I happened to be in the Boston area when the bombs went off at finish line of the marathon. I was with my son visiting colleges in the suburbs when my sister called me in a state of distress. Her husband is a Boston Police captain who is normally stationed at the finish line on Patriots Day. Thankfully, this year he was asked to be elsewhere in the city at that fateful moment.

Still, he rushed to Boylston Street, along with just about every fellow police officer who could be found. The captain did not return home until the next morning, at which point he caught a few hours of sleep and went back to work. All Boston police were told they would be working 12-hour shifts until further notice. The work of medical professionals, along with local, state and federal law enforcement authorities was nothing short of spectacular — to say nothing of brave and heroic.

I followed the news on social media for the next several days. I was astonished at how quickly some people politicized the event. There were lefties on Twitter who were pushing the narrative that the bombing must have been the work of an NRA-inspired right-wing militia goon.

As Mark Steyn reported, NPR was also pushing this narrative.

“The thinking, as we have been reporting, is that this is a domestic extremist attack,” declared Dina Temple-Raston, NPR’s “counterterrorism correspondent.” “Officials are leaning that way largely because of the timing of the attack. April is a big month for anti-government and right-wing individuals. There’s the Columbine anniversary, there’s Hitler’s birthday, there’s the Oklahoma City bombing, the assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.”

Others, such as Salon’s David Sirota, were openly rooting for the suspect(s) to be from white American.

I also saw right-wingers, many of whom are now gloating over the faulty logic of Temple-Raston and Sirota, who were unjustifiably sure that this act was the handiwork of a Muslim extremist from an overseas terrorist network. As is so often the case, the truth is somewhere in between.

The alleged perps were naturalized Americans. They were also Caucasians in the literal sense of the word since they were native to the Caucasus region. However, they were Muslims who had likely been radicalized while living in the U.S. But so far this incident does not appear to be the result of an extensive and coordinated 9/11-style operation.

The question on everyone’s mind is whether this is the beginning of smaller radical-Islam-inspired terror attacks on the U.S. I’ve always thought the best way al Qaeda and its affiliates could make Americans afraid was not through spectacular attacks such as 9/11. After all, folks living outside the major cities and landmarks never really felt threatened by such grandiosity.

But more frequent — and smaller — targeted attacks against citizens in the Heartland would set everyone’s teeth on edge. Send a Hamas-style suicide bomber into a crowded Kiwanis Club tent on the 4th of July in Iowa and no one in this country will feel safe. The effect would be to instill terror in every American.

Thankfully, the terrorist groups aren’t smart enough to figure that out — yet.

A look at the culture of mediocrity that pervades teacher education programs; insight into the efforts of the major parties in Hartford to trample on the rights of minor parties; and an examination of leadership in the post-Newtown era.

A look at the possibility of deregulating the liquor industry in Connecticut; the powerful special interests behind the opposition to a proposed nursing home for convicts in Rocky Hill; and an examination of the recent imbroglio involving lobbying efforts at the Capitol and the powerhouse law firm of Brown Rudnick.

The piece has been twinned up with my colleague Susan Bigelow’s review of Roku, which at $50 is half the price of ATV. My conclusion: if you’re very much a part of the Apple ecosystem, ATV is worth the price.

I’ve done a fair amount of radio over the years, but this is the first time I’ve ever been in the studios of a large-audience 50,000-watt network-affiliated operation. I’ve been a regular at very small shops here in the Northwest Corner that often have one or two people running the station.

At WTIC’s studios nestled in a vast office park in Farmington, there were two producers on the other side of the glass, a news and sports anchor in other parts of the building, reporters out in the field, traffic guys up in their choppers and receptionists to greet visitors. In other words, a far cry from Robinhood Radio, WAPJ and the old Q-103. But true to my roots, I got in a brief backhanded plug for Robinhood Radio’s emperor when Rowland asked if anyone ever made fun of my name.

First of all, I give Rowland a lot of credit for having me on for two hours. I’ve written some not-so-kind things about him and his past ethical problems. Yet we do have a lot in common. No, I’ve never done time. But we did find ourselves in agreement on a host of issues, ranging from the current budget machinations at the Capitol to gun control to Gov. Malloy’s governing style.

Indeed, we agreed so often that I wondered if we were boring our audience. After all, one of the basic tenets of talk radio and cable news is that you should keep agreement to a minimum. However, we both had fun and, as Rowland assured me off the air, sparks certainly flew when we started talking about gun control.

I think it was Second-Amendment absolutist Ralph from Windsor who took me to task for my position on the banning of assault weapons. So I peppered him with questions: What about machine guns? How about tanks and nuclear weapons? He then accused me of throwing up “straw-man” arguments, when in reality I was just looking for clarity.

At any rate, Rowland is a charming and persistent guy. You have to be to rise to the upper reaches of the political hierarchy, then sink to the depths of serving a year in a federal prison. And then get up and dust yourself off to make a comeback.

