Monday, October 21, 2002
Lots in the news but an agonizingly slow dial-up connection combined with the phones going down (nearby construction cut everyone's lines within miles) meant no blogging this weekend. What would I say anyway about yet another sniper attack that has seemingly yielded little in the way of clues to the sniper's identity? About the arrests of people who may or may not be related to the case? About the rather bizarre public conversation between the authorities and someone who may be the sniper or a witness? Not much.
It has occurred to me that the sniper has attracted so much attention not only because of the potential link to terrorism but also because it speaks so directly and chillingly to many of our post-9/11 fears about how open our open society really is. We're so used to being able to do mundane things such as fill the car with gas or shop at the grocery store with little or no thought to safety that it is jarring to realize how tenuous this safety can be. Of course people in other parts of the world or other times are much more used to routine violence but we have been spoiled.
It has occurred to me that the sniper has attracted so much attention not only because of the potential link to terrorism but also because it speaks so directly and chillingly to many of our post-9/11 fears about how open our open society really is. We're so used to being able to do mundane things such as fill the car with gas or shop at the grocery store with little or no thought to safety that it is jarring to realize how tenuous this safety can be. Of course people in other parts of the world or other times are much more used to routine violence but we have been spoiled.
