Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Move along, no terrorism to see here

Are you just a little tired of being reassured at the total lack of terrorism every time something bad happens?

Yesterday a man blew up a building in New York. Apparently it was a divorce gone bad...really bad. Today we can call that news, since there has been time for the reporters to do a little investigation and get some actual facts.

But yesterday, as the smoke was still billowing from the explosion just minutes earlier, the news, as usual was repeating the same lack of facts over and over. No one had any idea what was going on, which is often the case in the middle of a chaotic situation. But the one thing they are always sure of is that "there is no sign that it was a terrorist act." Well, fine, but there's also no sign that it was an accident, a natural disaster, or a wild Martian teenager that crashed his ship.

In an age where terrorism is a real threat, why do we have to deny it by reflex action before any facts are available?

"We have absolutely no idea of the cause of this extraordinary event. But rest assured it's not terrorism."