Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sentenced to death.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:

 A U.S. jury on Friday sentenced Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for helping carry out the 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded 264 others at the world-renowned race, taking 15 hours to reach a decision. 

The federal jury chose death by lethal injection for Tsarnaev, 21, over its only other option: life in prison without possibility of release. 

The same panel last month found the ethnic Chechen guilty of placing a pair of homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the race's crowded finish line on April 15, 2013, as well as fatally shooting a policeman. The bombing was one of the highest-profile attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. 

Tsarnaev, dressed in a dark sport coat and light-colored shirt stood quietly in court as the sentence was read, maintaining the stoic demeanor he had throughout most of the trial.

As a rule I am against the death penalty, and think in this case it might have been a better punishment for Tsarnaev to have spent the rest of his life behind bars forever regretting the choices he made that night on April 15, 2013. 

However I also understand the desire to see this man share the same fate that he inflicted on those three innocent victims. Not to mention paying for the mutilations of so many others.

 So I guess if I were a member of that jury, and the majority were calling for the death penalty, that I certainly would not have been the one to stand in the way.

Of course Tsarnaev will die relatively peacefully from a lethal injection, the death of his victims, and the suffering of those who survived, was anything but peaceful.

Thoughts?

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the only Boston bombing suspect left alive, has been found guilty on all 30 counts.

Tsarnaev during his arrest.

Courtesy of the Boston Herald:  

Confessed murderer Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will now be the one pleading for his life after a federal jury took just 11 hours to find him guilty of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and aftermath that left four dead and 260 maimed and injured. 

In a silent courtroom, a clerk read aloud the verdict finding Tsarnaev, 21, guilty of all 30 counts including conspiracy, use of a weapon of mass destruction and the murders of restaurant manager Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, Boston University graduate student Lingzi Lu, 23, and Martin Richard, 8 at the marathon finish line, as well as MIT Police Officer Sean Collier three days later. 

Tsarnaev swayed slightly on his feet, his head down, as the verdict was read and as the forewoman of the jury stared directly at him. He showed no reaction. 

The jury’s work is far from done. As early as next week, the same 12 deliberating jurors will reconvene for the start of Tsarnaev’s sentencing trial, where they will decide if he is to serve out his days behind bars or be ordered put to death.

This is the biggest story of the day, so it seems appropriate that we discuss it here.

I don't think there was ever any doubt that Tsarnaev would be convicted, the defense case that he was under the spell of his older brother simply never seemed viable to me. 

The next question of course is what is the proper punishment for his crimes?

Life in prison?

Or death?

Your thoughts?

Judge rules that defamation suit against Glenn Beck can proceed. Is it Christmas already?

Courtesy of Salon:

A federal judge on Tuesday denied Glenn Beck’s request to dismiss a libel lawsuit that accuses the conservative talking head of defaming a Saudi man Beck falsely accused of funding the Boston Marathon bombing last year. 

As Josh Gerstein explains, Beck sought to have the lawsuit tossed out on the grounds that Abdulrahman Alharbi, the man who brought the suit, was a public figure because of his presence near the finish line of the marathon, where two bombs exploded, killing three people. As a public figure, Alharbi would have had to clear a difficult hurdle in order for the lawsuit to proceed, proving that Beck intentionally lied or acted with malice in making the accusations. 

But in ruling that the lawsuit could move forward, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris rejected the argument that the mere act of attending the event made Alharbi a public figure. 

“Choosing to attend a sporting event as one of thousands of spectators is not the kind of conduct that a reasonable person would expect to result in publicity,” she wrote. “Quite to the contrary, a spectator at an event like the Boston Marathon would reasonably expect to disappear into the throngs of others, never attracting notice by the press. Because he did not ‘assume the risk of publicity,’ Alharbi does not meet the definition of an involuntary public figure.”

Of course the argument could also be made that Beck essentially MADE Alharbi a public figure when he plucked him from obscurity and essentially blamed him for the terrorist attack.

For those who may not remember Beck claimed to have information from a government source and proceeded to completely manufacture a relationship between the innocent bystander and the Tsarnaev brothers: 

The broadcaster eventually called Alharbi an al-Qaeda “control agent” and the “money man” behind the attacks. “You know who the Saudi is?” Beck asked. “He’s the money man. He’s the guy who paid for it.” 

