By Jesse Jose

A Cup O' Kapeng Barako

"We got him," they said. 

Really? 

So, Oba ... I mean, Osama is dead!  Long live Obama!  

It never fails to confuse me, which one is which though, well, the spelling of their names, that is.  One name was public-enemy number one of America and world leader of the dreaded terrorist group, the Al Qaeda; the other is the leader of the United States of America, the most-powerful country in this world. 

I must try to remember that the only difference in their names are the letters "S" and "B."  One has the initial BHO, as in Barack Hussein Obama, and the other is OBL, as in Osama bin Laden, the leader of the most dreaded terrorist group of this world.  And, "Obama" is a last name, while "Osama" is a first name.

But Osama is gone na.  So, I won't have that problem na. 

Yeah, they got him.  The one whose initial is OBL, that is.  After a decade-long of hunting him down, and spending $20-billion, yeah, FINALLY, they got him.  A Navy SEAL, point blank, blew his face away. 

I was in the Navy, as y'all know.  We, Navy men, are a tough bunch, I tell ya.  A team of this brave buddies of mine, known as SEAL Team Six, flew in in a couple of Black Hawk helicopters, raided this fortress-like three- story house, where Osama was holed out, quickly killed his two bodyguards and one of Osama's sons, raced upstairs to one of the bedrooms where Osama was sleeping with one of his wives ...

And this Navy SEAL who got there first, well, just simply blew him away.  As simple as that.  As easy as that.  Dead on the spot.    

And this house where Osama was holed out and shot -- check this out -- was in this little quiet town, called Abbottabad, in Pakistan, where Pakistan's elite military academy and two regiments of Pakistani soldiers were based.  Can you imagine that?  And from what I understand, America gives a billion-dollar a year to Pakistan for their efforts kuno in fighting global terrorism.  But there he was, the leader of it all, on Pakistan soil, killed in a house, where two regiments of Pakistani soldiers and its military academy were just a stone throw away, from this house.  Unbelievable! 

I tell ya, these Muslims, they do stick together, cover up for each other, like "kapamilyas." 

THE LYING WHITE HOUSE STAFF OF BHO: When news of Osama's killing first came about, Obama's terrorism expert, John Brennan, said to the media that when the Navy SEALS found Osama in his bedroom, the Al Qaeda leader "cowered behind his wife"  and "used his wife as a shield" before being shot in the exchange of gunfire.

What Brennan said was an outright lie.

Osama bin Laden was neither armed nor he cowered behind his wife, nor did he use this wife as a human shield. I don't profess any love for Osama, but hey, I don't think he was a coward. Before he became a household word as the much-hated numero uno global terrorist, he was a brave warrior/mujahideen, who fiercely fought on the side of America, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. But then as that old-butchered cliche goes: "In war, there are no permanent allies, only temporary friends." 

This untruthful remarks of Mr. Brennan led Republican Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to chide BHO and said, "I think we can get into trouble if people try to misuse this for political or propaganda gains.  I don't think that's going to be helpful at the end of the day ..."

What actually happened said White House Spokesman Jay Carney was that Bin Laden's wife "rushed" the Navy SEALS and was shot in the leg, but not killed.  And that Bin Laden was "NOT armed."

Also, as my son, Jonathan, remarked, while we were all watching this news unfold on TV: "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW, WHEN OBAMA AND HIS PEOPLE KNEW FOR A LONG, LONG TIME THAT OSAMA WAS HIDING IN THAT HOUSE?

Good question. 

PROPAGANDA AND POLITICAL REASONS: And I think the answer is because, using Rep. Mike Rogers words: It's for "propaganda and political reasons."  Because right now Obama's approval rating, according to polls, is way below the 40% level and the 2012 presidential election is just around the corner. Next year na. And Obama needed this "Osama killing" extravaganza to perk up his approval rating. 

Perfect timing, ika nga.  Di ba? And I bet ya, come 2012, in the forthcoming presidential campaign, this will be mentioned over and over as one of Obama political deeds. But remember, it wasn't Obama who ordered that "hit."  It was George W. Bush who ordered that hit, right after 9/11.  

I don't think Obama is gonna win. I hope not. He has lied too many times to the American people. Him and his White House administration officials could even get their story straight on how Osama was killed. It was on the front pages of every newspaper of America that while this tension-filled historical event played out, they were all watching in the White House Situation Room, "live" from a feed, the raid and the killing of Osama bin Laden. VP Biden was there, Ms. Hillary Clinton was there. Defense Secreatary Robert Gates and many others were there. The room was full. Why couldn't they all just say outright exactly how it happened. They saw it.

Why lie first about it, then retract that lie later? Why must the lying go on, and on, and on?  I wonder if that was really Osama bin Laden who was wasted. ("Wasted" was a word, we, Vietnam vets, have used for a killed enemy during the war there). 

Yes, I wonder if that was really Osama bin Laden who was wasted in that house in that little town in Pakistan. Because, you see, yesterday, at the mall, I saw him in his white robe, long beard and all, tall and kind of skinny, a dish rag wrapped around his head, in his store, selling Persian carpets.  I might be wrong, but I swear, he sure looked like him.  He could be his ghost, I dunno. Or, maybe, a look-alike. America teems with Osama bin Laden look-alikes.   

So okay, we got him. The real one. The one and only one, we hope.  Wasted him. Oba ... I mean, Osama is dead!  Long live Obama! 

Darn.  When will I ever learn which name belongs to which person?  Probably never, ha?  Pareho kasing Muslim names, eh.  As Erap would say, "same-same."  Or, as Pakyaw would say, "same-thing, same thing."  Hey, perhaps, the name, Donald "Duck" Trump, aka, the "Carnival Barker" as Mr. Obama pronounced Mr. Trump to be, might be a better name, ha?

Yes, indeed, God Bless America, the land of the free and the brave, the land that I love, warts and all.  JJ