Some pretty incompetent terrorists have been having their fun in the UK. Some people on dkos who think they know what's going on have been scoffing at anyone who takes these things seriously. I'm stepping on a land mine here, but I have a few things to say about this situation.
I've said here before that I have PTSD, and like it or not, for those of us who have damaged anxiety responses the incompetent bombings don't help. They make me feel anxious and fearful because it's a reminder I don't need that there are people in the world who are willing to hurt and kill others. PTSD and similar disorders are not limited to the US. Citizens of the UK have the same illnesses, and react in the same way.
Even those who don't have a damaged anxiety response are going to react to situations like these differently based on their own biology. Some will scoff and say it's nothing. Others will watch and wait to decide if it might be serious. And another group will respond with immediate fear. All of these human reactions are normal for the situation and have been bred into us through endless years of evolution.
One universal fact is that all humans are comforted in situations like these by the caring and compassion of others. They need our understanding to help them handle the stress of the situation. For those who are affected by these events, what they don't need is a bunch of know-it-all insensitive boobs telling them how abnormal and wrong they are for reacting in a normal human way to these types of events.
Yes, the press goes bonkers over the story. They want to sell papers and keep you glued to your TV so you buy more advertised products, and they - the news media - want to be made important.
Yes, Bush and his villinous pals will make hay with the issue because it fits their agenda. This is politics in the Bush era.
But neither one of these are the people of Britain, nor does what Bush and the news media are doing excuse an insensitive response to the British people who are affected.
What I have an issue with is the lack of support for those across the pond who are dealing with the issue. They are not our government, they are not the press, and they are not at fault for everything that's happening in the world that we disagree with. They are the person flying to visit his family in another country, the family going on vacation, the workers who hit the clubs at night to forget the stresses and strains of the workday. They're people who are going about their daily lives as best they can but who are affected by these events. And whether your politics agrees with their reaction or not, they will react in the normal human way - some will scoff, some will wait and see, and some will be frightened.
The last thing they need from us is judgment of their reaction based on our assessment of the political situation.
Isn't Bush screwing up our foreign policy enough without us offending all the Brits who routinely hang out on this site? Can't we just hold out a hand of friendship and support without dishing up a load of grief?
Most folks who are affected by these events just need a few days to come to grips with it and move on. But until they've absorbed the events and put them in their proper place, a long conspiracy post about how our governments are killing our citizens with incompetent terror attacks is not the kind of thing they need. Maybe in a week. Maybe later. Maybe then they can read that kind of post and appreciate it for what it is. But not now, while the shock is still fresh (and it is a shock, regardless of how "serious" you might believe it to be).
Yes, sometimes terrorists are bumbling idiots who screw up everything they touch. But they're also sometimes well organized mass murderers who pull off coordinated attacks like 9/11. It is NOT abnormal to be frightened by events like these if you were in the locations where these bombs were found.
So, in this thread, can we please just express some support for those who have been affected by these events? Give them some understanding and express a willingness to listen to how THEY feel about these events? Can we send a message to the Brits about how we feel about THEM?
Thanks.