“Is this speculation or are you reporting something?” a co-host asked. 

Beck ignored the question. “He’s the money man.”

I hope this Alharbi guy takes Beck for millions. 

The dangers of social media and why we should all be sad to see the end of HBO's "The Newsroom."

Click image to play video

I remember when this happened, and when I recoiled in horror at what these amateur sleuths had done in response to that terrible Boston Marathon bombing.

If you remember there was misinformation coming from all directions, much of it driven by the Right Wing mistrust of the government and their absolute certainty that the Obama administration was covering an attack by a known terrorist group.

Hell Glenn Beck was even sued for defamation after making up some insane conspiracy theories.

The Newsroom does something quite unique, and in my opinion quite necessary.

It not only holds puts the media on notice for its cowardice in reporting uncomfortable facts, or for cowering in the face of the conservative forces. It also holds up a mirror so that the public can see themselves revealed for their willingness to be poorly served by our politicians and our media, and how easily we allow ourselves to be manipulated by fear mongering or directed by our prejudices.

I for one will greatly miss what The Newsroom brings to the debate.

Glenn Beck is being sued for slander and defamation by Muslim victim of Boston Marathon bombing.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A Muslim victim of the Boston Marathon bombing has sued Glenn Beck for defamation and slander after the talk show host accused him of funding the attacks. 

Race spectator Abdulrahman Alharbi filed a federal lawsuit against Beck and his companies, The Blaze Inc. and Mercury Radio Arts, and his radio syndicator, Premier Radio Networks. 

The 20-year-old Alharbi was injured in the April 15 bombings, questioned as a witness, and consented to a search of his apartment. 

Authorities quickly determined that Alharbi, a Saudi national of Middle Eastern descent, had no involvement in the attacks. 

But Beck “repeatedly and falsely” identified Alharbi as an active participant in the bombings, the suit claims. 

The lawsuit also claims Beck questioned the motives of federal authorities who declined to arrest or detain the college student, reported Courthouse News. 

“Let me just say this to those at the highest echelons of government,” Beck said April 21, according to World Net Daily. “We know who this Saudi national is, and it is in your best interest and the best interest of integrity and trust for the people of United States of America – it’s best coming from you, not coming from a news organization. It’s best coming from you. You have until (April 22). We have information on who this man is, (and) we know he is a very bad, bad, bad man.”

I remember the character assassination that Beck was promoting in those days right after the bombing. It was brutal, and he would NOT let it go.

Even after this guy was cleared by investigators, Beck kept saying that he had some secret evidence that would convict this guy.

Guess what? He didn't.

Good for this Abdulrahman Alharbi guy for holding him accountable.

Jahar Tsarnaev: Rolling Stone cover heartthrob or dangerous terrorist?

This is the cover that is causing Twitter to go crazy today and attracting outrage from both the Left and the Right, Mostly the Right.

Much of the anger has been focused on the fact that Tsarnaev looks TOO attractive on the cover, and some have compared his cover to the one done for Jim Morrison of "The Doors."

However in my opinion it does not even reach the level of "controversy" when it comes to Rolling Stone covers.

After all this is a magazine that once had THIS image on its cover.

Not to mention this one:

And as for glamorizing hateful figures Rolling Stone would be hard pressed to beat this one:

Comparatively speaking it is a little difficult to get TOO worked up.

After all the idea is to attract interest and if this kerfuffle is any indication they have certainly done that.

Here is is a taste of what the actual article reveals: 

• As Jahar lay in the boat, surrounded by SWAT teams and police, FBI negotiators mentioned a public plea for his surrender from his former wrestling coach. An agent on the scene later told the coach that it could have been this name from the past – and the memory of that past – both of which were invoked during the standoff, that convinced Jahar to ultimately give up. 

• Around 2008, Jahar’s older brother Tamerlan confided to his mother that he felt like "two people" were inside him. She confided this to a close friend who felt he might need a psychiatrist, but Zubeidat believed that religion would be the cure for her son’s inner demons and growing mental instability, and pushed him deeper into Islam. 

• Jahar never spoke about 9/11. Once, though, he let slip to a high school friend that he thought the terrorist attacks could be justified, and pointed to US policies towards Muslim countries and US drone strikes and other attacks as his rationale. 

