I give up. I really can't express the feelings of sadness and despair I have right now. Not only is this a tragedy for those directly impacted by this insanity, as a parent, I think of the kids who were undoubtedly there whose memories of what was supposed to be a fun, family event will now be scarred for the rest of their lives by the fear and horror of unspeakable human destruction that only a bomb can deliver.
But I'm also saddened and horrified by what is going to happen to our country in the next two years. Images of terrorism return to our screens as television broadcasters milk it for all the ratings they can get. A renewed sense of impending doom will sweep over our nation like a dark blanket, feeding fear and suspicion of our neighbors. The forces of militant oppression will seize the opportunity to enact more draconian laws limiting our freedom and expanding their power. Precious resources needed to finance schools, and roads and other investments in our children's futures will be further diverted to private military and intelligence contractors.
And we can pretty much kiss progress on any other front goodbye for the near future. Anti-austerity? Forget it. It's all terra all the time now. And it will be pretty easy to slip regressive policy into anti-terrorism legislation, or just drown out opposition to the myriad of bad ideas on the plutocrat agenda. Progressive pushback will be the first to go amidst the awakening of the beast. "Hell no" on CCPI? Fracking? Keystone? Good luck.
CNN is orgasmic now of course. They never really stopped being the All Terror All the Time channel. And now they have fresh fuel for the fire.
So here we go again. Can democracy even function in the wake of modern, cable news terrorism? I don't believe in the death penalty, but right now, I can't help but hope that whoever did this will be strung from a pole. The harm they caused to the families of the victims, the people of Boston, and this nation as a whole cannot be measured.