Stacy Horn

… he’s really most sincerely dead! (I couldn’t resist. That joke has probably already been made a half a billion times.) I took the picture below on the day that Obama announced that we killed bin Laden. It’s not meant to be ironic. I’m very much a peacenik. Mostly.

So, I can hear the helicopters already. What time is Obama supposed to be at the WTC? I want to go down there. What can I say, I still love my president.

I felt some compassion for George Bush when I heard he declined Obama’s invitation to join him at the WTC tomorrow. The man is a little bitter and has had enough. And maybe that’s the price you pay for the economy and getting us into Iraq, (and eroding our freedom and privacy and really, I could go on) but still. To go from standing in the rubble with a bullhorn vowing revenge, to where he is today, not even being able to show up. Oh how the mighty have fallen, as they say.

I am not one to revel in anyone’s downfall, however. Maybe someday he will manage a dignified return. Nixon did.

When I sent my camera to be fixed I asked them to check the focus, because for a long time I had trouble getting the pictures to be sharp. Well, they found something and fixed it and man what a difference. Look how sharp the Statue of Liberty is! And that’s I don’t know how far away, but it’s far!

He talked about energy, energy innovations, alternatives, energy in the future. He was just so seriously informed. Do I know as much about the things I research as he does about the things he investigates? (No, I don’t think so, I must admit.)

Yikes. I’m going to this all day conference downtown and I wanted to walk there and I just realized that to do that I have to jump into the shower and leave NOW. Bill Gates is the keynote speaker and he is going on at 9am.

Here’s a photograph from this weekend. This is actually from a discrete angle, because her dress was cut so you could see EVERYTHING. I thought I must be on Candid Camera or something. What was she thinking?? She knew because occasionally people would call out to her.

I have so many mixed feelings and I hesitate to post them because I’m sure each one of them will upset some group, but here is what I’m feeling. First, I wish he could have been taken alive. Not a criticism of the Navy Seals involved in the mission, it probably wasn’t possible, but I wanted him to stand trial. I understand there would have been about a half a million downsides to this, but I believe a life in prison would have been a worse punishment than death. I’m actually crueler than people who wanted him torn limb from limb. When I used to imagine his capture all the soldiers were female, because I knew for him that would be the most humiliating. But keeping him in prison would probably have been too inflammatory, and very expensive.

Second, this was likely a necessary death, but that fact that a human being was so damaged and destructive we had to destroy him is a terrible thing.

Third, I was thinking of going down to ground zero but I don’t want to hear chants of USA, USA. I would prefer to promote appreciation and respect for all countries and not the idea that America is the best. I would prefer to chant the names of all countries.

This picture was from a protest yesterday. There were lots of signs but most were against deportation. My absolute favorite thing about New York City is the diversity. When I run out to get milk for my coffee (Half and Half actually!) between my apartment and the grocery store I’ll hear a dozen different accents and languages. So I don’t want my neighbors deported either.