A nation surly over rising gas prices, stubbornly high unemployment and nasty partisan politics poured into the streets to wildly cheer President Barack Obama’s announcement that Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, had been killed by U.S. forces after a decade-long manhunt.
Outside the White House, hundreds of people chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and waved American flags. And in New York City at ground zero, where al-Qaida downed the twin towers, a crowd broke out into song, including renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “I’m Proud to be an American.”