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| How long will it be before we think of Paris in such a cutesy way again? |
At
least 100 people who were hostages-turned-targets killed in one lone theater,
while it seems there were explosions in a sports stadium and at least four or
five other incidents.
THE
DEATH TALLY was at about 140. But by the time you read this, it could be
higher. Much higher. A part of me is cynical enough to wonder how close to 1,000
fatalities we’ll see. If we’re talking multiple incidents, it could go high –
particularly if there are more incidents yet to come.
Of
course, we’re all suspecting Arab terrorists – which is a phrase too many
nincompoops string together too easily. I’ve heard way too much speculation
about ISIS. Way too much in that I have yet to hear a fact about who might have
done this, or for what motivation.
The
group in the Middle East that, to my mind, puts in my memory banks that silly
mid-1970s TV show about a woman who fought crime by summoning the strength of
the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Perhaps
we could unleash her on the people who have coordinated these attacks? Problem
solved!
MY
BIGGEST HOPE is that people appreciate the scope of what appears to have
happened, and the significance.
A
part of me already wonders if the happenings of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York and
Rosslyn, Va. (never forget the Pentagon) have been surpassed in significance.
Will the same ideologues who liked getting worked up with their “Proud to be an
American” song lyrics and “U.S.A.” chants (which ought never to be used outside
of an Olympics athletic event) realize this event was meant to take a shot at
the entirety of the Western World?
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| Could the power of Isis defeat ISIS? |
That
date just over 14 years ago would have been just as bad if the target had been
the Tower of London or Buckingham Palace rather than the World Trade Center or
the Capitol building (which was spared because of those passengers who attacked
their attackers, remember?)
Perhaps
it is likely in coming hours and days we’ll learn stories of how the violence
could have been much worse – but how people made their bones (and perhaps gave
their lives) to save others.
THAT
WOULD AT least give Friday’s events some significance.
Because
as things stand now, Friday will be just a gruesome day that will get some
people all worked up as they camp out in front of their televisions and argue
over which station they want to “spin” the factual tidbits that are spilling
out of Paris while officials try to seal off their borders.
Which
I think is a petty reaction, in part because I’m already reading the anonymous reactions
on assorted Internet sites from crackpots who are determined to turn Fridays
happenings into some sort of anti-immigration diatribe.
Yes,
there are those who are already spewing trash about how “all those Mexicans”
are now going to follow up what happened in Paris, France with (perhaps) an
attack on Paris, Texas.
SOME
PEOPLE WILL spew ideology no matter what the circumstance.
They’re
the ones we really ought to be concerned about as we try to figure out what
happened in France and as we join in the international mourning scene.
From
9/11 to 11/13 – which date will be next to gain an “infamous” stain?
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