I was watching C-span and becoming increasingly bemused by the callers who wanted "evidence" that Osama bin Laden had been killed. It seems like the flip side of "birther" skepticism.
Although some of the skepticism may stem from hostility to President Obama, I also wonder if taking a skeptical stance makes people feel intelligent.
But it's as if they are gullible about skepticism--that they seize upon any kind of doubt and hang onto it because doubt seems more likely than belief.
Yet Americans seem very unskeptical about many topics, like religion and miracles. I often hear that "everything happens for a reason," and "God destroyed my house but he let me live" and other examples of magical thinking.
(Of course, I also dislike the cheers of USA, USA! which makes this event seem like the outcome of a football game.)
Right now another caller is asking for proof...