Thoughts On Boston!

Last night around 8 pm EDT the second suspect in the Boston Marathon Massacre was apprehended.  While I am thrilled that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured alive, I was dismayed at what I witnessed through out that day.

We on the Right claim to support the Constitution and the rights it upholds, yet we were willing to relinquish those rights for a little safety.  I witnessed citizen after citizen step aside as the police just walked into their homes (Without even asking permission.) and search the premises.  What if there was something they didn't like in these homes?  Would they look the other way?  I think not.  Suppose someone said no?  Would he or she be arrested for demanding their 4th Amendment rights?  And we still have this right:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What if next time it isn't a terrorist but the government looking for our guns.  Will we just allow them to enter and search or will we demand a search warrant?  I think by the time the government gets around to that we will be accepting of this behavior.

I keep hearing about how wonderful the police were able to track down Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.  But in looking back I see it wasn't police work but a citizen who stepped outside to have a smoke and discovered blood in his shed, bloody clothing on the ground, and the suspect hiding in his boat.  And he did exactly what a citizen should do and notified the police.  BTW Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered outside the "Quarantined Zone" only a few blocks from where his brother was caught.  Perhaps if the police hadn't shut down the city Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might have been caught sooner.

While I understand the joy and relief of the people of Boston, I found their street celebration a little on the wrong side of decency.  While they were celebrating there was a family mourning the loss of a policeman and another family praying for the recovery of a second policeman.  I doubt any of those celebrating gave one thought to the families of the 2 men.

Let me state this:

I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT THE TSARNAEV BROTHERS DID!  IN FACT I CONDEMN BOTH OF THE MEN AND AM HORRIFIED BY THEIR CRIME!

But we are a nation of laws.  I know that like Timothy McVeigh before him, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be given a fair trial (Probably out of the Boston area.), a last meal (I suggest Pork Chops smothered in Bacon.) and a needle in the arm.  The Boston Marathon will run again next year and for years afterwards.  The police will have a perimeter in which backpacks and large bags will not be allowed in the area, like Times Square on New Years Eve.  But the victims of his crimes will be coping with their wounds and scars all their lives.

I know in writing this I will make many enemies on the Right.  But sometimes we have to speak the truth as we see it.  We have won a small victory in the War on Terror, but will we lose our freedoms to win this war.