Rowland also had many kind things to say about CT News Junkie, where I ply my trade as a weekly columnist. Of course, there we are also in agreement.

P.S. So far, it does not look like WTIC has posted a podcast or any highlights from my appearance. If and when they do, I will update this post with a link.

What exactly is Gov. Malloy’s strategy for getting a budget passed in the General Assembly? Some leaders adopt a policy of “divide and conquer.” For the interminably klutzy Malloy, it’s “Divide And Offend.”

In the second piece, former Sen. Chris Dodd’s position as chief Hollywood lobbyist puts him in an awkward place in the wake of the Newtown massacre. Plus in the same column, First-term Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty makes a rookie mistake with her off-the-record meetings with public officials about gun violence.

The first one takes a look at the future employment of two failed candidates for Connecticut’s fifth congressional seat last year. Democrat Chris Donovan and Republican Andrew Roraback are strong prospects for new jobs. One sounds like a good fit; the other could be a disaster.

The second one suggests lifting the absurd requirement that municipalities and school districts advertise in newspapers. I say eliminate this vestige of crony capitalism, or at least make it voluntary. Let towns put legal notices on their websites instead. It could save them millions of dollars a year but would not, as newspaper publishers claim, endanger the public’s right to know.

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Click here for my latest for CT News Junkie.

Should Connecticut reinstate tolls on its major roadways? What with declining revenues in so many areas, a tolls program, with the inevitable creation of some sort of toll authority with its six-figure managers, doesn’t strike me as a very efficient way to solve the long-term economic problems the state faces.

Heck, if it came down to it, I’d rather pay a higher gas tax than hire hundreds of more state workers who can retire after only 25 years on the job, the last three loaded with overtime to increase the payout.

Of course, the real solution would be to enact policies that bring companies and workers back to Connecticut. Is that too much to ask?

For reasons I will explain later in this post, these measures are absurd overreactions. Now, if you want to ban my preferred method of drinking water, I want to ban your preferred companion. That might happen in New Zealand, where respected economist Gareth Morgan has made the case that domestic cats “are endangering the country’s rich avian diversity.”

Your average house cat, Morgan tells us, is a member of a globally invasive species and is no better than “a friendly neighborhood serial killer.” Outdoor felines are estimated to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds a year. A large percentage of the dead are either ground nesters or baby fledglings. Often, we are told, the mischievous felines aren’t even hungry. They just kill the birds for sport.

Back in the day, cats were highly desirable to have on the family farm or even in your home to hold the mice population in check. But industrial farms and newer homes have made that role all but obsolete. And the domestication of cats has resulted in a severe lack of natural predators. Chances are the only way your house cat is going to die is either of old age or from being eaten by … another cat.

You see where I’m going with this? I don’t like cats. They’re bad for the environment and you shouldn’t have one. So let’s forbid the sale and ownership of the voracious little fiends. Sound a little crazy? So is wanting to ban bottled water.

The rationale for the prohibition of the sale of single-use water bottles (Poland Spring et al) is that the transportation of all that water is a waste of fuel since we could all just fill up reusable bottles with tap water. In other words, you don’t “need” Dasani, so stop drinking it.

Some of the beverage police also say it’s wasteful to put all those plastic bottles into landfills. But you could make that case for soda pop as well. You don’t need Dr. Pepper. The cans are a waste of resources. Dr. Pepper makes you fat. You should be filling up a reusable with tap water and drinking that, so ban Dr. Pepper, too. Why do they pick on water? Because it’s the low-hanging fruit?

Like soda cans, single-use water bottles are fully recyclable. But unlike soda cans, those water bottles aren’t always subject to the five-cent deposit — though they are in Connecticut and Maine. Even in states where there is no deposit, Poland Spring bottles should not wind up in the solid waste stream. So again, they are no different from soda pop bottles and cans.

Finally, there are the political motives of some of those who want take away my Saratoga Spring. Here’s the comment of a recent  UVM graduate, Mikayla McDonald:

Bottled water is a symbol of our culture’s obsession with commodifying things that should be public trust resources.

In other words, water should be free? Tell that to the corporations and municipalities that invest billions in infrastructure to bring water to your tap. Or to the companies and workers who manufacture household wells or generate electricity.

Oh, how I wish I were a college student with enough spare time to worry about banning the sale of things I don’t like because I think they should be free.

And I can tell you one thing, Ms. McDonald. If you want to take away my Aquafina, you have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.

If confirmed, Andrew McDonald would be the first openly gay justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court. At this point, only fringe groups like the Family Institute of Connecticut are opposing him on those grounds.

Other opponents point to a controversial bill about the Catholic church he introduced when he was a state legislator. Yes, he made a mistake for which he has apologized. McDonald is otherwise highly qualified. Confirm him, then balance the budget, please.