It's been an interesting week. Lots of issues. Lots of emotions. Successes. Failures. No one isn't familiar with the events in Boston starting with the marathon on Monday. The failure of the gun control legislation was a big deal that was overshadowed by Boston reporting. And the explosion at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas would have been continual front page news any other week. So I need to rant a little bit about all this.
First and foremost is the story of the courageous people of Boston and the heroic actions of the first responders. It is a story that evokes pride by all Americans. The people of Boston have been put through hell this week. What started out as a wonderful, annual Patriots Day celebration ended in tragedy. Can anyone forget the images? The three people who were murdered, including a vibrant young woman, a cute little 8 year old Bruins fan, and a bright young woman from China who was here to study at BU. Tragic. Those injured, some horrifically. Again, tragic. But the response was great. It seems like so many people reflexively sprung to action. I wonder if the world we've evolved to after 9/11 is responsible. Most people, especially those in big cities, are now sort of ready for anything. It is what it is, but it's sort of sad.
There were a lot of people wondering if those responsible would be caught. Well, we've evolved to possessing the best law enforcement organizations in the world. Since 9/11 the leaps in capability and technology have been awesome. The FBI was beyond good. Ditto all the local folks. There was never any doubt that they'd be caught. It's nice that it happened relatively quickly, but it was going to happen.
Does anyone now believe that we aren't surrounded by cameras and that it will only get more pervasive? Go to London. They are everywhere. It's almost that way here and after this experience, it will increas. I for one don't have much problem with that. If it helps catch guys like these assholes, so be it.
I love the fact that events like this bring out the best in us. It brings out the patriotism. Did you see the singing of the National Anthem at the Bruins game? Did you see the spontaneous celebration tonight on Boston Common? All great. But I just wish it would continue. I just wish that all those people who come together over something like this could come together over other things in our national life.
Which brings us to the Divider in Chief. The gun control loss was a stinging loss. Obama went all in and lost. So what did he do? Trotted out the usual backdrop of people he thinks the rest of us will feel bad about because they didn't get what they want. Here's the deal. When Newtown happened, I was all about some increased controls. I was calling for something to be done. What I thought that something would be was some combination of attacking problems in the mental health world, problems with disgusting video games, and something that would make guns harder to get for crazy people. The issue in Newtown wasn't the guns. It was the guy. But what did BO do? He saw an opportunity for political gain by taking on the evil NRA. Forget the rest. And certainly don't impact the fortunes of his Hollywood cronies. He went on the road (naturally) to place blame and divide and conquer. Only this time it didn't work. The genius of the system that our forefathers put in place is that the Senate is a slow, deliberative body and it can't be railroaded. That was proven this week. Here's the worst thing for me. I've evolved to the point that if he is for it...I'm against it. I don't trust him. I don't think he has the best interest of all the people at heart. And it really pisses me off that he has forced me to be that way.
And then there was the explosion in Texas. In any other week this is 24 hour news for a couple days. But this week it's driven off the main stage pretty quickly. Interesting. If you saw any of the photos, it was horrific. Sort of like a war zone. I feel for those folks and their loss. But here's the thing...they are Texans. They'll be back. They'll take care of each other.
And so tonight the people of Boston are celebrating that it's over. That one of the terrorists is dead and the other captured. And we see people all over the net evoking the same celebratory thoughts. But here's the thing. It's not over. It won't be over for generations. We are at war. Doesn't matter if it's Islamic radicals from Chechnya, Pakistan, Yemen, or wherever. Including right down the block. You have to ask yourself what drives someone who lives among us to that point. I don't know what the answer is but I don't think it's going away. We all are put off by airport checks, by increased security, by perceived over-reaction by first responders. Well...as was proven this week...it only takes one event to bring us back to reality. We are at war. And we have to support those sworn to protect us. We've got to do whatever it takes to protect our way of life. Protect the freedoms and security we've worked so hard and bled so much to achieve. Take a little trip to one of many garden spots around the world and you'll know what I mean.
I mentioned gun control above. I'm a 2nd Amendment supporter. Hell I'm an all Amendment supporter. But I do think there could be some reasonable rules and restrictions put in place. All it would take would be for the two sides to talk. But that doesn't seem to be possible in the current environment. There is only one guy to blame for that. I don't own a gun. Not my thing. But if I were in Boston today and did have a gun stashed in a gun safe in my house, it would have been loaded and sitting on my hip all day. Count on it.
Finally, I have no problem at all with whatever bad happens to people who do these things. The older brother is dead and in hell. The younger will go to trial and as sure as the sun will come up in the morning, will someday soon get a needle in his arm and join his brother. I have no problem with that.
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