As a parent who was shocked to learn that my daughter not only believed that Jahar Tsarnaev had died along with this brother back in April, but who also believed that there was a government conspiracy involved, I am interested in getting more facts to help me understand exactly what did happen and how the United States can keep it from happening again.

(And yes I recognize that part of keeping that from happening again might be exactly the type of program the details of which are currently in Edward Snowden's possession in a Moscow airport.)

So ultimately I think the fuss over the photo is much ado about not very much. If the point was to attract attention and readers, Rolling Stone did just that. If the point was to turn Tsarnaev into a terrorist version of a rock god I think that is only something we could determine after reading the article. But I somehow doubt it.

Innocent men fingered by the New York Post as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing file suit.

Courtesy of The Boston Globe:  

A Massachusetts teenager and his 24-year-old friend filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Post Wednesday in Boston, accusing the tabloid of falsely portraying them as suspects in the deadly Marathon bombings by plastering their photograph on the front page under the headline, “Bag Men.” 

The lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court said the photographs and articles published three days after the bombings made it appear that FBI agents were pursuing Salaheddin Barhoum and Yassine Zaimi, avid runners watching the Marathon. That evening, authorities released photographs of the suspected bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. 

In the complaint, lawyers for Barhoum, a 16-year-old Revere High School student, and Zaimi, a part-time college student from Malden who also works full time, accused the New York Post of libel, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. They are seeking damages, including unspecified monetary compensation. 

“The front page would lead a reasonable reader to believe that plaintiffs had bombs in their bags, that they were involved in causing the Boston Marathon bombing,” according to the court complaint. The lawsuit asserts the newspaper subjected the friends to “scorn, hatred, ridicule, or contempt in the minds of a considerable and respectable segment of the community.”

Good for them!

Now if only that Saudi national will sue Glenn Beck for accusing HIM of being the actual bomber, then perhaps we can send a message to certain "news" organizations that flying off the handle with bad intelligence has dangerous, and expensive, consequences.

Apparently the FBI and Homeland Security were too focused on the Occupy movement to prevent the Boston Marathon bombing.

Courtesy of Truthout:  

The ACLU was able to obtain documents of intelligence reports filed in 2011. They reveal that on September 30, the DHS-funded Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or BRIC, was collecting information about an upcoming Occupy Boston rally in Dewey Square, just two days after Russia sent them the second warning about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis recently told Congress he “would have liked to know” that there was a potential extremist with violent intentions living in his city, and accused BRIC of failing to properly inform local law enforcement about a possible terrorist threat. 

The DHS, which spent billions of dollars on fusion centers like BRIC, has been accused of gathering “crap intelligence” and using federal anti-terrorism programs and resources to spy on nonviolent protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, rather than stopping terrorists. When they should have been investigating Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s extremist ties, the intelligence arm of the Boston Police Department was busy collecting information on peaceful antiwar activists from Code PINK and Veterans for Peace. That information was assembled in dossiers categorized under “Criminal Act,” “Extremists,” “Civil Disturbance,” and the more disturbing “HomeSec- Domestic.” 

In fact, monitoring the Occupy movement became DHS’ key focus in October of 2011, when the movement’s power and influence was at its peak. Among the topics included in the DHS’ daily intelligence briefing was “peaceful activist demonstrations.” That section was included in the same briefings as “significant criminal activity” and potential domestic terrorist acts.

Yes, well I think we can ALL see how a group dedicated to protesting the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process in this country would warrant that kind of intense scrutiny from our government, while a warning about a potential terrorist barely registers on their radar.

One has to wonder if Obama has done enough to rid of DHS of the Bush administration influences, or if they are now working from his playbook.

Perhaps we have NO real hope of severing the control big business has over government in this country until the day that we see the swearing in of one President Elizabeth Warren.

Rachel Maddow does an amazing job of laying out the various Right Wing conspiracy theories and how Benghazi fits right in with them.

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I swear NOBODY does a better job with this kind of thing than Rachel Maddow.

Her research abilities and ability to lay the facts out so that they are easy to understand and absorb is second to none.

Essentially her point, and one that has been made here and other places as well, is that the Republican party is like a mental hospital where the inmates have now taken over the facility. And in my opinion, the GOP either needs to regain control, or burn the place down and start all over.

The Daily Show sets their sights on the ridiculously bad coverage of the Boston marathon bombing. CNN essentially writes half of the bit for them.

