead, and now people were picking up that news and going wild posting it. I needed to find out if it was true, and I needed to see it somewhere other than the Internet.

With one last wistful look at “The American President,” I turned on the local CBS affiliate, and there was Russ Mitchell doing a special report on the death of Bin Laden. It turns out that he was indeed reported to be dead, and it wasn’t from natural causes. We were now just waiting for Barack Obama, the actual American President, to speak to the nation. Obama came on, and verified the reports. He had issued the order, and Navy Seals had carried out the mission. Osama Bin Laden was dead. Almost 10 years after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the alleged perpetrator had been caught and killed.

You know that old advice to never discuss politics or religion? Well, that obviously does not apply to Facebook. First, there was a lot of celebration, a sense of justice being served, a lot of “about times” expressed. Then the backlash began, with lots of people talking about how the U.S. had no more right to kill Bin Laden than he had to organize the attacks that killed thousands of American citizens on our own soil. A doctored pacifistic misquote from Martin Luther King was reposted by a least a dozen of my Friends.

I was a little nostalgic for the days when I didn’t know everyone’s politics. I believe everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and that the freedom of speech does extend to online social networks. The only posts I found offensive were those in which the poster lectured and chided others about how they should feel and what they should post about this very important event in our history.

I found out a few things about myself through this incident. I do not trust Facebook as a news source - any news I hear on Facebook first needs to be verified by another source before I believe it to be fact. I really respect our American President. Barack Obama was decisive, took action, and followed through on something he determined to be a priority for the American people. And I am really fond of “The American President,” the movie. I’m still a little sorry to have missed the ending on this particular viewing.