USA, USA, OBL KIA

There are some radically different ways of reading this picture.  Are we looking at understandable pride and justifiable relief, dancing on a grave,  or “jingoism meets Spring Break” — especially since many of these kids were probably in Middle School in ’01.  And then, to the extent it looks like election night in ’08, it might also be an early Obama ’12 re-election party.

Setting also matters. Similar photos from Dearborn (Same from  Ground Zero) seemed a lot easier for me to consume than what I was seeing last night from much more White and conservative Washington.

On the other hand, the visual vibe from Time Square rang much closer to what we see above, where it was less Spring Break than New Years Eve.

Photo 1: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP. caption: Crowds gathers outside the White House in Washington early Monday, May 2, 2011, to celebrate after President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden. photo 2: Mario Tama/Getty Images. caption: People celebrate in Times Square after the death of accused 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama May 2, 2011 in New York City. Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Abbottabad, near Islamabad, Pakistan almost a decade after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and his body is in possession of the United States.)