Why don’t I feel like celebrating?

A couple thoughts about everything we’ve witnessed in Boston:

1) Assuming this kid is guilty, I feel no pity for him. We’ll find out more about how he was “recruited” or “radicalized”, but none of these details absolve him or even lessen his guilt in the slightest. He is a killer of children and women. He is a gutless coward and a murderous rodent. His family came here seeking refuge and they were granted it. He became an American citizen and benefited from the luxuries and liberties of American life. And then, to show his gratitude, he walked through a crowd of innocent people, placed a bag full of explosives near two young children and their mother, and then walked away and detonated it. Only a truly evil human being could do something like that. No excuses. No rationalizations. He is evil and I can muster nothing but deep, visceral anger for him. Now, keep that in mind as I proceed to point 2.

2) I am going to be honest with you. Maybe I shouldn’t be. Maybe I should just let everyone have their “rah rah” moment. But I can’t because, frankly, I don’t know why we are celebrating tonight. America didn’t win. Something won, but I wouldn’t call it America. You see, I truly love the ideas that form the foundation of our nation. I mean, I really love them. I do. I don’t use the word love very often. I use it when I talk about my wife, my family and my God, and the only other time is when I discuss the freedoms and liberties enshrined by our founding documents. And so maybe you’ll understand why I have a hard time clapping and hooting and hollering when something I love is abused, ignored, and discarded.

Today I saw an entire city militarized and locked down. Streets emptied and barricaded. Shops closed. Public transit prohibited. Schools canceled. No fly zones put in place. Armored vehicles and SWAT teams pulling up to houses and conducting warrantless searches. A million citizens hiding in fear while 300 million more watched in fascination. And all for what? An injured, mostly incapacitated teenager hiding in someone’s shed. And then, when they found the kid, they waived his Miranda Rights for “public safety” reasons and announced at a news conference that, essentially, we’re going to pretend he isn’t an American citizen so that those pesky Constitutional provisions don’t get in the way. And then, to my horror, I saw a bunch of people thump their chest and cheer about this on social media. I understand you’re emotional, but cheering the government because it’s taking away liberties? Do you really not understand the implications? Or do you not care?

Lord, forgive them. They know not what they do.

And as if it wasn’t bad enough already, the president got on TV at the conclusion of all of this and actually said that America won because we “refused to be intimidated and refused to be terrorized”. Uh, what? Was that a little comedic relief after a long day, or did that dude seriously just make that statement?

So, no, I’m sorry but I can’t join the victory party. I’m glad the guy is caught but I fear we crossed a terrible threshold in accomplishing it. So throw me to the wolves if you like. But this — this is not America.