Obviously the big news of the day is that Osama bin Laden is dead and the federal government’s already hard at work rolling back a decade’s worth of fear-based, civil-rights-infringing legislation, as it should be. Although it smacks a bit of bloodthirstiness, it’s only human to feel some sort of catharsis at hearing that a terrible man who’s done terrible, terrible things has met the violent sort of end that he probably deserves. Considering the fact that Al Qaeda most likely has a contingency plan in effect to replace bin Laden, and that this is more of a symbolic victory over the terrorists rather than any sort of decisive end to their efforts, it’s still basically the Global War on Terror equivalent of that one day of nice weather Chicago gets every February—a small reprieve from what can at times seem to be a relentless onslaught of gloom. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any other news happening today.
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Not that Paul Simon’s music doesn’t offer anything for the kids to dig into: “Looking for a song about the joys of raising a child? ‘St. Judy’s Comet’ from that second album, and ‘Father and Daughter’ from ‘Surprise.’ Has anyone articulated the pain of divorce as well as Mr. Simon in the title track of ‘Hearts and Bones,’ or ‘Darling Lorraine’ from ‘You’re the One’?’” What more could the kids of today want?
