When I first heard about the explosions during the Boston Marathon, I was concerned. There was something about the whole episode that struck me as crude and uncouth. And thus it came as a great relief when I turned on "Morning Joe" and heard Willie Geist refer to the two bombing suspects as gentlemen.
There is nothing new about this. In the days following September 11, I heard the hijackers referred to as gentlemen at least five or six times, as in “the gentlemen who flew the planes into the Twin Towers.” Typically, it was someone on the street being interviewed who talked this way, but I did hear at least one reporter use that word. In the years since, I have noticed that whenever there is an attempted terrorist attack or some mass murder, the word “gentleman” invariably makes an appearance.
When we consider that the word “gentleman” is almost never used in any other context, it makes us realize just how gracious these terrorists must be. In particular, neither the police nor the soldiers are referred to as gentlemen (or ladies). And for that matter, neither are the victims. To return to Willie Geist, it is clear from his commentary that the two bombers of the Boston Marathon had better manners than the people who were killed or maimed, because he did not refer to any of the adult victims as gentlemen or ladies. They were just men and women.
This is not something we should take for granted. Terrorists are not necessarily polite. We never hear of the terrorists who blow things up in the Middle East as gentlemen, for they apparently did not learn the proper forms at their mother's knee. No, this must be part of that American exceptionalism we keep hearing about. It is only here in the United States that those who would kill us do so in a manner that is considerate and refined.
Let us hope that our terrorists continue to reflect the proper upbringing they have demonstrated thus far.
Update: I just heard Mika Brzezinski refer to the two suspects as gentlemen as well. I guess that makes it official.