Memorial Day 2011

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, 1915

Osama's Last Audiotape

Obama Regime Leaning Toward Censorship Re: OBL Death Photo

From ABC News' Political Punch:

Meanwhile, sources say, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are advising the president about concerns at the Pentagon and State Department that releasing a photograph could prompt a backlash against the US for killing bin Laden where one does not seem to currently exist.

The only reason the administration is even considering releasing dead terrorist photos is apparently to thwart budding "deather" conspiracy theorists, people who think the bin Laden raid, like the 1969 moon landing, is an elaborate hoax.

The reason to release the photos, and, by the way, any videos of the raid and OBL's subsequent descent into Davy Jones's locker is this: Americans deserve the opportunity to see their enemy brought low. We deserve the chance to gloat over his ignominious demise and most Americans will feel a sense of having been cheated, whether they acknowledge it or not, if Obama successfully suppresses the photographic and video evidence of America's triumph. There is a basic human need to see one's enemies neutralized. It's a survival trait.

Even considering the withholding of this evidence is symptomatic of the naive socialist mindset that has always sought to deny and suppress the realities of human nature.

Of course photos of OBL's corpse would be much more inflammatory than say, Abu Ghraib photos, right?

Update: Fox reports that Obama has decided not to release the photos.

I, ME, ME, MINE

...I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan...

Bin Laden Dead; America Has His Body

President to address nation.

John Donne is proven to have been in error:

...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...