Bad Man Dead

In case you headed to work without seeing any news and wondered as to why there was an increased police presence at your subway station, Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind who “was elevated to the realm of evil in the American imagination once reserved for dictators like Hitler and Stalin” in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, was killed in Pakistan and buried at sea. An event like this raises all sorts of emotions, and any number of questions: Will this hasten our exit from Afghanistan? Did Pakistan’s intelligence service tip us off to his whereabouts, and if so, why? (Did it have anything to do with this?) How many days will conservative commentators have to wait before claiming that Obama somehow did this wrong? Anyway, expect plenty of blather amidst the celebrations. I personally feel like the president struck exactly the right note, but I am well aware that this is one of those topics on which, to put it mildly, opinions will vary. (Also worth noting, per the city of New York: “Due to a heightened media presence around the World Trade Center. Vesey Street is closed between Broadway and Church Street. Expect traffic delays in the area.”)