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April 19, 2005
Ten years? Already?
Michelle Malkin points out that today is the 10th anniversary of the OK bombing. She's gathered some relevant links well worth your time to read.
In 1995 my girls were 7, 12, 13 and 16. Seeing the images of the destroyed building, the bodies especially of the children struck me hard. I found it difficult to believe that someone's basic empathy with innocent human beings could be so totally burned out by the flames of fanaticism. It's not like fanatics haven't operated within the borders of the US before, either foreign or domestic. Certainly the assassinations of Lincoln and McKinnley by political fanatics demonstrate the mindset of individuals who believe they cannot compete in the arena of ideas so they must resort to terror.
We have tended to believe stuff like this happens elsewheres while we tend to thrash out our differences in the political arena. For the most part we do, but we have, in the past, also tended to poo-poo the lurch to fanaticism by groups and ignored the rhetoric they produce. Thankfully, post-OK, survellience of domestic groups that give rise to people like McVeigh stepped up. Unfortunately, post 9/11 there are still those that want to thwart similar efforts towards domestic groups that succor and encourage Atta wannabes.
Posted by Darleen at April 19, 2005 06:34 AM
Comments
Both the firefighter and the baby from this photograph are dead. As you may remember he took his own life a year or two after this picture was taken - as a direct result of the bombing. I hate this picture. It hurts my heart. It hurts my heart. It hurts my heart. Raw.
Posted by: Mieke at April 19, 2005 11:47 AM
I remember that day. I was in my final weeks of undergrad, trying to figure out which graduate school to go to, which parties to go to, what finals I had to do well in so I could graduate comfortably, and then I turned on CNN and saw the building. I was just as surprised as everyone else that it was home-grown though. Never saw it coming. Even nearly 2,000 miles away, the brutality of it was well conveyed by the coverage.
Posted by: Erik at April 19, 2005 01:28 PM