# On Bin Laden's Death
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 3, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544 "2011-05-03T03:58:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/1 "2011-05-03T03:58:12Z")
How did you hear that America’s evilest enemy, Osama Bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs and what were your reactions to it?
Personally I heard it on the side while my grandmother was watching TV and immeidately I began checking all the online news sources. Then as it became apparent, I was ecstatic and hugging myself in glee. I began singing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and I think today it even gave me some adrenaline in PE.
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### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/2 "2011-05-03T04:03:44Z")
Mr. Rilch and I had **just** gotten back from a weekend away. Like ten minutes before. We were in the process of unloading the car when we came back in to see our roommate standing gobsmacked in front of the TV. Funny thing: I’d told her when we first came in that I was temporarily hard of hearing because we’d been in the mountains. When I realized what was happening, suffice to say my ears popped.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/3 "2011-05-03T04:10:26Z")
I learned about it when I looked at the newspaper this morning.
My reaction was mainly to wonder, “Why _now_, after all these years?” and “What, if any, difference will this make in the world?”
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/4 "2011-05-03T04:13:38Z")
I was reading that Obama was about to make an address…and then I heard that it was it was because Osama was dead. And I was just completely stunned. Totally awed. And gleeful. There are VERY few times that I celebrate someone’s death – this is one of them.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/5 "2011-05-03T04:28:44Z")
I was reading the thread about Obama’s pending announcement, and joking that he was going to announce that they captured or killed bin Laden.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/6 "2011-05-03T04:37:34Z")
FWIW, my thinking went like this:
> [@Johnny's Thought Process](#):
>
> An announcement on National Security? But it has nothing to do with Libya. If there had been an attack, it would be all over the news. That can’t be it. What sort of National Security thing could it be that can wait to be announced? Could it be good news? [I listened to the news to hear if they said the White House said it’s good news. Yes, I’ve worked for corporations.] Nothing? What if it IS good news? Heh. Maybe they’ve caught bin Laden. Ha! I’ll post THAT! 😛 (And I’ll also make something equally unbelievable up.)
It surprised the hell out of me when someone posted the announcement _was_ about ObL.
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### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/7 "2011-05-03T06:21:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I was reading the thread about Obama’s pending announcement, and joking that he was going to announce that they captured or killed bin Laden.
Yep, I was here on the Dope reading that very same thread just four posts in and on refreshing the page saw the announcement! An hour later and it was at 4 pages. :eek:
Who needs to read a newspaper or watch the telly when the SDMB gets me the important news 100x faster.
😛
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/8 "2011-05-03T07:36:56Z")
My friends and I caught a late showing of Fast Five. As _soon_ as we were walking out of the theater, the CNN app on my iPhone alerted me that Osama had been killed. I couldn’t help but picture the Rock taking him out.
Word spread fast as everyone in the theater lobby was filing out… there was palpable electricity in the air. It was pretty cool.
Then we drove directly to my buddy’s cottage on Walled Lake, and started a bon fire to burn an effigy of Bin Laden. Okay, well, maybe not an effigy, but if you squinted, the arrangement of the logs kinda sorta looked like a terrorist. Kinda.
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### Author:  [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/9 "2011-05-03T09:40:50Z")
I was asleep (even though it was like 1PM here in Brisbane), and my sister walked into the room.
Sister: “Osama Bin Laden’s dead.”
Me: “Get out.” (as in Elaine Benes “get OUT” not “get out of my room”)
Sister: “I’m serious. Obama’s gonna make a speech.”
Me: “Is this a trick to get me out of bed?”
Sister: “I’m serious, get up!”
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/10 "2011-05-03T10:12:58Z")
Heard it on the radio when I woke up.
Was mightily impressed that Obama had the political chutzpah to send US troops into a Pakistani garrison town near one of the biggest cities in the country without the knowledge of the Pakistani government, and that it all worked out.
Wondered why Obama only acts presidential when he’s in campaign mode.
Went onto Facebook and made a joke about an idea for the next \*Weekend at Bernie’s \*movie.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/11 "2011-05-03T10:48:40Z")
I read about it first in a Facebook post. My initial reaction was “OK, but will this make things better, or worse?”
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/12 "2011-05-03T13:21:56Z")
Facebook. I still haven’t read a single news article about it. I feel almost nothing, other than a discomforting sense of alienation from half the people around me.
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/13 "2011-05-03T13:27:49Z")
I heard about it yesterday morning on my way to work. I felt some satisfaction that the scumbag died violently. No great rush of emotions, though, nor any feeling that his death would change things.
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### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/14 "2011-05-03T13:49:33Z")
I had a very muted reaction. Of course, I am glad he is no longer in this world. But I didn’t feel particularly happy. I didn’t feel much of anything. My dad texted me the news and I didn’t even go online to read about it. I just went to bed like normal.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/15 "2011-05-03T13:54:37Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#):
>
> I had a very muted reaction. Of course, I am glad he is no longer in this world. But I didn’t feel particularly happy. I didn’t feel much of anything.
That’s pretty much how I feel. When I heard the news officially, it was just a data point. Glad he’s dead, sorry it took so long because we were distracted elsewhere, let’s forget the individual now.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/16 "2011-05-03T14:02:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#):
>
> Wondered why Obama only acts presidential when he’s in campaign mode.
This makes no sense. The election is more than a year away. Using this criteria you could negate a third of any president’s accomplishments.
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/17 "2011-05-03T14:23:41Z")
I heard about it as soon as I turned on the radio in my car at 5:30 AM on Monday. It took about 15 minutes of listening to get the basics of the events, because I came in the middle of some NPR analysis. I had a number of reactions. First, I was glad, mildly so. I think the world is better off with him dead. I’m glad we did it. I am pleased that we pulled off a difficult and clean mission, and that Obama ordered it. I feel some concern about what the repercussions might be. I was somewhat surprised on Monday morning that NPR was doing pretty much wall-to-wall coverage of the story, since bin Laden seems to have become less of a threat in the past few years.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/18 "2011-05-03T14:43:28Z")
Sunday evening my wife and I watched a recording of \*Julie & Julia \*on TiVo. As the closing credits rolled (about 9:45 central), we decided to go upstairs and get ready for bed. I cleared the movie from the TiVo and turned the TV off, but in the one second or so before the TV clicked off, we heard the words “bin Laden’s body.” We looked at each other and simultaneously said \*“WHAT?” \* Then I fumbled with the remote to turn it back on and we got caught up on the story. Watched Obama’s speech from our bed and turned it off immediately afterward. (We both have to get up very early on weekdays.)
I had trouble sleeping; I just kept going over the news in my head, and it made me very happy. In fact, I don’t understand any of the negative or even neutral reactions. I have _only_ encoundered those reactions here at the Dope. The office was buzzing the next morning and the feeling was overwhelmingly positive and celebratory.
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### Author:  [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/19 "2011-05-03T14:50:46Z")
I saw a breaking news announcement on Huffington Post concerning an announcement that Obama would address the nation at 10:30 PM: I turned on the TV and waited (and waited) until Obama actually made the announcement even though several news announcers already had the word. I didn’t have any particular reaction except a little relief that I could finally go to bed and get a little sleep.
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### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bin-ladens-death/580544/20 "2011-05-03T14:52:03Z")
No matter who it is or what they’ve done, I just can’t celebrate someone’s death. That doesn’t mean I am not glad they aren’t around anymore. I certainly understand a celebration from the people who lost family/friends on 9/11 though. But I am turned off by pictures/reports of college kids using this as an excuse to chant patriotic slogans and get drunk.
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