Click image to play video

Hey do YOU remember when CNN was the most respected name in cable news?

Yeah me either!

Having to be shooed away by the police so that your reporters don't get shot while they try and apprehend the suspect is a new low for ANY cable news network.

"Hey you know that arrest you're trying to report on? Yeah we can't do it because you re in the damn way!"

Update: I took out the embed because apparently THAT is why Google keeps identifying malware on my blog.

Final moments of the capture of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Massachusetts State Police released a video showing some of the final moments of the capture of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Friday, using thermal imaging cameras, robotics and flash bang grenades.

If you are like me you have had a lot of questions about this arrest, and have heard a lot of misinformation.

This does not answer ALL of the questions, but it answers some of them.

The Taiwanese animators mock the American media coverage of the Marathon bombings.

Ouch that's going to leave a mark!

Still, they're not wrong.

Let's end the day with a soothing Weekly Address from President Obama.

I swear NOBODY makes me feel more proud to be an American than this man.

With the possible exception of Uncle Ruslan Tsarni of course.

CNN describes Watertown. Massachusetts during police lock down thusly: “It’s as Though a Bomb Had Dropped Somewhere” Doh!

Courtesy of Slate:

At 5:38 p.m. ET, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer threw it to his colleague Susan Candiotti to ask her to describe the scene in Watertown, Mass. Her explanation was a bit on the nose.

Seriously, WTF?

You know this bombing at the Boston Marathon was a truly horrible event, but if anything could be described as a positive, it is that it REALLY helped to identify exactly which news outlets could be trusted and which ones could not.

While CNN was running around saying "We see brown people," and Fox News was desperately trying to drive home the point that the suspects were Muslim, and not, repeat NOT, Christians, MSNBC was carrying the banner of journalistic integrity.

It was Pete Williams who put the brakes on when everybody was reporting that the suspects were already in custody, and was the first to report that suspect number two was hiding in a boat.

In fact his consistently careful and accurate reporting led to Kelly O'Donnell tweeting the following:

Can we just make @petewilliamsnbc "employee of the month" now in our DC bureau at @nbcnews ??
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) April 19, 2013

I think at one point EVERYTHING that NBC or MSNBC thought they knew about the situation was being run past Williams first for his seal of approval before being reported to the public.

A policy that I think might just serve them well in the future.

Especially since the Right Wing is absolutely convinced that the entire Boston police department, FBI, Homeland Security, and White House have conspired to fool the American people into believing that that these two people were the suspects.

When, according to them, the Saudi National, that was once a suspect and now cleared, was the actual perpetrator of the horrific event.

In fact Glenn Beck is so convinced that he has the goods he is threatening the United States government with an expose on Monday.

All I can say is that I am VERY glad that I am an ardent viewer of MSNBC, and will continue to be a loyal viewer going forward.

And yes I certainly DO hope that Pete Williams gets employee of the year, as well as the many other accolades that he clearly deserves.

Breaking! Suspect number two is alive and in custody. Update!

The suspect is in custody and he is alive.
— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) April 20, 2013

Finally!

Update: Courtesy of USA Today: 

Police cornered and captured Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Friday night. 

The Boston Police Department arrested the 19-year-old at about 8:45 p.m., after finding him holed up in a boat stored in the backyard of a Watertown residence. He was led to an ambulance and driven away from the scene. 

Tsarnaev's capture came two hours after Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick ended a Boston-area lockdown early Friday evening after a massive, day-long search of suburban Watertown, which seemingly failed to flush out the teenager.

Here is a picture of the boat the suspect was found hiding in.

They at first thought he was dead, but then he raised his head and they called in the police negotiator.

It is good he is alive. There is much that we need to know.

Update 2: Believe it or not Lindsey Graham wants this suspects civil rights to be ignored.

If captured, I hope Administration will at least consider holding the Boston suspect as enemy combatant for intelligence gathering purposes.
— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) April 19, 2013

Come to think of it I have NO problem believing that Graham did not learn anything from the criminal activity of the Bush administration.

Update 3: The President's speech after the final suspect was taken into custody. 

After so much violence and devastation the last few days perhaps it is time for all of us to take this young boy's message to heart.

One Boston Marathon bombing suspect dead, the other still at large after massive shootout. Update!

Suspect on left has been killed, suspect on the right, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, remains at large.

