An Editorial - Bettina Network's Blog

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The Boston Marathon Bombing and its Aftermath

Saturday, April 20th, 2013

by: Marceline Donaldson

The hunt for the “terrorists” is over and we are all the poorer for it.  Democracy and the United Sates Constitution went out the window and we justified it by claiming all in the name of “safety”.  I guess that makes the real question, would you rather be free or safe?

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Lets put what happened in Boston in a more historical context.  John King blew the horn at the starting gate – it was dark skinned males.  And does that have a historical context?  Does anyone remember the Carol Stuart case when the clarion call was to “get” those n…..rs.  This time, enough people backed him down that there had to be other “suspects” and those turned out to be two young boys – white.  Legal aliens, maybe next time they will call white and illegal aliens.  And things like innocent until proven guilty went out the window and today the miranda rights are out the window and so will a proper and thorough criminal investigation be completely compromised.  Try to get a just trial out of this fiasco and farce.

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Rumors fanned the flames and contradictory reporting went unnoticed as we were whipped up into a fear frenzy by a careless and irresponsible media who were apparently taking orders from the law enforcement people.  The idea of an independent media was certainly one of the first things lacking when they started fanning the flames by many repeats of the picture and many assurances of the guilt of the men in the picture..
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The FBI and assorted other enforcement agencies pushed the fear by releasing the pictures of two young men who were immediately declared guilty.  We need an independent investigation of what happened in Boston and soon.  This was the Carol Stuart case on steroids – especially when a Congressman declared that suspect #2 – let’s not use names – we can dehumanize them by calling them titles – had come to this country to kill people.  Put in the context of reality – suspect #2 was 8 years old when he came to this country.  Not likely his motives were to kill people especially since it was probably not his decision to come, but his parents.

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If you have not been targeted you might feel pretty smug and safe – I was targeted.  It was not pleasant to see police cars come along and block off the streets in your neighborhood leaving you with the uncontrovertible view that you are the target.  As it turned out – they were looking for a grey honda odyssey and one was parked in my driveway.  They had a license plate number which didn’t even come close to mine, but there they were blocking off every ‘escape’ route and what if I had gone outside for any reason while they were doing this?  My neighbor across the street did go out looking for her son.  One policeman yelled at her to get back into her house – she tried to explain her son had gone out for coffee and hadn’t come back and she was going to look for him.  The policeman didn’t care he just continued to yell at her to go back into her house.  What was the great threat?  My car, parked in my driveway.  When I saw that and realized I had been targeted I remember Martin Luther King’s comments – if good people do nothing, they may come for me in the morning, but they will be back for you in the afternoon.

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I was really jolted when I saw the last press conference with the police head of this travesty announcing everything was going back to ‘normal’ and in the process with his zeal and high on testosterone treated Governor DeVal Patrick in a really disrespectful way.  As Patrick tried to say something he was cut off and that policeman ignored him and kept the microphone.  Whatever Patrick had to say was shoved aside.

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There were many conflicting rumors and rumors of rumors going around the entire day – not going around from informal conversation with your friends and relatives, but going around on international television being reported as fact.  You really knew it was a problemmatical statement being made when you heard – as John King said – I have to be very careful about what I say here.  King’s racism has been on display at other times, but he has neither been called on it nor has he accepted responsibility for his racist attitudes and taken steps to change them.
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So many other points come into play – the thermal image of the suspect by the helicopter which was apparently not acted upon; the black mercedes which was taken by the suspect #2 from the body shop where he brought it – a friends’ car to be fixed – and then there was a charaterization of the car they were driving around in as having been ‘car jacked.’  The ‘confession’ came from that supposed car jacking third hand, but reported as fact and the reason to justify the continuation of this abuse of the U. S. Constitution.
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The FBI releasing photos of suspects which were not definitive, but conjectured as suspects knowing that releasing such to the public in an already inflamed situation would only make things worse and prevent the justice department from doing a proper investigation, etc.  They had face recognition and other means to continue their investigation, present their facts to a judge to get an arrest warrant, etc.  Takes too long?  We can go vigilante and claim it was really good police work?  This was not justice, this was vengeance and it didn’t matter who paid as long as the public felt ‘safe’ and trusting of its law enforcement people and raised them up as heroes after this day long travesty of justice.
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The Carol Stuart case – for those of you who don’t remember it – was the law enforcement people in Boston releasing what they called a ‘fact’, that Carol Stuart was killed by a young black man and the Boston police went on quite a rampage stopping, searching, mal-treating young black men until Carol Stuart’s brother-in-law confessed that it was really her white husband who killed her with his help after the fact. One committed suicide, the other went to jail.
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Was this day long horror story any different?  Are we safer and its okay that we are far less free?  Does it matter that we have been subjected to the kind of police state which has happened in many societies around the globe – those that we condemn?  Have we now taken our place beside them in what was a bright light shining on the difference between what we profess verbally and what we practice, in fact?
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Will something even bigger – in terms of the rejection of our U. S. Constitution – come along again in Boston where it will be even worse than Carol Stuart and the Marathon Bombing?
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We have no idea if they were the bombers – if they were did they act alone – if not who are other possible suspects – etc.  All the kind of questions which could have been answered from a properly conducted criminal investigation.  What were we so afraid of that we can not follow our own supposed values and beliefs or are those beliefs and ethics only there to be paraded out when it is convenient for everyone and makes us look good and better than other countries?
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This re-creation of a police state in the United States certainly needs to be thoroughly investigated by an independent body.

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