What exactly are they celebrating?

[stacey-lyn]

The festival atmosphere, scenes of jubilation and chants of "U.S.A" on the streets of Boston. Does this reflect a malaise at the heart of the American psyche?

[uncleglen]

Who knows what the American psyche is like since 9/11? The jubilation could be relief that these (3) islamic extremists posing as all-American citizens have been caught

[Loz]

Three?

And we don't yet know their motives.

[nashoi]

I don't see why celebrating the capture of someone who was trying to kill you, should signify a malaise of any kind.

In the meantime only one of the following stories is made up

http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-majority-of-americans-not-informed-enough-to,32124/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/boston-marathon-bombings-czech-republics-ambassador-concerned-by-americans-confusing-his-country-with-chechnya-8581341.html

[DJKillaQueen]

I think both those articles make valid points about the ignorance of the average American of anything outside of America, and their inability to put anything into persepctive. The two suspects may well be of Chechen nationality, but lived most of their (still young) lives in the USA? America is as capable of producing extremists as anywhere. Have Americans forgotton Timothy Mcveigh, Waco, the numerous mass shootings in schools, the extreme views of some of their own evangelical pastors, I could go on? It's the same ignorance that led to invasion of Iraq.

America needs to start looking within. Looking at the corruption of it's own political system, looking at it's own inequality and the disaffection it causes, looking at it's own propensity to violence. It's a classic distraction technique, used by all governments, to look for the enemy outside. That's why terrorism doesn't work. It plays perfectly into the hands of the government it is designed to bring down.

[El Pibe]

Again, can't quite work out if this is satire or not

http://www.karlremarks.com/2013/04/obama-insists-reaction-to-boston-bombs.html

[LondonMix]

Agree with most posts. First, nothing really unusual about Americans celebrating the capture / death of someone they believe is trying to kill them. Americans are not reserved.

Americans are largely ignorant of countries outside of the US for a host of reasons. They don't get enough vacation time to travel, they don't feel events in other parts of the world have an immediate or direct impact on their daily lives. An average American knows much more about South America than Asia / Europe etc due to geographical proximity and immigration. I'd dare say the avg American know more about North and South America than Europeans. Having lived here for almost a decade I don't think the avg. American really is that much more ignorant than a Brit in similar circumstances.

[stacey-lyn]

Indeed, LondonMix et al.

These all too common outbursts seem inherently inappropriate. Misguided patriotism, jingoism, whatever you want to call it. Given that Boston has a huge student population, it isn't surprising that large swathes of revellers look like 20 somethings, but what is worrying is that these are arguably educated people who, rather than showing restraint, informing themselves and assessing things rationally, are behaving like the Red Sox have just won the World Series, (which of course is only a North American competition). And then there's the nonchalant pig ignorance. The need for the ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States to declare publicly that his country is different from Chechnya and the comments to this article speak volumes.

[www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/us-usa-guatanamo-detainee-times-idUSBRE93E0QL20130415]

[stacey-lyn]

New York Times article

[El Pibe]

I'm not sure it's hugely revealing of much.

A public outpouring of relief is pretty natural after all, what this tells us is that repeating "YOU-ESS-EH" is a bit dull when compared to say, slapping statues with your shoe, but is marginally less embarassing than climbing a statue and doing that oy-oy saveloy fist pumping dance whilst chanting ENG-GER-LUND over and over.

I think what it is revealing of is primarily a skewed sense of perspective and secondly a deep seated anxiety about ones place in and perception by the world, which is a bit odd for the most powerful country in the world and more usually seen in countries that have seen themselves wane, such as Britian, Spain and France.

On that first point someone might have been forgiven for thinking that it was VX day at the end of world war 3 on seeing the footage, not that the police had captured a criminal who had murdered two people.

I'm sure there are plenty of people, especially republicans and gun lobbiests who panicked when the perpetrators where described as white (quite literally) caucasians, now breathing a huge collective sigh of relief that it wasn't some 'prise my assault rifle out of my cold dead hands' type.

It was rather telling that police were involved in a shootout the following day shooting a murderer who had killed 5, just another day at the office, and probably didn't even manage a roadblock leave alone martial law lockdown of a million people.

Which kind of raises the second point, where does this topsy turvey risk assessment come from when cinema and high school massacres result in vehement defence that there's nothing you can do about it.

I've a feeling that this cuts to the chase on two matters, firstly the dichotomy at the heart of American hegemony, that you can't be both powerful and loved, and secondly a deep seated unease that the USA might not be the preeminent world power for much longer.

On top of this there is the problem that though at first glance it feels like the foreign 'other' has been defeated, actually these were peope who grew up in the USA, a country that has embraceed and been built upon and by immigration. A country that will soon no longer be majority white, may eventually no longer be majority anglo-saxon speaking, leave alone protestant.

Ultimately maybe these celebrations were the lady dothing a protest too much, enjoying a brief glow of simple truths well aware that in reality there are harder questions to face up to, that the existential threat to the united states isn't from muslims or russians but facing up to the dark heart of culture wars, religious schism and immigration and that at some point they're going to have to make up their minds what sort of country they want to be.

[El Pibe]

Toungue in cheek, but kind of elaborates on the conclusion of my stream of conciousness ramble about the existential threat to the US coming from within.

This chap suggesting that maybe the Union should finally let the Confederacy secede.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/30/memo-to-the-south-go-ahead-secede-already.html

[stacey-lyn]

El Pibe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Toungue in cheek, but kind of elaborates on the

> conclusion of my stream of conciousness ramble

> about the existential threat to the US coming from

> within.

>

Illustrated by my recent time in Virginia where assorted folk introduce themselves as 'rednecks' as though it was a badge of honour - in between Civil War reenactments & waiting for the old South to rise again.