The Country Is Safe

I thought the people of the Boston area were in for the long haul. After one of the Tsarnaev brothers was killed in a shootout at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the other one escaped, the subsequent lockdown of the city and the surrounding area forced people in their homes. If I were a Boston resident, I wouldn't have bothered making plans for the weekend . . . or the week. The city was like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory - no one was going in, no one was coming out. I couldn't imagine the surviving brother being caught so swiftly; looking for him must have been like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Well, I certainly underestimated the will and the resolve of the Boston area to catch this guy . . . and the role of luck. When a homeowner in nearby Watertown found the surviving Tsarnaev brother hiding in his boat in his backyard, bleeding from a gunshot wound, it was only a matter of time before it was over . . . and with the full weight of the authorities born down on the assailant. The simple truth of the matter is that no one was going to let this manhunt go on interminably, and everyone was going to do whatever they could - even if it meant staying indoors for the whole weekend and beyond - to ensure his capture.

The whole arc of the Tsarnaevs' rampage through greater Boston played out frighteningly like the legendary exploits of another pair of brothers, Frank and Jesse James. Also, the preponderance of state militiamen and law enforcement personnel in the area on the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord - both towns being right outside of Boston - was rather eerie. But when it was all over, people could rest easily, and the law enforcement authorities got much-deserved applause and appreciation for a job well done.

Oh yes, the title of my post. It's a quote from George Washington in 1775, newly appointed as the commander of the Continental Army at the start of the Revolution, when he saw how brave and courageous the people of Massachusetts were in standing up against the British.