I was busy typing my column regarding the unfairness of our tax system — an inordinate amount of taxes is paid by fewer and fewer people to satisfy a government, which does not have the discipline to curb its spending — when I learned of the two bombs that went off in Boston during the marathon.
All of a sudden everything I had written seemed inconsequential. Once again, unsuspecting underserving and innocent people in the United States became the target of senseless violence. Some will die, most will heal; but certainly, an entire nation’s peace of mind was shaken.
Terrorists hurt and kill babies, children, women, and civilians, because they cannot face our soldiers.
I don’t know any of the victims. I don’t have relatives in Boston. Still, my heart aches for every person in Boston and my heart is broken for America. It brought to mind that fateful day of September 11, 2001, when we experienced a terrorist tragedy in our nation’s capital. I was in Washington DC on that day; the sadness, anger and pain all came rushing back. I mourned again.
Clearly it was an act of terror. Clearly it was done with a definite intention to hurt civilians. Clearly they chose a place where it was to certain degree, unexpected. All the precautions and all the safety measures taken were obviously insufficient. While compared to the Twin Towers event, this terrorist act hurt and killed much fewer people, it nonetheless was successful in heightening our collective awareness that we are no longer safe.
If for a moment we thought we could let our guard down, this event shakes our confidence on the safety of America. Evidently no place and no event are completely safe. A terror act is successful because it damages the mind more than it damages the body or even property.
Yet, just as our collective heart is hurting, our resolve gets stronger with every passing minute. We are Americans. We will not cow to the desires of the deranged or cowards who perpetrated this heinous act. No, find the responsible we will, and when we do, as President Obama said, “they will feel the full weight of justice.'' There is no doubt in my mind that whoever is responsible for this terrorist act won’t see too many sunrises — jails don’t have windows.
Terrorist hurt and kill babies, children, women, and civilians, because they cannot face our soldiers. Contrary to their fabricated belief of their mighty power, they are truly weak, soulless people who wouldn’t last a day in a real battlefield.
Our country is strong because we unite in the face of danger. We fight terror wherever it raises its ugly head. If it is inside our sacred shores, we must remember we are 317 million strong. There are more good people in this country than those who wish us harm.
Today we are all Bostonians and today we are more united than ever. God Bless the United States of America.
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