Boston's Nightmare and That of the Nation Recedes - Thank God!

As the horror that has enveloped Boston and the nation recedes to the extent that it can, the following thoughts and questions come to the fore:

The savage bomb planters, who no doubt thought their plot brilliant, made the fatal mistake of being photographed and then, remaining in the area where they would have nowhere to hide after their pictures were circulated throughout the Boston area and the world;

Thank God for the FBI and the myriad state and local law enforcement authorities and investigators involved in the case: the skilled, brave and valorous individuals whose quick and brilliant work enabled the crimes which tied the country into knots and shut down the Boston area to be solved and the perpetrators taken out of circulation.  We recognize anew the dangers inherent in law enforcement as the nation mourns Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, whose young life was sacrificed in a confrontation with the killers.

Government officials recognize throughout such an ordeal that they are on duty twenty four hours a day.  Special recognition is due Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, currently using a wheelchair, who checked himself out of a hospital and set aside his own visible pain for the good of the city and the people that he loves.  High praise is also due Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who delivered important information in a calm, cool, steady, and confident manner, and to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, who brought comfort to the area through their visit and through the president's magnificent words delivered in a service of healing.  The president quickly and appropriately labeled the act "terrorism" and said all the right things with passion and eloquence, emphasizing that the American people will not be cowed by terror;

Television, radio, and newspapers did what they do best, providing key information to those that were hungry for it.  These outlets also enabled the people of the Boston area to take proper precautions as the killers were on the loose.  They performed an enormous public service;

It is tragic that the second terrorist was taken alive rather than killed by the police whom he and his brother tried to assassinate as they fled.  As an American citizen, he will be afforded rights, and will no doubt be provided the national stage as a platform for his "grievances", whatever they happen to be.  The media will help him to find consolation and will provide him perverse aggrandizement as his photograph is plastered on the pages of newspapers and he is the constant focus of television news reports, taking the spotlight off the victims of his barbarism.  The nation will spend millions of dollars to afford him a fair trial, to protect him, to house and feed him, and to provide him whatever health care he needs.  He is likely to ultimately face the same fate as Timothy McVeigh, but only after a long period of time has passed.  Few would have shed a tear or questioned the actions of police if he had been killed in the firefight with them after he took the life of Officer Collier;

We have witnessed once again the evil that is committed by some of those that cloak themselves in religion as they pervert their faith.  These "fervent believers" sought to hew to the tenets of their religion in some nominal respects, the elder killer said to have eschewed the use of alcohol and tobacco and unwilling to remove his shirt in the presence of a woman, but somehow justifying the dismembering and slaughter of innocent people, including children;

Sometimes it is best to remain silent lest one insert foot in mouth.  Salt was poured on open wounds when the parents of the killers questioned their guilt and told the media that one of them is "an angel". The sister of the killers, whose computer was confiscated, said that she extends condolences to the victims, but does not believe that her brothers committed this crime. The President of Chechnya, the region in which the terrorists were raised, engendered the enmity of decent people when he blamed "American culture" for the act.  The uncle of the men seems to have been the only family member rooted in reality.  He had it right when he acknowledged the guilt of his nephews and said that the perpetrators have disgraced their family and the Chechen people;

How does an individual become so radicalized, so demented that they lose all humanity and basic decency, that they are willing to perpetrate a savage, notorious crime with no purpose?  Does the surviving killer recognize that his actions and those of his late brother serve not to destroy the American people, but to unite us, and that what he has done will serve to cause many to regard with suspicion his countrymen and women and others that are foreign born?;

It is interesting and deeply disturbing that those from other countries who have sought to perpetrate terrorism have enjoyed the freedoms and niceties afforded them in our country, only to use our open and free society against us;

Last but not least, the grit and determination of the people of Boston and those associated with its historic and legendary Marathon has been a saving grace in our time of national horror.  The thoughts and prayers of a nation are with them and shall continue to be in the days and years ahead.  May God heal their aching bodies and hearts and may they find strength and peace.