Misdirected Hatred after Boston Tragedy

9/11, the worst terrorist attack in USA history, amidst the shock and grief, brought us together. Everyone rallied around the President. Initially, nobody exploited that disaster for political reasons.

Eventually, we learned of all the warnings and missed opportunities to prevent that attack, and the political debates proceeded. Yet for a long time, the immense tragedy itself brought us all together in ways that transcended politics.

Today, things are different. Within an hour of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, some people were already blaming the U.S. President. Before the president even had a chance to speak about the attack, there were claims that he actually supported the terrorists. Here is a sampling of comments from Facebook:

“Too bad it was his Muslim Brotherhood that did. He probably planned it just like Sandy Hook”

“Bet Oblama will go apologize to them instead of doing something about it.”

“If we didn’t let foreigners over here, we wouldn’t have this problem”

Before anyone even had time to learn the details of the attack, while the first responders were still tending to the dead and injured, some people were already exploiting this tragedy.

Whoever is responsible for this attack, whether foreign terrorists or some home-grown militia group, they are an enemy of the American people. But some people also see President Obama as the enemy. Therefore they do not feel any sense of togetherness that comes from witnessing Americans die, even for a brief moment, and just be Americans.

In some cases, it seems there is more direct hatred and vitriol toward President Obama than toward the terrorists who attacked us. This attack has finally given them an opportunity to confirm their beliefs that “Obama the Muslim” is weak on the issue of terrorism.

This is not the time to exploit this tragedy for every inch of political mileage possible. Regardless of who attacked the Boston Marathon, we need to come together as a nation the way we did after 9/11.

Jeff (30 Posts)