Shame on Blame

If the mission to rid the world of Bin Laden had failed, would you have blamed Obama? If your answer is yes, then it follows that the success of the mission should also be attributable at some level to Obama. Irrespective, the debate following the mission about whether or not he deserves credit or not, is bothersome.

Why? Because we have more pressing issues that keep getting pushed aside. For instance,education funding, stagnant economic opportunity, violence in our culture, erosion of empathy, and yes, four dollar a gallon gasoline. Can we start by talking about the problems? By considering solutions? Or, are we destined to continue to engage in endless debate centered around denigrating each other instead of recognizing that none of us have the answer, but together we can work toward finding the answer.So, Bin Laden is dead now. And tomorrow, 45 people in the United States will be murdered; four women will die from domestic abuse; and, one billion people in the world will be hungry. Yet, we will wake up, turn on the news and still be talking about who should or should not get "credit" for ending Bin Laden's life of hatred.

The truth is that we all share in the problems of the world and the sorrow within it. The hope we can share is working to solve one piece of the puzzle at a time and not caring who gets the slap on the back for putting it in place.