Seriously?

Late Sunday night, history was made.  The capture and killing of Osama bin Laden is truly an event to be remembered for years to come, both nationally and globally.  It’s brought our nation together, and provided a much needed boost in morale and a victory for the American people.

But it wasn’t long after President Obama announced the news that the pundits, media, and politicians began degrading the event by simplifying it in terms of political debate, to show who won and who lost politically.  Some argued that it would be huge political boost for the President and he deserves more respect now, others argued that other things still matter for the 2012 election, the rally cry “Obama got Osama” has been coined on the internet, new polls have been conducted; it seems like pundits everywhere want to throw their opinion in.

To me, this is simply ridiculous.  Now, I’m not an idiot.  I know this is going to have a huge effect on politics, and on the 2012 election.  But do we seriously have to start talking about that already? Can we not just celebrate this moment as a nation united and for once leave the politics out of it?

I understand this probably all sounds hypocritical coming from a post on a Politics blog. I know that a lot of people are interested in what this means for the upcoming election, and the media is maybe just trying to appeal to them.  It makes sense for people to look at this is political terms, but I feel like that is only because it’s how we are trained these days.

The circus of politics and polling and election has almost overshadowed the actual issues, and I honestly am starting to believe that both the media and the campaigns want people to analyze each little thing, gaffe, mistake, victory, declare someone a winner and someone a loser.  

But I would hope we could rise above all that for once in the presence of such an historical event.  We, as media and as Americans, shouldn’t be looking for political losers or winners in this, we should be proud that our nation and our quest for peace are prevailing.  This should be a time to be united.  This is not a time for politics.