Marathon Pundit: Bombings at Boston Marathon--on Patriots Day

Author running the 2004 Boston Marathon

As you are all aware two bombs exploded near the finish line of today's Boston Marathon. As of this hour--there are two reported fatalities and over 100 people injured.

A third bomb did not explode.

I've run Boston three times, but not since 2004. I was working today--and we had CNN and CBS news coverage playing on our television. While of course it's too early to say who is behind these acts or terror--oh, predictably our appeasement-oriented president refused to call these bombings terrorism--the mainstream media is overlooking one possible, I repeat, possible motivation for the barbaric attacks. While the third Monday in April is perceived as "Marathon Day" in Boston, it's also Patriots' Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts. Patriots' Day commemorates the first fighting in the Revolutionary War, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In fact, the original race organizers, inspired by the marathon that was part of the first modern Olympics in 1896, chose to stage a Boston version of that race the following year. And they chose Patriots' Day--April 19--the third Monday celebration of the holiday didn't start until decades later.

So it's understandable that an American-hating group such as al Qaeda would choose Patriots' Day for an attack.

Boylston Street, which is the heart of Boston's upscale Back Bay neighborhood, covers only the final half mile of the 26.2 mile race. Each time I turned the corner from Hereford Street onto Boylston as an entrant, I'd hear the sports-stadium-volume cheering and of course see the finish line. As I said in my earlier post, until today, I thought of Boylston Street on Boston Marathon Day as the happiest place in the world.

Obama--it's okay to call it terrorism.

My prayers are with the victims.

Technorati tags: