Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Osama Bin Laden is dead, President Barack Obama told America on Sunday night. But not everyone's celebrating the occasion. Take Milwaukee Bucks forward Chris Douglas-Roberts, for instance.
Sunday night, while most of America celebrated, Douglas-Roberts tweeted, "It took 919,967 deaths to kill that one guy. ... It took 10 years & 2 Wars to kill that...guy. It cost us (USA) roughly $1,188,263,000,000 to kill that guy. But we #winning though. Haaaa. (Sarcasm)."
(WHAT A BUZZKILL, AMIRITE?)
When his account got flooded with negative feedback, he asked, "Whatever happened to our freedom of speech? That's the problem. We don't want to hear anything that isn't our perspective." Then he clarified his perspective, "What I'm sayin has nothing to do with 9/11 or that guy. I still feel bad for the 9/11 families but I feel EQUALLY bad for the war families."
All while his account was bombarded with reactions like this one:
All of which is to say... I have a newfound respect for Chris Douglas-Roberts today. You want to talk about keeping it real? Well, he went out and broke the real-o-meter on Sunday night. With most of America celebrating in the streets, CDR wasn't afraid to play the skeptic.
And regardless of whether you agree with his perspective here... Isn't this exactly what we want out of athletes? He handled himself with dignity, didn't stoop to his critics' level, and never backed off his opinions. Isn't this that NBA Cares ad campaign in practice?
Or do we only want NBA players to care about what the NBA asks them to care about?
As for the news itself... 65 years ago, on May 1st, Hitler's death was announced to the world. Eight years ago, on May 1st, George Bush gave his now-infamous Mission Accomplished speech. And yesterday, on May 1st, we got news that was somewhere in between.
For instance, the world's definitely a better place without Bin Laden, but is it definitely safer? This isn't Hitler's death, because our world war isn't over. Instead, Bin Laden now becomes the greatest martyr the terrorists have ever had as a recruiting tool. The symbolism of yesterday's news works both ways, you know? Bin Laden's the 2Pac of terrorists now, and in death you'd have to think he becomes a lot more dangerous than he was toward the end of his life.
As for the people celebrating in the streets all over the country, I don't blame them for any of that. Watching Americans celebrate anything as a group is always awesome, because it reminds you of how much fun this country can be when everyone's on the same page. It's just... CDR wasn't totally on the same page.
Anyway, nobody has any right or wrong answers here (especially not me). But watching Twitter explode in celebration Sunday night, it was kind of surreal to see the best questions coming from an athlete I started following because of his jokes about some chick's gigantic chin.
And you can say what you want about his Bin Laden sentiment, but it's pretty encouraging that, even at a time when everyone in this country seems to agree on something, an athlete like CDR can speak his mind without fearing repercussions. The news Bin Laden's death and how we should feel is still pretty confusing, but that last part's definitely worth celebrating, I think.
7 comments
Comments
Good points all
and he certainly has a point worth more consideration. But let me consider it the day after. Whenever I saw a tweet like his, my mind went in to “haters gonna hate” mode. That goes for any occasion, serious or not. Let people have their feel good moment and by all means play the cynic the next day.
But I do hate when people misunderstand freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means he’s not gonna go to jail today, it doesn’t mean that @bonermaster or Sean Hannity (same person?) can’t criticize him when he speaks his mind.
by Mark Mandingo on May 2, 2011 9:41 AM EDT reply actions
I agree. Last night was not the time to play skeptic and if that is what anyone is going to do they should not say anything. It is important to have rational skepticism but at the right time. He should have kept that to himself or waited as you said.
I agree with your second paragraph as well know the correct usage of freedom of speech.
by Ted Hoefel on May 2, 2011 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Good post.
Love that we are strong enough to allow the skeptics, the nutballs, and everyone else into the conversation. Good on Douglas-Roberts for making his opinion heard. Wish more people could stomach that not every thinks and feels the same way.
Now… point of clarification. WWII did not end with Hitler’s death. Japan still was yet to be beat, and the long, meticulous process of rebuilding Europe and Asia took decades, and arguably still isn’t done.
Not to detract from the piece, but this is exactly the same as killing Hitler. The war isn’t over with the death of one man, but it is a big step.
Editor:Hockey Wilderness Assistant Editor:SBN Minnesota Now with more Twitterness: ReynoldsSBN
Rule #17: You may not impersonate representatives of Hockey Wilderness and handout NHL themed wrist bands.
by Bryan Reynolds on May 2, 2011 11:37 AM EDT reply actions
This war will never end
The only way you will end the war of terrorism is to stop exploiting Arab oil and allowing those oil rich countries run by tyrants to oppress their people. That’s why you have all these terrorists. The West have always protected and maintained illegitimate dictators in order to get what they want—in the case the oil. Once you end Western dependancy on oil, then this supposed war on terrorism will be over.
by Jeffrey Thompson on May 2, 2011 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Whatever!!
CDR is right. I fully agree with him. When I heard that Osama got killed, I was like “meh.” Who cares? After all the damage he has caused and all the financial and human costs that lead to his demise, it’s a pretty shallow victory. And Bin Laden was more of a figurhead than anything else. It’s not gonna stop Al Queda. It will probably enrgize them as their leader has become a great martyr in their eyes. It doesn’t change anything.
by Jeffrey Thompson on May 2, 2011 1:36 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Agreed!
Perhaps it might make someone think before listening to the Al Qaeda propaganda, but I doubt it.
by mwfontan on May 2, 2011 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
He has every right to his opinion
It is a valid one and obviously has a lot of painful truth in it. As an American I did celebrate the bastard’s death, as an American Army veteran I support CDR’s right to speak his mind without his patriotism being questioned.
"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake."
- Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower
by lietothegirls on May 3, 2011 1:08 PM EDT reply actions
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