Archive: Opinions

Just what the world needs -- another editorial about the Orlando murders!  But it is important to make a distinction -- murder is murder.  It is only terror if we let it be.  Labeling murder a 'terrorist attack' may be a self-fulfilling prophesy in that it scares us into behaving as the terrorist wants us to.  On the other hand, we seem to be quite used to murder.  Just look at the ridiculously high percentage of night time television dramas that involve murder.  My solution is to just call murder murder and not give terrorists the benefit of our fear.

As the news unfolded about the horrific Orlando shootings Sunday, I heard more than one person say it was a good idea that the shooter's name had not been released.  That would give him the notoriety he, no doubt, wanted.  As the death toll rose to an unbelievable 49 during the day and police learned more about the massacre, they did, finally, release the name.  But the sentiment was correct -- terror works when we give it credence.  When we do it paralyses us with fear.  That, when terrorism works, causes behavioral changes and loss of confidence, which then has an adverse affect on the economy and American life in general.

On the evening after the 9/11 attacks President Bush gave an inspiring speech in which he sought to negate the impact of the terror part of the murders.  "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat," he said.  "But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.  Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.  These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."

Bush was right, but the fear engendered by the attacks far overwhelmed reason.  Our nation and our economy reacted poorly -- so poorly that we are still recovering in spurts 15 years later.  Those horrendous attacks did dent the steel of American resolve.  Because we let it.

That is not to say that we as individuals and as a nation didn't have an entirely human response.  Of course we did, and mere reason has never been known for reliably overwhelming human nature.  But I can't help but wonder what life today would be like if we hadn't been so afraid.

Boston got it right in dealing with the heinous Boston Marathon bombing.  My sense of it was that the terrorism aspect was played down, while the crime part was dealt with in the same way any murder is.  The surviving bomber was given a death sentence, and the appeals continue to run their course in the courts just as any murderer's legal path would.  Meanwhile Boston rallied pretty quickly as a community, coining the rallying cry, 'Boston Strong'.  The perpetrator continues to lose appeals.  Justice is being served.

Don't get me wrong.  I am not blaming us for terrorism.  That would be like blaming victims for being raped or mugged.  But it is clear that when we actually go on with our lives as normally as possible after an attack, that terrorism is ineffective in the big picture of American life and spirit.  Terrorists do not win, do not get what they want, and are not seen as something they are now.  They are simply common murderers.

Because killing for a just cause is seen as something quite different than killing because you are an ass, or disturbed, or whatever touchy-feely motivation is ascribed to you.  When we give too much credence to the killer's motives, we are elevating the act.  If we view murder as just murder, no justification can make it be something other than it is.  Murder.

We certainly want to make sense of tragic events like the one the nation suffered Sunday.  We want to know why he did it.  But just because he thought he was doing it for what he thought was an exalted cause doesn't mean he wasn't just a disturbed jerk who decided to kill a bunch of people.  He may have thought he had a good reason to take all those lives.  We shouldn't agree.

It is very hard to go on as usual when there is an attack on American soil.  I always pity the late night comedians who struggle to be appropriate in the wake of such events.  That's when their job is the hardest, when they have to strike a tenuous balance between respect for what has happened and life going on as usual.  You can't joke about it, but you can joke about other things while still acknowledging tragedy.  I thought Jimmy Fallon got it right on the Tonight Show the other night, when he gave a prepared speech about the Orlando murders, evidently taped without an audience so gratuitous applause was replaced by respectful silence when he finished.  And then there was a show.

That is what we, as a nation, must do.  We must mourn and decry all murders, especially pointless mass murders like the ones in Orlando.  But we must continue living the life that being part of a free country has blessed us with.  It is OK to be scared.  It is even better not to show our fear if we are afraid.  When we do terrorists win.

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