What the rest of the world doesn’t seem to see is that, left alone, America tends to beat itself up. We’ve already gone to war with each other once. What I mean to say is, if there’s no one outside of America actively provoking our anger, we get angry at each other.

Our track record of going to war every 20 or 30 years cements that in my mind. Without some place to vent our frustrations, we’d probably dissolve. I think that’s also why Canada keeps its mouth shut. Hell, I would, too.

I am sure that the elder statesmen in Britain who lived through the rough IRA years and the current adults in Syria and Iraq (and certain nationalities of the African subcontinent) are simply appalled at the scope of devastation in Boston.

I’m not saying it isn’t tragic. All such things are. I’m saying that we tend to forget about everyone else. Poor us. As a country created by violence (though, weren’t they all?), I’m rather puzzled at the reaction. Is it the crime itself, or is it the unexpected nature of the crime that sets us off? If it had been some random nitwit with a gun, we would blame the gun. That’s the current America.

No matter. I’m sure the government of whatever fringe Eastern European Republic these fellows are linked to – however narrowly – will be on the phone and apologizing shortly. Just in case.

Want to get noticed? Start talking politics.

I am humbled by your ability to express in words the things that bounce off the rest of our brains without ever registering. A blend of godlike perceptiveness and a poet’s vocabulary, if you will. Okay, humbled may be only one aspect. The other would be envy.