Sunday, April 21, 2013

In Boston, the End of the Beginning

Boston Skyline
Boston Skyline (Photo credit: brentdanley)
We have a few questions about what happened in and around Boston this past week.  No answers, just questions.
  • Out of the millions of photographs and surveillance videos the FBI says they used to get pictures of the Boston Marathon crime scene, they were able to narrow it down to two suspects.  Are they sure they got the right ones?  Or were the alleged suspects fall guys in a larger conspiracy?
  • Why would the FBI ask for the nation's help in identifying the suspects when it became clear that they never left the Boston area?
  • The alleged suspects were from Chechnya, an area in Russia that's had a history of violence and terrorism, not to mention a thorn in the side of President Vladimir Putin.  What does this revelation do to diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia?  Since nuclear weapons in both countries are still aimed at each other, is a new Cold War coming?
  • Was it really necessary to lock down an entire metropolitan area just to find one person?  Are self-appointed arbiters of the law so power-drunk at times like these that they can subjugate the populace to their will?  Are people that willing to give up their freedoms in a moment of crisis?
  • Outside of Boston, was it really necessary for the TV networks to go wall-to-wall with manhunt coverage?  What purpose does it serve, scaring the hell out of its viewers?  And what if this had happened in, let's say, Milwaukee?
  • Does "if you see something, say something" apply to news reporters who get bad information from otherwise impeccable sources (we'll just have to take their word for it) about arrests that were never made, news conferences that never happened and explosions that turned out to be mere fires?
  • An explosion at a fertilizer plant resulted in several dead, and half of a small town in Texas destroyed.  Yet the networks couldn't spare any resources because Boston is just a hop, skip and a jump away from New York, and little old West, Texas is not?
  • Could the bombings have anything to do with the U.S. Senate's not having enough votes to enact new gun control legislation?  What will this do to proposed immigration reforms?
  • Despite predictions that next year's Boston Marathon will be the biggest ever, won't there actually be fewer runners and spectators because of the inevitable increase in security?
  • Finally, aren't you already sick of "Sweet Caroline" and "Boston Strong"?
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