Another 24 hours has passed since the news about Bin Laden, but I feel the same way I did when I first heard it: Deeply satisfied and, yes, maybe even happy. Or at least as happy as one can feel about the end of a chapter that began with such sadness.
I also feel enormous gratitude, and admiration, for the men and women who carried out this operation--and, more generally, carried out the war on terrorism over the last decade. Their work is not done. While the raid on Bin Laden's secret compound eliminated a menace, a symbol, and a singularly culpable agent of evil, it did not eliminate the threat of terrorism. Still, this is an accomplishment in which, I think, all American service members and operatives can take some pride.
Domestic policy, the area of my expertise and normal subject of this blog, has not ceased to matter. Already in Washington, attention is turning back to debt ceilings, abortion, and Medicare vouchers. I have plenty of things to say on all of those issues, but nothing that can't wait one more day. Readers who, like me, remain preoccupied with the Bin Laden story might want to check out some of TNR's offerings, including contributions from Lawrence Kaplan and James Downie and, especially, Leon Wieseltier.