Take a Victory Lap, America. al-Baghdadi is Dead
When you turn on the news and learn that American special forces caused a bloodthirsty monster to blow himself up, feel free to take a victory lap.
If your reaction is, “Oh shit, this might help Trump,” seek help.
Judging from the bile that exploded on social media yesterday, there are many leftists who loathe President Trump to the point of irrationality. Liberals in Congress and their enablers in the media pouted and griped Sunday, offering only grudging approval of the death of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi during a Syrian raid by highly trained special forces.
At the very least Americans should be able to come together to celebrate the demise of a hairball who ordered the beheading of countless innocents, raped and killed women and tortured countless others, sometimes authorizing videos of the ghoulish acts.
Yet no sooner had the news of al-Baghdadi’s death hit the news than Trump haters went to work:
The president didn’t consult with congressional leaders - the same blabbermouths who have been leaking like the Titanic about testimony in the impeachment investigation - before sending specialists in to kill the terrorist, they groused.
The president wasn’t respectful of the rapist and murderer that he’d dispatched to Hell, they complained.
Trump was too boastful about the mission, they sniffed.
News flash: When the commander-in-chief successfully gives the go-ahead to a dangerous operation and takes out the leader of a terrorist gang, he has a right to a victory lap.
Or two.
We should be taking that lap with him. As we were on the day in 2011 when President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden was dead.
Spare me comparisons of the two presidents. They are very different in their style. But both boldly okayed high-risk operations. Both missions ended with dead terrorists.
And both kills were wins for the good guys. In case some have forgotten, the good guys are us.
Headlines around the country in 2011 read “We Got Him!”
Not this time.
Perhaps the best example of the double standard was the initial headline on a squishy obit The Washington Post published:
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State, dies at 48.”
Austere religious scholar. Are you kidding me?
Someone should ask The Post writer what other “austere religious scholars” are responsible for kidnapping and raping an imprisoned American girl — Kayla Mueller - until she died? How many other religious scholars burned men alive in cages? How many austere religious scholars tortured captives?
The response to the bizarre headline from normal people was swift and merciless. The Post was forced to issue an apology and changed to this:
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, extremist leader of Islamic State, dies at 48”
Next time Trump accuses the media of being the enemy of the people, remind The Post of that first offensive headline.
Think about it. Someone on the staff of that once-great newspaper actually scribbled that pablum and it got by more than one editor.
Appalling.
I gave a speech shortly after Osama bin Laden was killed. I remember leaving my prepared remarks for the first few minutes, to say how honored I was to live in the same town as many of the Navy’s SEALs. Obama fans or not, we were one country united in celebrating that great victory.
By contrast, yesterday was a day of petty politics and small people tinkling all over an American success. Demonstrating once again that we are a country engaged in ideological warfare.
Pick a side.
