A crazy day: The Boston bombing, the police state, and the media orgy

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, what is there to say? It's been a crazy day, at least if you've been following the ongoing story in Boston, with one suspect dead and one on the run. And of course it's crazier if you're actually there -- the whole city is locked down, people being told to stay in their homes, and the police presence on the streets, particularly in Watertown, makes the whole thing look like a military zone. (I went to college in the Boston area, at Tufts, and so I know the locations fairly well. It all seems very immediate to me.)

I've spent the morning watching TV (mostly CNN and CBS), alternately soaking up the reporting and getting more and more annoyed with the media's recklessness, irresponsibility, and narcissism.

I've also been in twitter, tweeting and re-tweeting a lot -- you can find me here. And here are a few of my tweets and re-tweets:

Even after second guy is caught/dead, everyone needs to take a step back and pause. We don't need to rush to conclusions about why. #boston
— Michael Stickings (@mjwstickings) April 19, 2013

Things we'll do to keep people safe: Lock down an entire city for hoursThings we won't do: A 5 min background check before you buy a gun
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) April 19, 2013

Sad we can't summon this level of alarm, intensity and energy for other existential crises. If we did, we'd save many lives. #boston
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) April 19, 2013

Stupidest tweet of the day: "@howardfineman: There is no 'there' anymore. All the world and all history are here, on the streets of Boston."
— Michael Stickings (@mjwstickings) April 19, 2013

And my pick for tweet of the day (so far), and perhaps even for tweet of the whole damn thing:

Forget who they are or why they did what they did. Think about how this event normalizes the police state in America: twitter.com/seanpaulkelley…
— Sean Paul Kelley (@seanpaulkelley) April 19, 2013