We take immense satisfaction in knowing that Osama bin Laden met a violent demise at the hand of American commandos.

This, apparently, is a controversial statement. At least in some quarters.

Before we continue, let’s excuse a few folks from the room. People of deep faith or deep conscience, who object to the celebration of any death, no matter how damned the soul, may take their leave. People who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, or in the wars that ill-advisedly followed, and who prefer not to mark the occasion of Bin Laden’s passing with brutal joy, may also go in peace.

Glenn Greenwald, however, may want to stick around:

It’s been a long time since Americans felt this good and strong about themselves — nothing like putting bullets in someone’s skull and dumping their corpse into an ocean to rejuvenate that can-do American sense of optimism.

Thanks, but we have plenty of other reasons to feel good and strong about ourself. And our long-held dark judgments about our fellow citizens remain unchanged.

But yes: Nothing like putting bullets in someone’s skull and dumping their corpse into an ocean. We’ll happily cop to that. And if you want to tack on something about the smell of napalm in the morning, we won’t duck.

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of OBL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdsQAXIyzzk

“After jettisoning controversial legislative language narrowing the definition of rape for the purposes of abortion law, House Republicans are attempting a backdoor maneuver to ensure that solely victims of ‘forcible rape’ are eligible for federal funding if they seek abortions.” Forcible rape doesn’t include statutory rape. Statutory rape includes incest. [Mother Jones, via Raw Story]

• Osama didn’t use his wife as a shield, nor was he armed. [Politico]
• While Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided an essential clue that eventually led to the raid, he didn’t cough it up while being waterboarded. [AP/Yahoo]
• Abbottabad is named after “Major James Abbott, a 19th century [British] colonial officer”. [Time]
• “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” No, not Twain. Clarence Darrow. [WiredPen]
• Osama Bin Laden is still dead.

The Great State of Montana corrals 989,415 souls within its borders, for which Our Great Nation bestows it two Senators and one Congresscritter. (The Great District of Columbia bats zero for three because its 601,723 souls don’t count.) And fittingly, for a state that doesn’t know how lucky it has it, that Congresscritter is Republican Denny Rehberg, who would like you to know he feels your pain:

REHBERG: I’m a small businessman. My wife is a small businessman. She hasn’t taken a salary in ten years as a result of business. We’re struggling like everyone else. With the ecnoomy.

CONSTITUENT: What’s your salary?

REHBERG: I’m land-rich and cash-poor. Like ranchers and farmers and small businessmen throughout Montana.

Cash-poor Denny Rehberg was worth $31 million in 2009, which puts him among the 422 poorest Congresscritters. But hey, like he says, his capital was tied up, so he only had his $174,000 salary to draw from. Which he’s been drawing since 2001.

Before which, small businessman Denny Rehberg drew what we’ll generously assume was a living wage as lieutenant governor of Montana from 1991 to 1997.

Not to mention the pay and per-diem he drew as a Montana House rat from 1985 to 1991.

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Good Lord.  There was enough drama with the Canadian Election as it was.  (This drama, naturally, was wholly unexpected.  It’s Canada, for Christ’s sake.)

Jack Layton, for the NDP (Team Orange in your programs, what the Democrats would look like if they were actually uniformly progressive) is actually set for a big breakthrough.  Given the fact that he comes across as actually not being a total douchebag, and that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (Team Red) actually has managed to be more boring than Al Gore, and that Quebec is sick of voting for federal politicians that want to end Canada (that’d be the Bloc Quebecois, Team Light Blue), Layton might actually form the second largest party and — if Fatboy and the Conservatives (Team Labatt’s Blue)  are held to a minority win (still the most likely outcome) — might actually become Prime Minister himself.

And then Osama got a cap or twenty in his ass.  This might give the Conservatives a bunch of juice, and not a moment too soon.  Canada’s involvement in last night’s thing was nil, but they have been putting a lot of time, treasure, and blood into Afghanistan.  Harper — in the course of reading Dubya’s playbook — has doubled-down on the war.  And Layton was campaigning, hard, on pulling out.

And so, a rarity: an election night where absolutely nobody knows what the fuck is going to happen.  Coverage on a C-SPAN network (C-SPAN2, I think, starting soonish), along with this open thread for your Canucking pleasure.

So would a president John McCain have captured Osama Bin Ladin? It’s a question that’s being raised on numerous Left-leaning blogs and discussion forums. And what’s causing people to pose the question is the following exchange that transpired in a July 2008, Larry King interview with then GOP presidential nominee, John McCain:

KING: If you were president and knew that bin Laden was in Pakistan, you know where, would you have U.S. forces go in after him?

MCCAIN: Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation. I think the Pakistanis would want bin Laden out of their hair and out of their country and it’s causing great difficulties in Pakistan itself.

But I want to assure you I will get Osama bin Laden as president of the United States and I will bring him to justice no matter what it takes.

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