No, +2 !!

We're at war in Afghanistan. Are we at war in Yemen? Or in Pakistan? I know--Pakistan is this war's version of Cambodia. Remember how we all felt about the "secret" bombing of Cambodia? Why is this any different? And as for war in Afghanistan--aren't they, whoever they are, at war with us, so that to attack our civilians is for them the same as our attacking their wedding parties?

I know--for them it's a deliberate attempt to terrorize whereas for us it's an error that leads to collateral damage. Remember another thing: road to hell and good intentions.

Well, as long as we're making observations: as horrible as what happened in Boston was, I find it telling that we as a country over-obsess on such things when they happen to us here, but generally ignore similar events when they happen to others. For example, 26 people were killed today in multiple bomb attacks in Afghanistan and 16 injured in a bombing in Bangalore, but good luck finding a ton of coverage about those in the in the US media.

Meanwhile, we're being treated to the same video clips of the Boston attacks over and over and over and over and over and over again, along with basically the exact same coverage ad nauseam ...

Don't get me wrong, I don't want us to be blasé about attacks such as the one in Boston, but at some point we as a society (or maybe just our media) need to recognize that this is the world we live in, that these kinds of things will happen again no matter what the precautions, and that it would probably be better to stop sensationalizing them as if they were 9/11 all over again when they do happen ...

Part of the problem is, of course, the 24-hour, instant-gratification news cycle and its ravenous gaping maw of need to churn-out anything at all as long as it fills air. Back in the day, it would be "XXX News is reporting bombs exploding near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. We'll bring you more information as it becomes available. Now, back to 'The Guiding Light.'"

Today we get Rachel LIVE from Boston (because it's so much more newsworthy that she's broadcasting from THERE) reporting on basically nothing that we didn't already know from the previous 8 hours of non-stop coverage. But it's a Big Thing That Happened To Us, so the coverage must be driven into the ground ...

Anyways, I'll stop there because I could go on and on ;-)

Like some here, I've stopped watching/reading any kind of media coverage until things get a little more sane, and have wallowed a bit in being disappointed at how long it takes for that to happen ...

I'm just wondering if it was carried out by some "2nd Amendment Rights" fruitcake.

Or some Tea Party nut case....

They're the same, aren't they?

And everyone on this side has a name. The little boy killed in Boston had a name and a family and dreams and an upcoming event he was looking forward to, but so did every person killed in the similar devastating killings abroad. I realize it likely hard for the media to get their hands on such pics and info, but there should be more pics and info about the innocent, dream-filled children and adults killed in the midst of their life outside our beautiful country as well. Some, most certainly not all of these killings are didrect and indirect results of US action abroad. They deserve much more attention from the US/Western media and the consumers of this media.