Australian response to terrorism

[IIOY]

I'm not saying this to minimize the amazing response of some Australians, but I think we need to recall a couple things about 9/11 and the US. First, Twitter and other social media weren't anywhere close to what they are now to facilitate this sort of immediate outreach.

Second, in the aftermath of 9/11, an awful lot of Americans engaged in a sudden upsurge of support for one another. I remember this distinctly because I remember writing to a friend of mine via old-fashioned email about the fact that the mood of the nation had changed for the positive and the sense of community spirit had become quite strong. We actually behaved pretty admirably in the immediate aftermath. The mood eventually waned, as such things are wont to do, as our politicians stoked our desire for revenge.

Finally, it's pretty clear that the man in the Australia case was a lone nutbar with a history of violence. It's fairly easy to look at him and conclude that he was out there on his own. In the case of the US, it was a larger group of men with no known history of violence who claimed to represent a much larger movement.

Again, I'm not trying to diminish the outpouring of goodwill in Oz or the terrible things Americans have done in the name of "freedom," but I think these analyses in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy are flawed. I'm no rah-rah 'Murica type, but this has been bothering me for a couple days now.

[Mrs.Rad888]

IIOY said basically what I was thinking. It seems like there's such a rush to throw stones at 'Muricans, that people forget that we can be good people, too. It's almost like people forget that there are good and bad people everywhere.

I have a few people on my Facebook that are talking about how "Australia handled the hostage situation right", but mostly they are talking about how the police went in balls out and guns ablazin'. These are the same people who want to blame all the the Muslims for one mentally ill loner.