bombs in Boston ... and Iraq

Three bombs went off during the Boston Marathon today, killing two, ripping limbs from several, and injuring scores more. Two of the relatively small bombs went off near the jam-packed finish line of the 26.2 mile annual event which was held on Patriots' Day. The third went off about three miles away. At the moment, information is sketchy.

BBC television devoted its entire 30-minute evening news broadcast to the terrifying and tragic event.

In Iraq, a string of apparently coordinated bombings claimed the lives of 55 people and injured an untold number of others, most civilians. The explosions seemed to be connected with the upcoming elections, the first since withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The BBC had consecrated its coverage to Boston. American public television spliced in perhaps one minute devoted to the tragic and terrifying events in Iraq.

Comparisons are odious and connecting the dots may or may not be warranted as a means of making 'sense' of things but it is hard not to ask...

Is the blood less red, the fear less searing, the tears less wet, the horror less consuming, the panic less compelling, the impotence less embracing, the loss less impaling, the humanity less human...?

No doubt it's too much to ask, but I can't help asking anyway ... couldn't we ask those questions before the fuses are so blithely lit? Fuck the solemnities and flags ... ASK and ANSWER!