Courtesy of ABC News:

One suspect in this week's deadly Boston Marathon bombing was killed after a police shootout, and a second suspect, identified by officials as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, remains at large and the subject of a manhunt, police said early this morning. 

Tsarnaev, the man the FBI identified Thursday only as Suspect 2 in photos related to the marathon bombing investigation, is on the loose and is armed and dangerous, police said. He is the target of an "active search by tactical teams." 

"We believe this is a terrorist, we believe this is a man that's come here to kill people," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said in a brief news conference this morning. T

he first suspect was killed after exchanging gunfire with police officers, during which multiple explosive devices were detonated, police said. Officials at Beth Israel Hospital reported they received one patient who later died, but would not confirm it was the first suspect.

The first suspect had an IED strapped to his body, and reportedly was run over.

I am watching Morning Joe right now and the video of the police shootout is unbelievable.

I will update this post as new information comes in.

Update: This from The Boston Globe:

Police are warning residents in East Watertown to stay in their homes, and not to answer the door unless they see a uniformed police officer outside. They said drivers should not stop in the area roughly bounded by Dexter, Laurel, and Arsenal streets. 

According to Alben, the night’s outbreak of violence began when police received reports of a robbery of a convenience store in Kendall Square near MIT. A few minutes later, an MIT police officer, who has not been identified, was shot multiple times while in his cruiser at Main and Vassar streets, near Building 32, better known as the renowned Stata Center on the MIT campus. 

The officer was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital. A short time later, two men carjacked a Mercedes SUV at gunpoint, and the owner of that car was able to flee at a gas station on Memorial Drive. 

The SUV proceeded out Memorial Drive toward Watertown followed by a long train of police vehicles in pursuit. At one point during the pursuit, the two suspects opened fire on Watertown police and a Transit Police officer, who was shot and who remains in critical condition at a Boston-area hospital this morning. 

During the gunfight, the man known as Marathon suspect No. 1 was wounded and was taken into custody. This morning, Dr. Richard Wolfe said the man was brought to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center emergency room about 1:10 a.m. with multiple traumatic injuries. “It was more than gunshot wounds,’’ Wolfe told reporters about 5:30 a.m. today. 

“It was a combination of injuries. We believe a combination of of blasts, multiple gunshot wounds.”

Reports are that the suspects have been in America since 2001 and 2003. (The older brother became a permanent resident in 2007.)

Update 2: Here is video of the firefight between the suspects and police.

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It sounds like a war zone.

 Update 3: MSNBC has a pretty good rundown of what we know so far.

Update 4: The suspects are brothers, the other brother's name is Tamerlan Tsarnaev, here is information about his Facebook page.

They are indeed Islamic, but at least one of them is from Chechen (Fixed).

Update 5: Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick held a press conference urging residents to "shelter in place:"   

“We’ve had a very rapidly developing situation over the course of the night,” Patrick began. “Suspect one is dead. Suspect two is on the run.” 

“We have an MBTA officer who is seriously wounded and he’s in surgery right now,” Patrick added. “We have an MIT security office who has been killed.” 

He said that the Boston transit service has been suspended in order to facilitate a massive and ongoing manhunt. “We’ve got every assed that we can possibly muster on the ground right now,” Patrick said. He asked for the public’s assistance to help them keep safe. 

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said that the “shelter in place” request from police to the public has been extended to the entire city of Boston.

Our hearts go out to the citizens of Boston right now, and hope that everybody remains safe.

Update 6: This is what greeted one resident of Watertown this morning. Seen outside her window.

Those are SWAT members surrounding a home in Watertown.

Update 7: According to Pete Williams the police have the other suspect's location.

.@petewilliamsnbc: Police believe they know where the surviving #BostonMarathon suspect brother is located. on.msnbc.com/Z3I2ON
— msnbc (@msnbc) April 19, 2013

However there has also been a THIRD person taken into custody as well. There may be more people involved than previously believed.

Update 8: Here is a much better photograph of the suspect still at large.

Update 9: A photo to chill the blood.

Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev strolls behind bombing victim Martin Richard minutes before explosion.

Here are the suspects identified by the FBI in the Boston Marathon bombing. Update!

I just finished watching the news conference, and above is the video they provided and the images we need to exam can be found here.

The FBI was adamant that only THESE photographs should be used to help identify the suspects and that all other photographs should be considered suspect.

