First, we were horrified at the Boston bombing.
Then, progressives hoped he was a white nut job so Fox news couldn’t blame it on Islam. Â Then conservatives hoped he was Muslim, so liberals would accept the importance of the “war on terror.”
Then we became sentimental about running, marathons, Â and the great city of Boston. Â Then we debated whether we should even call them terrorists.
Then we all insisted that we hold judgement until the suspects were proven guilty. Â Then we talked about them anyway.
Then we laughed at how stupid the media looked in handling the entire story. Â Then the media laughed at the internet for fingering the wrong person.
Then we wondered whether this bombing proves a need for more gun control, since it is so easy to buy weapons, or less gun control, so we can protect ourselves. Â Then we got caught up in the excitement of the chase and the shootouts. Â Then we thanked the police.
Then we felt sympathetic to  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev because he was brainwashed by his brother.  Then we hated him again when we read his racist tweets.
Then we wondered if it was our own colonial policies that caused the radicalization of the world, and the West is to blame. Â Then we decided that religion is actually good, but it is the people who distort it who are bad. Â Then we wondered if maybe ALL religion is bad.
Then we blamed Russia for their policies in Chechnya. Â Then we mocked ourselves for not knowing where Chechnya is on a map.
Then, Neil Diamond sang “Sweet Caroline” at a baseball game, and we decided that Boston has bounced back.
Then there was a thwarted plot in Canada, but since there was no bomb, we shrugged it off. Â Â Then we moved on.
A week later, we hardly remember the victims’ names.