This is nothing to be politicized as some have already tried to do. We can't blame the Tea Party nor the President nor the pundits who as usual babbled non-stop yesterday without having a single fact other than there had been a pair of explosions.
We can blame whoever did it for taking a cowardly way of expressing hatred. That is what it is. When one has no regard for human life be it the elderly or a child, it has to be hatred. It wasn't combat. It was targeted at civilians. It has to be hatred. Why do they hate so much? Is it a radical? Is it someone mentally unbalanced? One isn't necessarily the other and we need to be sure before we react. Recoil at the horror of it, of course, but for assumptions make sure they are correct.
The fact of the matter is we're all in this together. Whoever planned the attack didn't care if those targeted were Republican or Democrat or Independent or black or white or man or woman or adult or child. They weren't even all Americans. How many foreign visitors come to this country to run the marathons? Lots.
What do we do now? Other than the media over reacting as usual, we'll find out who did it and why. He/she will be prosecuted and incarcerated. In an ideal scenario. I can't help but wonder, though, if it will have an effect of gun legislation. If our nerves are so frayed these days that the idea of having a gun is somehow comforting. Even, as in this case, it couldn't have been used to protect ones self.
It also shows, along with the knife attack in Texas, that a gun registry would not have prevented it. We don't know at this point if it was indeed an act of terrorism or just one more disconnected crackpot. Instructions for bomb building can be easily found on the internet.
They say pressure cookers were used. We certainly aren't going to attempt to ban them are we? Or register them? Pro gun advocates suggest the gun registry will do nothing to keep guns out of the hands of those that shouldn't have them. They're right you know. No more than the registering of xacto knives or pressure cookers.
In all the scurrying around after disasters to look like something constructive is being done, it's time to take the time to see that something is in fact worthwhile rather than an exercise in futility. And please, don't pass any hurry up legislation to prove my point because you're to lazy to find your own which will probably be discredited anyway because of your haste.
We're off to the Seattle area tomorrow. I'm hoping we'll be able to go where we want without facing searches in the face of misguided panic. This day and age one can expect that something could happen no matter where we go. All the legislation in the world won't change that. What might, however, if it is radicals rather than those who are ill, is to go about our business without fear of the unknown and really less than likely without letting them win their psychological victory.
If it is mental, well, no amount of legislation is going to fix that either. There are just too many cracks through which they can slip.
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