Justice is Not Vengence

I was deeply upset by Obama's speech about Bin Laden's murder, especially his invocation of "God Bless America" in the same breath as "America can do whatever it wants as long as we put our minds to it." As if we have a divine mandate to violate international law and act unilaterally, killing people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Viet Nam, Okinawa, Guam, or our own country. Obama's state, Illinois, worked hard to overturn the death penalty. Yet we maintain a policy of killing international criminals like Bin Laden without even seeking a trial in international court. We go for violence to illustrate our might rather than exhausting the options of peace, reason and justice.

The hordes of people gathering at the Whitehouse tonight illustrated this hypocricy.




Can't you see how dejected I am in the picture above?

I walked to the Whitehouse, made a paper crane and carried out a silent vigil for peace for a little while. Then I broke my silence and spoke with a friend and some student journalists. I realized after a silent walk to the Whitehouse and sitting by the woman who maintains an anti-nuclear vigil for a while that I'm really not so effective as a silent voice in a crowd of misplaced patriotism. Talking to media, facebooking and tweeting, as well as engaging with a few other crowd members, is a much better way to deal with a highly symbolic political event. Tonight was about political theater and public catharsis, not justice.

Here's a picture of the crowd, a lot of drunk GW students.



I have nothing against drunk people, but can you imagine if this were an anti-war or pro health-care rally? Labor unions? Environmentalists? Without a permit? With open containers? Smoking weed, keeping Sacha and Malia up at 2:00 am? Again, I have nothing against boistrous public protest, but there is a blatant double standard here. In fact, the police really weren't doing their job.

The sign in this picture says "Osama Bin Gotten." This was really sad to me because it was written on a box for a Numark DJ console. The U.S. is not a Christian nation, but a sadly troubled consumerist society bought by corporations and media moguls.

DJs of the world, unite for Peace and True Justice! Dedicate your next set to relief efforts in Japan, wind power, or Human Rights Watch. Stand with the poor and hungry in the world and help drunk college students and President Obama understand that vengeance is not justice.