THE BOSTON BOMBINGS

I posted this on facebook a couple of hours after the attacks.

First off, all sympathies to the victims and their families. Also, many thanks to the many brave and capable first responders.

Having said that, remember how after 9/11 both houses of Congress, including the Democratic majority in the Senate, united in expressing their support for President Bush? No way that's going to happen with a Republican Congress and a Democratic President. Not these days. If Fast and Furious and Benghazi were a preview, this is going to be the main event. Expect the GOP to freak out in ways we never saw for 9/11.

Of course, they could surprise me. I sure hope so.

Select comments on the post:

Liz I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Sadly.

Ron Believe me. I totally hope so. It's just that recent history doesn't fill me with hope.

Alan Kinda like how the dems freak out over Newtown?

Ron Mmmm. No. Not like that at all. No Republican scapegoat. No massive hearings calling government figures as witnesses. No impeachment attempts. That's the kind of thing I'm expecting. You know, the stuff we saw for Fast and Furious and Beghazi.

Alan Well - let's wait until they pull out all the dead bodies before republicans are blamed for something today.

Ron You have no idea how much I want to be proven wrong about this.

More:

Ron Although, speaking of Tea Partiers, it is ironic to note that Boston is where the original Tea Party took place, as well of lots of other key events in American history. No doubt, this was intended if it turns out to be the Saudi national that I'm hearing rumors about.

Stefanie It's Patriot's Day, Ron.

Ron I've never heard of "Patriot's Day." Is that a Boston thing?

Stefanie Boston and Maine - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots%27_Day

Still More:

Rick Kinda sad that you jump straight to the political rhetoric.

Ron @Rick: No, Rick, I'm saying exactly the opposite, to the people who need to hear it. It is highly unlikely that liberals and Democrats are going to politicize this. No, it's Republicans and conservatives who are most likely to turn this into a political circus. I really hope they don't, hence the status update.

Ron I posted this elsewhere:

"It's been twelve years, but I still remember the horrible silence imposed on liberals in the wake of 9/11. It was frightening, demoralizing, terrifying, more so than the terrorist attack itself. I do not think it is an attack to caution conservatives against attempting the same kind of oppression again. Frankly, I'm in fear of it, and now is exactly the right time to insist that the Boston attack does not become an excuse to attack liberals."

Jennifer D I've already started seeing it happen. I've also seen 2 comments on my own news feed of people trying to turn it into a pro-gun agenda. Obviously, those comments were completely ridiculous.

Ron I'm pretty sure this will be irresistible to the usual suspects. I do hope I'm completely wrong about this. What's Rush Limbaugh saying?

Rick regardless of party, we should not discuss this during a time of mourning. There's plenty of time for that. It's poor taste and there's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise

Ron It's poor taste to tell conservatives not to politicize the bombings? I don't get it, Rick. You appear to be telling me exactly the same thing.

Rick yes exactly. You politicized it the moment you posted orginally. Why discuss partisan crap while people are literally still bleeding? Really really poor taste. No more responses from me. Take care.

Jennifer D half the people on the news, the president of the US and numerous people on FB said what this post says long before this was posted. The reason for it is that past experience tells us exactly how people will react to this, and there have been ugly political comments flying around on every news site and on Facebook all day about it. This post is mild and fair compared to the rest of what I've seen.

Rick it was posted less than 1 hour after the bombing seriously come on

Jennifer D well, for one thing, I was seeing comments almost immediately, and people arguing about it. SEcond of all, the bombing happened before 3pm EST. That is 2pm CST where Ron is. So it was actually more than 2 hours later. The whole world was lit up with comments by then.

Ron Rick, thank you, as always, for your participation in the discussion. I truly don't understand your point. I am calling for exactly what you are calling for: avoidance of politicizing the bombings. That I named conservatives as being very likely the ones to do the politicizing seems to be your real problem with what I said.

But seriously, are you telling me that Democrats are as likely to blame Obama for this as Republicans? I kept my mouth shut for months after 9/11. I was afraid of losing my job. I was afraid of getting the crap kicked out me by hyper-patriots. I was afraid of disappointing family and friends for dubious reasons. Never again. I will not subject myself to that sort of cultural mania and hysteria ever again. My civic responsibility as an American is tell the truth. If there is any politicizing that's going to be happening, it will be conservatives blaming President Obama. This cannot be allowed to happen without protest. And no, I'm not going to wait to insist that we unite as a nation on this. Without oppressing dissenters.

Which is why I say: I respectfully disagree with your characterization of my statements. I'm not saying what you think I'm saying. You and I are far more in agreement than you realize. It's just that I don't think you really know what it's like to be on the other side of politicizing terrorist attacks in the way that I do.

Still More:

Jennifer L How about odds on it being a foreign entity? And then what does that have the political entities say?

Ron I'm assuming it's foreign, if only because of those reports of a Saudi citizen in custody, and the style of the attacks reflecting the London and Spain bombings. I mean, it could be some domestic terrorist, a definite possibility, but I think it's only an outside chance. If it is, in fact, Islamic extremists, there will almost certainly be a reigniting of the massive discussion on Al Qaeda and whatnot. And, to be fair, as President, Obama's got the responsibility for protecting us. But I want facts, not House show trials.

Rod Eric Rudolph used this style of terrorism too...

Ron Are you sure it wasn't security guard Richard Jewell? Of course, I'm just joking. You have a good point. But the reality is that, at this point, we really have no idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rudolph

Rod Just pointing out America has its own share of home grown lunatics. Especially the week of April 15th to 20th...

Wayne I always think domestic first.

Jay Yep, I'd gamble it was a Tea Bagging lunatic.

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