Another 'reasonable' solution

For those of you who have read my column with some regularity, I have made no secret of my being from Chicagoland and hoping to someday return there. I like to read the Chicago Tribune online to keep up with what is happening in both Chicago as well as nationally. So you can imagine my surprise Monday morning when I see the big, bold headline on the front page, "CIA gets OK to kill bin Laden."\nThe story goes on to talk about how our fearless leader, President George W. Bush, has told the CIA to take whatever action necessary, including assassinating Osama bin Laden and eradicating his network. In fact, Bush has gone so far as to allow up to $1 billion toward accomplishing this goal. I understand that bin Laden is not a favorite of the American people after his alleged involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, but don't you think $1 billion is a bit extreme? And, for that matter, short-sighted?\nWhat I mean by short-sighted is that Bush doesn't see the true potential that exists in bin Laden's death. We are talking about a man who, for all intents and purposes, is the No. 1 most hated man in America. All Bush wants to do is just kill him covertly with the CIA over in Afghanistan and allow the public to take their word on it? Please. In this era of ultra-violence on television, immense popularity of the WWF and also the continued interest in Mike Tyson, the potential profit that could be turned on this can be immense.\nThat's right, profit. As long as we are going to go as far as spend $1 billion to kill this man, why not make a little of that back? If we are getting close enough to end the life of this man and his network, one would think that we could capture him as well as some of his cohorts. And if we capture them, why not bring them back here for a pay-per-view free-for-all? Can you imagine the profits on this sucker? People will pay in upward of $50 for a good boxing match, and those never involve public enemy number one. \nI can just see the main event right now, Osama bin Laden versus Mike Tyson in a no-holds-barred steel cage match, to the death. \n Would this match be fair? No, but you can't tell me that you wouldn't be a little interested in seeing what Tyson, a man who has attempted to bite off another man's ear during a fight, would do to bin Laden with the gloves off and no rules. \n Yeah, I know, there are a lot of you out there who are disgusted and repulsed by what I have written. Well, just think about the circumstances. Our president, the man who sets the example for the rest of us to live by, supposedly, has given his acceptance to kill another man and allotted $1 billion to do it. In the wake of the attacks on our country, is this truly what we have resorted to? How I yearn for days of old.