I LOVE BEING REDUCED TO A CULTURAL STEREOTYPE BY GLENN GREENWALD

Glenn Greenwald on the killing of bin Laden:

It's already a Litmus Test event: all Decent People -- by definition -- express unadulterated ecstacy at his death, and all Good Americans chant "USA! USA!" in a celebration of this proof of our national greatness and Goodness (and that of our President).

You know what, Glenn? I'm very happy the sonofabitch is gone -- but I don't feel any need to ascribe this to national uniqueness, or greatness. The civilian leadership decided we should try to get this done, and some very skilled people did it. They were responding to a human sense that an injustice should be rectified. It pleases me that they did what they did.

But I don't feel the need to praise Barack Obama for everything he does -- I still think he's a lousy poker player in his dealings with Congress (on this, because violence was the answer, he more or less had a free hand, but he can be very disheartening when he doesn't have a free hand, which is the case on every domestic issue). I still think he's been appallingly deferential to the plutocracy, with disastrous economic results. Get it, Glenn? I haven't stop feeling that way. If you'd asked me, I'd have said I felt that way even the moment I hear the news about bin Laden's death.

I'm not at all convinced that even the young people at Ground Zero and in front of the White House who've been chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" are necessarily eager to stay the course in Afghanistan or seek new adventures in other Middle Eastern countries. In fact, Glenn, it seems to me that you're making precisely the same category error right-wingers have been making since the Bush administration started pressing for war in Iraq.

Right-wingers could never wrap their minds around the possibility that a lot of us absolutely despised bin Laden and Al Qaeda but also absolutely did not want to go to war in Iraq as a consequence of 9/11. To the right, if you opposed the Iraq War, you hated America and freedom and wanted Al Qaeda to win, and if you were opposed to Al Qaeda, surely you must want Saddam overthrown and executed. (And Ahmadinejad and maybe a few other swarthy guys.)

You're making precisely that mistake, Glenn. You think we want every war if we're happy about the outcome of this act of war. In fact, you've elevated this belief to natural law:

Whenever America uses violence in a way that makes its citizens cheer, beam with nationalistic pride, and rally around their leader, more violence is typically guaranteed. Futile decade-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may temporarily dampen the nationalistic enthusiasm for war, but two shots to the head of Osama bin Laden -- and the We are Great and Good proclamations it engenders -- can easily rejuvenate that war love. One can already detect the stench of that in how Pakistan is being talked about: did they harbor bin Laden as it seems and, if so, what price should they pay? We're feeling good and strong about ourselves again -- and righteous -- and that's often the fertile ground for more, not less, aggression.

No -- it doesn't have to happen. Recent polls show that we've become increasingly disillusioned about the war in Afghanistan and we're not crazy bout what the U.S. and NATO are doing in Libya. That doesn't have to change. I don't think it will change. When you say it will probably change, you're misreading the public just the way the right misread the left for nearly a decade.

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UPDATE, TUESDAY: I imagine Greenwald will look at this and claim his fears are being realized...

In a Survey USA poll conducted on Monday, a plurality of Americans now say the Afghan war has been worth fighting.

... but really, is this a sign of renewed bloodlust?

According to the poll, 45% of adults think the war has been worth fighting, compared to 37% who said it has not.

45%-37%? At this moment? If ass-kicking can't even muster an outright majority now, I don't think we're going full-tilt bellicose anytime soon.

And yeah, the poll says 60% of Americans now think the U.S. is winning the war on terror, but hell, why not? I think we won the week.