Visual source: Newseum
Hope & Change Edition.
EJ Dionne:
While no one pretends that the threat of terrorism has gone away, one would like to hope that the country can now turn a page, to use the phrase Barack Obama invoked so powerfully during the 2008 campaign. It’s why I think young Americans were especially animated by the news of bin Laden’s death. They do not want to be the generation whose experience is characterized by their country’s engagement in what seems like an endless series of foreign wars. But neither do they relish coming of age at a moment when so many speak of the possibility of American decline. The events in Pakistan are not so much a remedy as a sign of hope that the United States can avoid both fates.
Dana Milbank:
The nation was unified (for the moment) in a way it hadn’t been in nearly a decade. And Obama had returned at midday Monday to the East Room — the same room he used 12 hours earlier to share the news of bin Laden’s demise — for a victory lap. [...]
The killing of the al-Qaeda leader went a long way toward restoring American confidence after nearly a decade of war. For Obama, it offered the hope of instant renewal. The fight against terrorism, it is often said, doesn’t end with a treaty signing on a battleship, but this was perhaps the most visible marker of success.
Paul West:
Now Obama faces a new and difficult maneuver: Turning a national security triumph into progress on a totally unrelated front - the domestic economy, where high joblessness, a tepid recovery and near-record gas prices have left voters in a very sour mood. Republicans, meantime, face an even steeper stature gap between Obama and a field of potential rivals that even many in the GOP say isn't up to the task of defeating him next year.
Palm Beach Post:
We want to think that unity can be stretched to accomplish a bit more.
Not that Republicans and Democrats should abandon the politics and tactics that are part of democracy. There will be necessary fights over spending and tax cuts and Medicare reform There will be brinkmanship over raising the debt limit. Former President Bush's supporters will note early reports that clues to bin Laden's location came from evidence extracted by U.S. intelligence agents using "harsh interrogation methods" on suspects held in foreign prisons. So there may be a renewed debate over torture.
But the country most needs a new perspective and a renewed focus on shared priorities, not self-inflicted wounds like ruining America's credit or obsessing over birth certificates. Governing responsibly and with a sense of shared purpose will require political courage. Asking for a little political courage isn't out of line, given what the country has just witnessed.