Beltway Insider: Boston Marathon Bombing Dominates; Gun Control Bill Falls Short

President Barack Obama unified the nation this week as the world’s attention focused on Boston, Massachusetts in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon terrorist attack that killed four and injured 175.

According to Gallup, President Obama’s job approval, over the past week, rose three percentage points, to 51% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President dropped five percentage points to 42%.

Boston Marathon Bombing

The running of the 117th Boston Marathon began Monday with the usual fanfare and ended approximately 102 hours later after one of the largest manhunts in recent U.S. history that left one of the two suspects dead and the other gravely wounded and in federal custody.

The twin, ground level, explosions, detonated near the finish line at 04:09:43, sent pellet, nail and shrapnel projectiles into the crowds that had gathered to cheer the runners. The force of the blasts, while not enough to level the buildings, shattered windows spewing glass shards and debris with bullet force into spectators causing dozens of the injured to lose limbs.

On Thursday, President Obama addressed the city of Boston and the world in a televised interfaith service for the victims, their families, and the city relaying a simple message. The president quoting 2 Timothy 1:7 stated “We have not been given a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind.”  

He went on adding words of comfort, “and when we think we have hit a brick wall, someone will step up and offer a cool drink of water to quench our thirst” and we’ll go on. He mentioned Bill Gifford, 78, momentarily knocked off his feet after the impact of the blast and he, like us, picked himself up, as we will, and finished the race.

With open weeping and applause, the president gave all the permission to experience their feelings, without judgment, even when hurt and anger overpowered. We are united in our pursuit of freedom; we are not afraid, we, Americans, have a solidarity in resilience. “This bomb,” he stated, “won’t stop us.” We’ll launch unprecedented retaliation and justice. We will rise, we will conquer, and “we will run again.” Boston Strong became a national anthem.

The situation escalated quickly, Thursday, as images of the two suspects were identified, circulated and Bostonians, and the social media ecosystem, rallied blanketing the images across every medium. Waking from surgery that amputated both his lower legs, Jeff Bauman, Jr., 27, identified one of the suspects.  

After the release of photos, federal law enforcement indicated the two suspects, both from the Chechnya Republic, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, a naturalized U.S. citizen and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, a legal permanent U.S. resident were the primary focus of the manhunt.

Thursday night brought a fast moving series of events as the brothers attempted to elude capture. In their effort to escape the pair crossed paths with MIT Campus security, Sean Collier, and assassinated him in his vehicle. According to Boston law enforcement they then, separated and one hijacked a vehicle at gunpoint. The driver was held hostage and freed at a local gas station unharmed. He also identified one of the two suspects. With police closing in the brothers reunited and tossed seven undetonated bombs from the vehicle and exchanged heavy gunfire.   Suspect Number 1, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed during the exchange. Graphic images of his body have circulated the web indicating multiple injuries from bullet and gunshot wounds.

Original reports indicated the two suspects robbed a local convenience store, Boston Police have since determined the two Marathon bombing suspects did not participate in that crime.

On Friday, residents of the greater Boston area, home to over 4.6million people, were ordered to shelter in place, indoors,  as the manhunt complete with wartime police, SWAT and federal officers rolled through the streets of Watertown, MA and the MIT community, in armored vehicles performing house- to-house search.

By 6:30pm Friday, the shelter in place order had been lifted without capture of Suspect Number2, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Within 45minutes of the order being lifted a local man checking his yard notice blood on his boat, notified the police, within minutes after another flurry of gunfire, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was captured and transported to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

Those killed in the Boston Marathon Bombing are 8 year-old Martin Richard, attending the Marathon to cheer his dad, Bill Richard. Boston University student Lingzi Lu of China, Krystal Campbell, 29, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Campus Security officer Sean Collier murdered as the two attempted to escape into the MIT area. Martin Richard’s mother, Denise, and sister, Jane, were also gravely wounded during the blast.

Lost in the aftermath the winners and the runners of the Boston Marathon, most of who were barred from finishing, Lelisa Desisa, of Ethiopia, won the race with the best male time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, 22 seconds, and Rita Jeptoo of Kenya, captured best female time of 2:26:25. 

Gun Control Bill Shot Down

Gun Reform took a direct hit this week as the bill proposed by Senator Joe Manchin, II (D-WV) failed to gain the necessary 60 votes needed in order to be pass the senate and head to the president office for signature into law.

Co-sponsored by Senator Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill), Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), the bill, “To protect Second Amendment rights, ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the National Instant criminal Background check system, and provide a responsible and consistent background check process”  was introduced on April 11, 2013 following four months of debate and after the introduction of other gun control legislation stemming from the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Essentially, the bill provided expanded background checks and prohibited those with pre-existing mental conditions from purchasing guns.

The December 14, 2012 massacre, that left 20 six and seven year olds and 6 educators dead, brought gun control to the national stage, much like the assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan and Press Secretary James Brady, was led by President Obama who immediately charged Vice President Joe Biden with creating a proposal that would address issues of gun violence.

After the president signed 23 executive orders, possible gun reform legislation went to the senate. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) moved first with possible legislation. After countless hearings and testimony, pleas, and petitions from the parents of Sandy Hook children and the many others who have died by gun violence the senate refused to champion gun reform or control and that bill also died on the senate floor.

The Manchin Bill, like others before it, simply could not garner the necessary 60 votes to pass. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) the majority leader brought a motion to reconsider the bill and it also failed. It was a huge defeat for the Obama Administration and for the American people.

For more information on President Obama: www.whitehouse.gov 

 

Sources; Gallup, Wikipedia, WVCB.com, ABC.com.

 

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