We are ok. She-crab and He-crab (who will henceforth be known as Pineapple Princess & Little Coconut) were in Rehoboth Beach at the time of the London bombings. In all the punditry and speeches that came out of that tragic day, none struck as strong a cord as a speceh by the mayor of London, Ken Livingston. Here's the transcript:
I have no doubt whatsoever
that this is a terrorist attack. We did hope in the first few minutes after
hearing about the events on the Underground that it might simply be a
maintenance tragedy. That was not the case. I have been able to stay in touch
through the very excellent communications that were established for the
eventuality that I might be out of the city at the time of a terrorist attack
and they have worked with remarkable effectiveness. I will be in continual
contact until I am back in London.
I want to say one thing
specifically to the world today. This was not a terrorist attack against the
mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers. It
was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and
Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old. It was an indiscriminate attempt to
slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, for class, for religion,
or whatever.
That isn't an ideology, it
isn't even a perverted faith -- it is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass
murder and we know what the objective is. They seek to divide Londoners. They
seek to turn Londoners against each other. I said yesterday to the International
Olympic Committee that the city of London is the greatest in the world, because
everybody lives side by side in harmony.
Londoners will not be
divided by this cowardly attack. They will stand together in solidarity
alongside those who have been injured and those who have been bereaved and that
is why I'm proud to be the mayor of that city.
Finally, I wish to speak
directly to those who came to London today to take life.
I know that you personally
do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others -- that is why you
are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term
objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
In the days that follow
look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations
and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of
Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners
and to fulfill their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to
London, as so many have come before, because they come to be free, they come to
live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you
because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you
do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom
is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you
do, however many you kill, you will fail.
