After San Bernardino, America Shrugs

SAN DIEGO -- After the terrorist attacks in Paris, I lamented that Americans were not a serious people even though these are -- all over the world -- very serious times.

You could almost give our countrymen the benefit of the doubt because the atrocity occurred so far away. A sentiment you heard often was that Americans ought to let the French respond since it was their country that was attacked. Surely, if Americans were attacked at home, we'd all get serious in a hurry.

Now, after seeing the public's response to a terrorist attack in San Bernardino that killed 14 people and left 21 injured, I'm sorry to report that Americans are no more serious about how to respond to a tragedy that occurs in their backyard than they are to one that happens overseas.

When someone spills the blood of their comrades on their soil, people in other countries gain resolve. Americans lose focus.

While others might change strategy, we change the subject. We're distracted and disinterested. We're trapped in our narcissistic bubbles where we keep up with the Kardashians, play fantasy football, and await the new "Star Wars" movie.

And then there are the holidays. I mean, really, who has time to worry about the global threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism when there are Christmas trees to decorate, cookies to bake, and presents to buy? Can we reschedule?

Of course, some of the least focused people are politicians.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, who traveled to Paris after the attacks for talks on more urgent matters like climate change, glibly blamed the tragedy back home on the lax gun control laws of neighboring states.

"California has some of the toughest gun-control laws of any state," Brown said. "And Nevada and Arizona are wide open, so that's a gigantic back door through which any terrorist can walk."

The Republican governors of both Nevada and Arizona might say the same thing about California's immigration policies -- from driver's licenses to sanctuary cities -- providing a "gigantic back door" for illegal immigrants to enter their states. We would dismiss those comments as ridiculous, and we should do the same with what Brown said.

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