Matt Yglesias wonders why the bomb in Times Square is inciting less freaking out than did the Christmas underpants bomber (what an odd epithet to have attached to oneself!). I suspect three things:
1) The Times Square bombing is in New York. People kind of expect New York to get bombed, and it doesn't make them feel uncomfortable in Tupelo.
2) Americans, in general, lack a kinship with New Yorkers. All those jibes about Real America speak to a real disconnect between many Americans and New Yorkers. I think part of the reason why everyone went on and on about the firefighters after 9/11 was not only because their actions were heroic, but because people across the country found firefighters relatable, far more so than a worker for Cantor Fitzgerald.
3) The guy who did it seems to have been white. Therefore, while less relatable than even a New Yorker, he is more relatable than a Muslim Arab. It will be interesting to see how people react if it's a Tea Party type who did it.
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Welcome to the Idiocracy
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To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, Americans voted for Trumpism and they deserve
to get it good and hard.
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1 hour ago
I have a different suggestion. It isn't that NYers are so unrelatable (although the famous Saul Steinberg New Yorker cover shows this might work both ways), but rather that everyone has a close friend or relative who files regularly. The horror of airplane accidents are way out of proportion to their deadliness, and I'd suspect this might be the reason for the difference in reaction.
ReplyDeletePlus, I'll go on record fearlessly predicting it was not a Tea Party type who did it.
I know it was a typo, but I find the idea of everyone having a friend or relative who files regularly deeply hilarious. And yes, it's a fair point that the cultural chauvinism cuts both ways.
ReplyDeleteYes, the chauvinism goes both ways. But I thought it was more widely acknowledged the other way (i.e., it is a truth universally acknowledged that New Yorkers sneer at everyone, and slightly less acknowledged that everyone hates NYers right back).
ReplyDeletestupid New Englanders showing your deep envy for the big Apple and how you wish you could be like them! Red Sox Nation my ass. Ha. (sorry, I couldn't resist, I was raised on Boston Hatred)
ReplyDeleteFrom my old office window I used to be able to see the Twin towers and all of these years later I still half expect to see them whenever I go to the big city.
By the way, a smoking and burning car in the NY metropolitan area is kind of a daily event so a lot of people kind of feel, eh been there, done that.
charo
A suspect has been arrested. He's a naturalized US citizen, originally from Pakistan, and oddly enough he's spent quite a bit of time there lately. He was arrested while trying to flee to Pakistan. Clearly a Tea Party kind of guy...
ReplyDeleteIN BIZARRO WORLD!
I'm counting coup on this one.
I dunno gj, his house was in foreclosure and the BOA building is on that corner, that would be quite the twist if his target was the bank, a Pakistani teabagger. (what, are you going to be racist and say only white people can be teabaggers?)
ReplyDeletecharo