The Shot Heard Around the World Today

Today we mourn the tragic death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Her life was taken by cowardly thugs who felt that it was time for her existence to cease. The actions of a suicide bombing and shooting (yet to be confirmed officially) are literally shots that are heard around the world. It is important that everyone remembers where they were, and what it means to them on this day.

Personally, Bhutto was not an influential person to me, yet I feel some connection to her because she was part of a politcal dynsaty. Not that I am from a political dynasty, nor do I aspire to be part of one; but that dynasty stood for what all Americans stand for -- freedom. She overcame the fact that she was a woman in a male-dominated society, she was influential, she was imprisoned in solitary confinement and came out stronger than she had been.

She continued her father's politcal dominance, and was accused of corruption within the government. She still continued to fight for what she believed in. Bhutto was able to come back to her country of Pakistan just over two months ago; she was granted amnesty from all charges against her and was able to rally many people for a great cause until the moment she left this earth.

The reason I call this "the shot heard around the world" is because during the waning days of 2007, as the stock markets around the world attempt to finish the year on a high note, terrorists decided to make a statement that they are still here. The terrorists may not be blowing up buildings filled with Americans, but a suicide bombing of innocent people and a former leader of a country that is in good tidings with the United States is an act of terrorism that must be responded to.

The geopolitcal instability caused by this tragedy DIRECTLY affects how the economy will stand on December 31, 2007. We will wake up on January 1, 2008, hungover, hoping that we dreamed about what just happened. The economies across the world felt the bombing today, the people of Pakistan mourn the loss of Benazir Bhutto who was the last straw to the legacy of her family name.

If we must live by the rule to take the good with the bad, we must rally the global economies by making it clear to the terrorists that we are still here too. Knock us down -- we get back up, kill a politcal figure in the most unjust, cowardly way -- we still prosper. I ask you, the reader of this blog, to be aware of what happened and do something about it.

I feel obligated to ya'll to write something much more lighthearted very soon, and with that: I AM OUT.