Osama bin Laden: 9/11 mastermind and Gen Z darling.
Never mind his, ahem, spotty record on women’s and gay rights. Nor the mass murder of more than 3,000 innocent Americans — an attack that turned lower Manhattan into a cancerous pit which continues to kill first responders to this very day.
He sure is dreamy.
Bin Laden was killed by Navy Seals in 2011, but his unlikely revival comes courtesy of young, progressive women discovering his 2002 “Letter to the America” which lays out our country’s sins that brought on 9/11.
In the grand tradition of TikTokers claiming bold social discoveries, the letter is going viral on the Chinese-owned app which also acts as an America-hating echo chamber.
Going viral these days is pretty unremarkable. What’s really galling here is the mass embrace of bin Laden’s abhorrent manifesto.
Guess which of his ideas roped in these new disciples who eagerly film themselves having a moment of “mind blown” clarity as if they’d just finished bingeing a Netflix series.
The useful idiots are, in Gen Z vernacular “here for it.”
And the “it”?
Bin Laden’s Jew hatred, calling the creation of Israel a “crime which must be erased” and accusing the United States of attacking “us in Palestine.”
Each of their aha moments are nearly identical: heavy on the cliches and f-bombs, short on the details.
“I need everyone to stop what they’re doing now,” said content creator Lynette Adkins who has more than 177,000 TikTok followers. “Go read ‘A letter to America.’ And please come back here and let me know what you think. Because I feel like I am going through an existential crisis right now.”
A blonde chick proudly likens her awakening from the al Qaeda founder’s illiberal screed to the way she “deconstructed Christianity,” no doubt to convert to a far more zealous faith of social justice conspiracy.
One 20 something declared 9/11 was a “build up of our government failing other nations.” Another put her video to music, a discipline bin Laden really championed for the faire sex.
The screed, which was originally published by The Guardian in 2002, also rants that ordinary American civilians are complicit and therefore, fair game for terrorists.
After it went viral, The Guardian took it down and re-directed readers to the full, original news article.
Cue Adkins – whose Instagram is filled with pictures of her in skimpy clothing in various cities — complaining about its removal.
“We already don’t trust you all, and now you’re trying to censor us,” Adkins said, in a social video that has more than 78,000 views.
My darling, may I suggest you cozy up to a different historical figure, named Noah Webster. He is widely credited with creating the first American dictionary, where you can find the definition of censorship.
A concept you’ll find widespread in bin Laden’s Shariah paradise — which is all laid out in the second part of his letter.
He hates our way of life. We have homosexuality here, gambling and sexualized women. He even takes Bill Clinton to task for his Oval Office oral. What a killjoy.
Unlike these children, I was fresh out of college when 9/11 happened, that horrible day and its aftermath, tattooed on my soul. I don’t need an app aimed at tearing down Western Civilization to explain anything.
But I find Stanford student and Free Press writer Julia Steinberg’s explanation of how TikTok has rotted the brain compelling.
“By osmosis, we mindlessly bleated the same talking points served up to us in 30-second videos. The same critical theory books we read championing “decolonization” and “resistance” had been distilled into the perfect format: the explainer video.”
In other words, it’s a lazy young woman’s guide to radicalism. No need to read full books to understand broader concepts: get your world view confirmed in less time than it takes to read Cliffs Notes.
And why are women falling into this web of anger? Well, men were told to sit down and curb their toxic masculinity.
Nature abhors a vacuum, so aggression is now coming from our young women, who are in a pole position more than ever. They’re allowed, even encouraged to be furious.
A modest proposal: how about a swap. For those praising the terror chief, we’ll gladly ship them off to Iran or Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Their Queer and Gender Studies degree will be put to great use there as DEI directors. The bin Laden doctrine will even forgive their student debts.
Chosen pronouns will be respected and misgendering punishable by stoning.
And because you’ll be wearing a burqa, you’ll never have a bad hair or skin day. Liberation from the male gaze and our racist beauty standards.
Though reality is, they’d have to change their profile to say, “Fifth Wife of Taliban Warlord.”
And they’ll have no TikTok to beg for help.
Congrats, ladies. You’ve been had.