OPINION — Editorial

Slaughter of innocents

The targeting of young girls

For those gentle readers of a certain age, Ariana Grande is as familiar as Stevie Nicks or Frank Sinatra are to other generations. For others, let's say Miss Ariana is a pop star of some degree. One of the biggest. Ask a teenager.

She first came to our attention in some silly Nickelodeon series that the kids and tweens watched in morning reruns. If the adults didn't get to the TV in time, the Weather Channel just had to wait. Until Sam & Cat fixed whatever silly problem they had that half-hour. The series was so poorly written it was hard to watch, or even listen to from the kitchen. But that's TV.

Then Ariana Grande put out an album, and it debuted at No. 1. So did her second album. You see where we're going. She's capital-B Big.

On Monday night, she put out a statement on Twitter, saying she was "so, so sorry."

Young lady, this was not your fault.


The terrorists, once again trying to prove how brave they are, targeted a bunch of children, mostly girls, at a Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on Monday night. The suicide bomber knew what he was doing. He didn't try to get into the concert with a backpack full of explosives. That would have caused trouble at the gate. Instead, police say he waited until the concert was over, then as young people--and a few parents--were streaming out, he squeezed into the crowd and triggered himself.

As of this writing, 22 people were killed, scores more wounded. Some parents were still sitting at home, praying their kid would walk through the door any minute, but probably knowing otherwise.

ISIS has taken responsibility for the action, but who knows. ISIS will take responsibility for anything. Remember, as the priest said in The Exorcist, the devil is a liar. But maybe the person who carried out the attack was at least inspired by ISIS. Again, who knows. We hope Scotland Yard eventually knows. And can point the rest of us toward the responsible parties.

On Tuesday afternoon, pictures of the little girls started making the rounds on the Internet. There was 8-year-old Saffie. Who probably thought going to an Ariana Grande concert was the best thing in the world. Georgina Callander, 18, even had a picture taken with Ariana at one point. Photographs from England showed young girls running from the chaos, some wearing those kitty ears on top of their heads--a fad among that particular age group and gender.

Say what you will about the president of the United States, he knows how to attack. When he goes on the offensive in a good cause (see Syria), he's a natural. He called on all civilized nations of the world to unite and "obliterate this evil ideology." What else can you call it? This isn't a matter of culture or lifestyle or custom. There's a word for targeting little girls for bloody death: evil. As the Book says, he still goes to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it, just as he did in the time of Job.

The suicide bomber had to get the ammo from somewhere. You don't sew suicide vests or backpacks or shrapnel in your apartment. We trust the authorities are already running down leads.

Where will they end up? Again, who knows at this point. But this slaughter of the innocents will not go without an answer. It cannot.

Editorial on 05/25/2017

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