So what will the repercussions of the the attacks in Paris be?

[herding cats]

57. I suspect there will be a "war" declaration.

I hope I'm wrong, but so far the rhetoric is leaning that way, and as normally is the case in these things, cooler minds don't often prevail once the leaders have drawn a line in the sand. Don't give up hope yet, though. I've become pessimistic on such things and that's not to suggest everyone should follow my example.
We shall see, and time will tell.

Tonight my heat is heavy for many reasons, and I'm torn between anger for that which could have been prevented, and terror at the beating of the new war drums.

So many preventable situations have lead us to where we are now. I'm looking back tonight to the idealistic young person I was in 2001 who knew in her heart the attack in the US would be used to begin a war in Iraq, yes, from day one, and trying to compare her to the person I am today. It's hard to see the similarities at times, and in other moments all too easy to see me as that person.

Oh, and as an aside, this could be a boon for the Republicans in 2016 if they play their cards right. A scared population is a submissive population, which plays into their hands. That I'm even considering such things at a time like this shows how far I'm removed from the still idealistic girl I was in 2001.

We're all in this together. Which I think is something we need to be reminding ourselves of more often in the coming days.