Even in death, Bin Laden entertains
The best thing you can do with Twitter is use it to fire off one-liners seconds after a news event happens. We once had to wait until the next night’s talk show monologues or “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update to get this kind of joke; now it’s there immediately.
Sunday night, as news spread that President Obama was going to make some kind of important announcement, and as word trickled out that it pertained to the death of Osama Bin Laden, snarkmeisters both professional and amateur took to the tweets to make with the ha-ha. The question of whether it’s ever appropriate to celebrate anyone’s death, even a mass murderer’s, is valid, and I will leave it for other people to talk about in other places. But I say if we can’t make jokes about the death of Osama Bin Laden, what can we make jokes about?
Here are the tweets that I saw Sunday night, in chronological order, that made me laugh. Note how they start out basic, making now-obvious connections, and then evolve as more news arrives. From a purely sociological standpoint, it’s fascinating. From a joke-writing standpoint, it is also fascinating.
@confessions123: Tea Party already denying the kill, demanding Osama’s longform death certificate.
@misterpatches: Yeah, but what about Carmen Sandiego?
@jerslater: Not to take all the credit, but I’ve been saying someone should kill bin Laden for like ten years now.
@BrianLynch: Cause of death: dynamite tied together to look like hot FEMALE terrorist.
@marklisanti: Let this serve as a lesson to future terrorists: When we finally kill you, we will mock your death with ten billion tweets. Not worth it.
@SmarmyJerkface: Man this was a REALLY long season of 24.
@Deadzero: President Obama doesn’t need to say a thing, he should just pull Bin Laden’s head out of a bag and throw it on a table.
@jennamgriffith: CIA just ousted Osama Bin Laden as mayor of Islamabad on @FourSquare
@jimmyfallon: Got Bin Laden AND interrupted Celebrity Apprentice? Win for Obama all around.
@ApocalypseHow: FOXNEWS REPORTS: Obama Administration Kills Homeless Religious Man with Kidney Disease
@natebargatze: It is pretty awkward in my cab right now
@irwinhandleman: President Obama is the worst Muslim sleeper agent I’ve ever seen
@ditzkoff: Weirdly, bin Laden also had a secretary named Hitler who warned him not to go to Pakistan that day.
@MattDentler: I hope the soldier that killed Bin Laden is an openly gay, Jewish woman.
@thesulk: I’m just glad it wasn’t the “there’s an asteroid we can’t stop” speech.
@nealbrennan: The Al-Queda guys are totally gonna have a Big Chill type weekend, I bet.
@astamate: I bet Osama will get the loudest applause during the “In Memoriam” portion of the Al Qaedies this year.
@MrBrandonMarcus: Bin Laden was killed while living in a huge mansion in Pakistan. Why does Obama hate rich people so much?!
@ThrashRuske: U.S terror alert upgraded to “Double Rainbow”.
@dontsitonart: Tonight was the night history was made, and a nation redefined the concept of Too Soon
@caissie: Whoa. That was huge. Guys, let’s not spoil it for the West Coast, though, okay?
@me_irl: Beloved character actor Osama bin Laden, star of TV’s “Fox News”, dies age 54
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:11 pm
@ditzkoff: Weirdly, bin Laden also had a secretary named Hitler who warned him not to go to Pakistan that day.
My favorite.
May 3rd, 2011 at 12:27 am
[...] “From a joke-writing standpoint, it is also fascinating.” Read Eric’s post, Even in Death, Bin Laden Entertains. Share Tweet Filed Under: Featured, General Tagged With: Dale Lott, Editorial Bent, Eric [...]
May 3rd, 2011 at 5:31 am
It’s amazing how quickly we go from we shouldn’t ever celebrate death and great MLK quotes, to wondering if Usama is on an Island hiding out with Hitler listening to Elvis.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:49 am
I made one up myself. For those who feel we shouldn’t rejoice in his death, just remember he’s in a better place. Oh, wait…
May 3rd, 2011 at 7:35 pm
I thought these were pretty funny:
@TVsAndyDaly: “I’ve been happy about people dying before but never like this.”
@JennyJohnsonHi5: “Obama says the US sent a clear message to the Taliban following bin Laden’s death: that message was a text which read ‘WTF! ROFLMAO! xo USA.’”
@kumailn: “Will tweet soon as I can figure out how to make this whole Osama thing about myself.”
@robdelaney: “$50 says Michelle Obama got pregnant last night.”
May 3rd, 2011 at 10:04 pm
@MattSebek: Someone check on Elisha Cuthbert. When terrorists go down, Jack Bauer’s daughter usually does something foolish.
May 3rd, 2011 at 10:34 pm
I love your title of this post….that was funnier than any of the tweets
May 4th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
I made one up myself. For those who feel we shouldn’t rejoice in his death, just remember he’s in a better place. Oh, wait…
It’s unclear whether or not certain parts of Pakistan are better or worse than Hell.
May 5th, 2011 at 8:47 am
“It’s pretty awkward in my cab right now.” = funniest tweet EVAR!
May 6th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Just saw this one:
“Apparently Obama’s Birth Certificate was Osama’s last horcrux!”
May 8th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
My favorite was the pic of the facebook post by Osama: BRB Someone’s at the door…