Our terror envy

Rob Bellinger ponders last week's Phoenix front page o' doom (in which the immolation of the entire waterfront at the hands of a jihadi blowing up an LNG tanker is gleefully described) and other indications of our terrorism obsession and he wonders:

... As Boston tries to find its terror target significance, I have to wonder: is it envy or is it really just guilt? Perhaps a mix of both.

Ed. note: At least when it comes to the Phoenix, Rob underestimates the fact that some reporters and editors just LOVE working on stories about things that go boom. In college, I did a similar cover story analyzing in great detail what would happen should a cement truck lose its brakes on the hill down to the train tracks that bisected the campus just as a freight train carrying deadly chemicals was speeding through the crossing - complete with a giant red bullseye map showing exactly which parts of the campus would be turned into dead zones. Yes, it's been downhill for me ever since.