EXPLOSIONS at the Boston Marathon!!

[allmc2008]

I don't know about you but I do believe in astrology and the supernatural. Maybe this is not coincadential? Maybe there really is a spiritual "happening (for a lack of a better word)" in April.

I even think the whole world stuff is going to end from last year is true to an extent. Of course the world didn't end but I am thinking about a lot of other people are thinking that the world is going through a massive change.

[edgeofnight]

Dear Andrew, When I was interviewed on radio, yesterday, I was asked 'why I thought these things happened in April.' Having had a minor concentration in Psychology (My major was History, obviously, in undergraduate school), I theorized that the dark gloominess of winter, when many people seem to hibernate, like some animals, sets off a pent up reaction, in some people, to do such horrible things. As I told my interviewer, when I first heard about the Marathon, the first thing I thought of was TS Eliot's quote 'April is the cruellest month.' I knew of 90% of the man-made disasters that had occurred in April, and was also aware of some of the natural disasters, like the San Francisco earthquake and the Titanic. But, digging deeper, I found some other disturbing natural and man-made disasters.

Off topic, three of the eight US Presidents who died in office, died in April (William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln and FDR)

Five of the US History's more 'infamous' villains died in the month of April, most notably: John Wilkes Booth, Benito Mussolini, Adolph Hitler, James Earl Ray (the MLK assassin) and Bruno Richard Hauptmann, the convicted kidnapper and jiller of the Charles Lindbergh aby boy.

On my birthday, April 23, in addition to sharing my day with the likes of William Shakespeare, US Senator Stephen A Douglas, US President James Buchanan and Shirley Temple, April 23 is, also, the birthday of the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. James Earl Ray, conversely, died in prison, of natural causes, on April 23, 1998.

[Max]

I feel really badly for Muslims as a result of this latest terrorist incident. The continued stereotyping of them as terrorists will continue, which is grossly unfair. I can sort of relate, because any time a right-wing terrorist strikes, there are some who use that opportunity to unfairly smear the entire conservative movement. (I certainly remember this happening after the Oklahoma City bombing.)

[JaneAusten]

In all fairness, those going after " brown" people and that includes Muslims I guess, are the folks you claim are persecuted when local terrorist attacks occur. The same people who just made sure no anti gun legislation will be passed. I don't consider myself an extreme leftie, but it's the progressives in general who seem to fight for due process regardless, vs the extreme right that has no issue with people blowing up abortion clinics or killing doctors who perform them, yet profile and encourage vigilantism in cases like what happened this week in Boston.

[Max]

I think it's reprehensible that some on the right are having a field day with the Muslim profiling. But, that doesn't mean that the conservative movement deserves to be stereotyped whenever a radical right wing terrorist group attacks. And blowing up aborting clinics is not something that is encouraged or condoned in the mainstream conservative movement, much like mainstream Muslims don't encourage or condone the tactics of jihad terrorists. (And while I support some gun control measures, I don't vilify many who are strongly anti-gun control. While I think they're wrong, they honestly believe that gun control measures wouldn't be helpful, as mentally ill criminals could use other means--such as bombs--to cause mass carnage in the event that they couldn't get their hands on a gun. They're also very passionate--albeit paranoid--that any gun control restrictions would lead to a huge erosion in 2nd Amendment rights. Just because they are paranoid on this doesn't make them evil people; rather, they're just misguided.)

Many liberals are champions of due process, as you suggested. But, it wasn't just some far-left internet posters who prematurely jumped to conclusions that a right-wing group was responsible. Chris Matthews (who has a history of saying many stupid things) made such a speculation:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/04/15/chris-matthews-did-boston-bombing-have-anything-do-tax-day

But again, while it is wrong to smear the entire Muslim or conservative communities for the actions/statements of the crazies, so too would it be wrong to smear all liberals for the outrageously incorrect comments made by some on the fringe.

[JaneAusten]

You're right. In fact it was I think CNN who initially led the charge towards that Saudi victim as a suspect because he was tackled at the site by "someone" who said he looked suspicious. I just got incredibly irate when I read some of Donald Trump's tweets about "let's hang the guy in the square" yesterday after he was caught and the applauding instigated by the Boston Police at the end of all this. What happened was tragic and horrible but I'm notsurfe instigating already an emotional element of our population is the right thing to do. I also don't think the extreme right has been targeted and profiled anywhere near as close as what we're seeing here.

[Max]

Thanks for your comments, Jane.

I'm sorry if I implied that I thought that stereotyping against conservatives was done to the same degree as Muslim stereotyping has been, because that's certainly not the case. I just made my initial comment--about feeling sympathy and empathy for Muslims--because it's a terrible feeling whenever a group (one belongs to) is demonized as a result of the actions of some crazies.

[marceline]

I think it's fairly simple. You've got tax day on 4/15, Patriots Day on 4/19 and Hitler's birthday on 4/20. The third week of April is like Holy Week for extremists and crackpots. Years ago, my company had a conference on the third week of April and I mentioned to a co-worker that I hated the idea of traveling that week because of the above and cited Waco, Columbine, and Oklahoma City. She laughed at me and told me I was being paranoid. We ended up sitting in the hotel bar watching the coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting while trying to explain to our colleagues visiting from overseas that this country wasn't filled with murderous lunatics. (An argument that I couldn't make in good conscience then or now.)