Saturday, April 27, 2013

Boston

First, the obligatory cute-ass picture of Marissa.


I never wrote anything about the Boston Marathon bombing and I feel that in the future I'll regret not having something about that week. 

It was a week ago Monday that I came back from getting coffee after another late start to the day when LL told me some kind of explosion happened at the Boston marathon. We turned on CNN (she had heard about it on the radio while getting ready) and initially I thought it was a restaurant or something as the thought of it being a terrorist attack never crossed my mind. The reporters quickly dismissed it being a restaurant though. Initially they weren't even reporting where the two explosions occurred or that there even was two explosions. Information and video trickled in though and when they said it was some sort of attack I immediately said "find the muslims in the crowd". Sounds potentially racist (or prejudiced), but is it if it's true? 

LL's mother called to see if we had heard about the explosions because they were out and had not heard. I said we had and, knowing that they watch Fox News exclusively, I asked if they were blaming Obama for the explosions yet. In retrospect that was a little insensitive, but the nonsense they spew on there is infuriating. I even pointed out to LL how when the Potus has a news conference, they will center him in the screen closely enough that the flags on either side of him are cut out. It's those sorts of subliminal or subtle things they do to manipulate their message that I find really annoying. Yes, I'm aware MSNBC does similar things in the other direction, so I try to stick to CNN or avoid TV news entirely. 

However, during the next few days, much like after 9/11, we had CNN on at all times. It was just indescribable I guess how we felt infuriated and violated to some degree. At the same time, I realized that bombings like this happen all the time in the middle east. Just another day for those people. Still, it doesn't happen over here and it was really unexpected. Who did it? Were they supported by al quaeda? Were other bombings to come? Time passed, more video came out, then the FBI released the video of suspicious young men that ended up being the attackers. That was late in the day. That night a guard was shot at MIT. Seemed unrelated, but it wasn't. A car chase ensued, one of the attackers was shot. The other took off in a car and ran over his own brother while doing so. He was eventually cornered and captured while hiding in a boat. Apparently he tried to commit suicide in there, but failed. The chase was over and now it was just a matter of who, if anyone supported, financed or motivated them. The older brother turned out to be the instigator. Interviews with an uncle showed him calling them "losers" and that they weren't "real Chechenians". Their father declared that they were framed. Their mother went one better and said all the blood was really paint and the whole thing was staged! After she was flown in for questioning and shown some of the victims, she finally admitted that it actually happened, but still believed her sons were innocent. So delusional!

It feels like we've moved on fairly quickly from this tragedy. Not sure why. Maybe because they got the perpetrators is why. Not sure, but it does seem resolved. What's unresolved is how another country can worn us about the older brother being a problem, having the FBI interview him and nothing being done even after he goes to a radicalization camp in old Russia. Not coincidentally, yesterday, the Russians raided said camp and hauled away 140 extremists. Nobody wants to have the label of "harboring terrorists" on them. 


5 comments:

terri said...

Marissa is such a sweet-pea!

I think you're right that we've moved on more quickly from the events of the Boston Marathon because the suspects were caught. It's so rare that a tragedy like this is "wrapped up" so quickly. People felt like they could relax again knowing one suspect was dead and the other was caught.

Bee said...

This was a very touchy event for me, you saw how angry i was on FB about it...but in typical human fashion, we move on quickly and forget. There will always be people who want to hate and hurt, the more I think about it, the more I think it's for their own glory 2nd to religion.../breathe..

Seperately...I love that pic, Auntie Bee wants one please! The pic not a baby!

Ken said...

Now I can tell people I know one of the seven people that actually still watch CNN.

Lakeview Coffee Joe said...

Tell them to call me when they want to hear the truth too!

alexis said...

thanks for sharing your thoughts on this Joe. I admit I was in Vietnam when it all happened so it all felt very removed. I think if it happened in Amsterdam (like if it happened on Queen's day tomorrow) it would really hit home.