I do not want to read too much into these, but one thing I will point out is that they are certainly NOT the brown skinned people that John King identified on CNN.

Update: Here are the suspects for those having trouble accessing the FBI page.

Update 2: If you do recognize them please call 1-800- CALL FBI (225-5324)

Update 3: It looks like the folks on Reddit may have already identified the hat worn by one of the suspects. 

Look familiar?

Update  4: Here is link to all of the photos.

If I were these guys I would be crapping myself right about now.

President Obama's Boston Memorial Address.

The sound is not too good, but the message is very powerful.

From the transcript:  

That’s the message we send to those who carried this out and anyone who would do harm to our people. Yes, we will find you. And, yes, you will face justice. (Applause.) We will find you. We will hold you accountable. But more than that; our fidelity to our way of life -- to our free and open society -- will only grow stronger. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but one of power and love and self-discipline. 

Like Bill Iffrig, 78 years old -- the runner in the orange tank top who we all saw get knocked down by the blast -- we may be momentarily knocked off our feet, but we’ll pick ourselves up. We’ll keep going. We will finish the race. (Applause.) In the words of Dick Hoyt, who’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, in 31 Boston Marathons -- “We can’t let something like this stop us.” (Applause.) This doesn’t stop us. (Applause.) 

And that’s what you’ve taught us, Boston. That’s what you’ve reminded us -- to push on. To persevere. To not grow weary. To not get faint. Even when it hurts. Even when our heart aches. We summon the strength that maybe we didn’t even know we had, and we carry on. We finish the race. (Applause.) We finish the race. (Applause.) 

And we do that because of who we are. And we do that because we know that somewhere around the bend a stranger has a cup of water. Around the bend, somebody is there to boost our spirits. On that toughest mile, just when we think that we’ve hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. We know that. (Applause.) And that’s what the perpetrators of such senseless violence -- these small, stunted individuals who would destroy instead of build, and think somehow that makes them important -- that’s what they don’t understand. Our faith in each other, our love for each other, our love for country, our common creed that cuts across whatever superficial differences there may be -- that is our power. That’s our strength. 

That’s why a bomb can’t beat us. That’s why we don’t hunker down. That’s why we don’t cower in fear. We carry on. We race. We strive. We build, and we work, and we love -- and we raise our kids to do the same. And we come together to celebrate life, and to walk our cities, and to cheer for our teams. When the Sox and Celtics and Patriots or Bruins are champions again -- to the chagrin of New York and Chicago fans -- (laughter) -- the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down Boylston Street. (Applause.) 

And this time next year, on the third Monday in April, the world will return to this great American city to run harder than ever, and to cheer even louder, for the 118th Boston Marathon. (Applause.) Bet on it. (Applause.)

I think that this is AT LEAST as powerful of a message as the one that George W. Bush delivered while standing in the rubble of the twin towers in 2001.

What's more, when THIS President says we will bring these people to justice, I believe him!

Remember this guy? Well wait until you hear his incredible, and heart wrenching story.

Courtesy of some guy on Imgur:  

This is Carlos Arredondo, a 52-year-old Costa Rican immigrant. He was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday with his wife , waiting for the last of the National Guard runners. They were representing Run for the Fallen Maine, an organization established to honor Marines who have been killed since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One of those runners had dedicated the race to Mr Arredondo's son.

Immediately after the explosion, Mr Arredondo vaulted a fence to help the wounded many of whom had lost limbs, and used his clothes and towels to stanch victims' bleeding.

Mr Arredondo (center) was seen pulling debris and fencing away from the bloody victims, clearing the way for emergency personnel to tend to their wounds.

Mr Arredondo helped one victim, now identified as Jeff Bauman Jr., who was missing both his legs and drenched in blood, into a wheelchair that race medical staff had brought and said he kept talking to the man so he wouldn't lose consciousness. 'I kept talking to him. I kept saying, "Stay with me, stay with me,"' Mr Arredondo, who is a member of the Red Cross disaster team, told Maine Today. Mr. Bauman is now in stable condition.

Believe it or not that is only a part of the heroism of this incredible man.

To read the rest please click the link at the top.

Once you have finished you might want to click here and sign the petition urging the President to give this man the Presidential Citizens Medal for the bravery he demonstrated after those terrible blasts.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty upset about my country, but with citizens like this man among us I continue to have hope for our future.