People should learn what not to say.

In the aftermath of the death penalty sentence on Tsernaev, the prosecutors staged the usual self-congratulatory preening exhibition before the TV cameras. 

The level of mutual admiration expressed by them for their skill, hard work, etc. was laughable in a case for which the verdict of "guilty" was obvious and inevitable. 

The thought was expressed that "we" have sent a message to "them" that they cannot attack us without paying a high price.  Was that not obvious?

There was also a good deal of whining about the fear experienced  by Bostonians in the aftermath of the heinous attack at the finish line.  Fear was said to be a justification for prosecution of this little creep.  No, the charge of murder was the justification. 

There is a lot to be said for just keeping your mouth shut in occasions like this conviction and sentencing.

That would be "Boston Strong."  pl

Comments

[William R. Cumming]

Agree completely!

[Tyler]

The last administration blamed religious terrorism for the weather.

This administration blames everything but religious terrorism.

[LeaNder]

"Was that not obvious?"

Yes, no doubt.

I guess a couple of years ago I would have been interested in how he was recruited, his background. By now I am not even sure if they could partly recruit themselves once the ideology is out in the air.

Something like this can be done without--to return to post 911 wisdom--without state sponsorship.

[Jack]

Sir

Fear and Greed epitomize our society in the current era. We have steadily compromised our liberty so that government can keep us "safe". When our fear is ratcheted up as government fails the only response is more draconian measures and further erosion of liberty. To see Bostonians cower in their homes and the militaristic response to home-made bomb attack by a couple of hoodlums shows how far down the rabbit hole we have gone. What would happen if there was a Mumbai style attack by a small force of ISIS jihadists? Would the government go further than declare a lockdown as they did in Boston? At what point would it be something akin to martial law?

[Bobo]

Completely agree. They must be New Yorkers or from Washington.
My nephew whose home was "willingly" searched that day laughs when he hears people's take that they "cowered in their homes". He says they had all the baseball & lacrosse bats stationed around the house but were too busy on Social Media keeping up with neighbors and family. In Boston the police are either neighbors, family or a friend of a friend that live in the town town they work.

[BabelFish]

While not from there, I have been to Boston frequently. Many Red Sox games and a few Celtics games as well, plus visits, conferences, etc.

For me, it is a city that you can not be ambivalent about. You either go with the vibe, which can have a chip on its shoulder, or you fight it and end up hating the place.

I am not sure about the need for a lockdown. I would agree with Bobo's observation that most of the natives would have relished getting a crack at the brothers and were more than willing to cooperate and help. My stepson related to me that the chip on that shoulder was quickly evident. You mess with us and we will destroy you.

The Boston I know didn't need the grandstanding by the prosecutors. They had a grim, a fell task in front of them and accomplished that job. They should have walked away in humility.

[William R. Cumming]

I suspect we will find out this Century since domestic preparedness remains a stepchild politically speaking until after the incident and event.

[bth]

The death penalty was not handed down by a Boston jury lightly. The little brother earned it. Call it a chip on the shoulder or what have you, Bostonians are damned tough and would have ripped the brothers apart with bare hands if given the chance. The prosecutors are just background noise up here. They were competent, did their job and they should have just left it at that.

[confusedponderer]

There was a sad case in local news in Germany yesterday when police had finally found the body of a young woman who had disappeard a few years before. The reporter, trying his best to ask a tough, ingestigative question - and asked a police officer at the scene whether he felt bad that it took them so long.

The officer very politely answered that this is about facts, not personal sensitivities.

That struck me as very a very appropriate and professional answer.

The prosecutors in the slam dunk case against Tsernaev should have heeded that advice.

And so should the moron who prosectuted Sterling, when he apparently raised in his closing remarks to the jury that that trial gave him the opportunity to meet all those wonderful people - CIA case officers (of Operation Merlin - what a tale btw ... the objective apparently being selling Iran, and perhaps Iraq, fake nuke plans to then be able to accuse them of having nuke plans. A nuclear sting! Sheer genius!). Right. Seems they did a bang up job on him. What does how wonderful and patriotic they are have to do with Sterling? Oh, nothing? Oh, nevermind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Merlin

But then, today, reporters routinely ask, perhaps in order to bring out a human dimension, how everybody feels, like how somebody feels when their family just died in a car accident, or how it feels to lose the job after 30 years in a company because they are outsourcing to China. Guess what, like, bad? I have enough empathy that I don't need to ask them them to get a general idea.

And everybody volunteers how they feel. I don't care about that. I don't want to know how this or that starlet feels about her new boob implants, or her digestion, the emotional strain of having to consciously mind breathing, or how she feels when she snorts coke. Or how it feels to have atrocious hair like Donald Trump. All that are things I don't want to know and that probably nobody needs let alone wants to know.

[russ]

bth, Bobo and BabelFish have it right Bostonians were not cowering in they homes but would have relished the opportunity to take the the brothers apart (although hockey sticks would be more likely than "lacrosse bats"). An unsourced poll indicated that a majority of Bostonians would have preferred life imprison to the death penalty. Anti-death penalty sentiment is strong in the state but many probably felt that he deserved a living hell.