EDITORIAL: No place to hide from haters of liberty

Once again, psychopath have proven how vulnerable we are. San Bernadino, California, population 214,000, while not the last place on Earth you would expect to see a terrorist attack, suffered one that took 14 lives and injured another 21 Wednesday at a Christmas party for the social service agency where one of the attackers worked. All of the speculation that this wasn't a terrorist attack and was a spontaneous event brought on by a disagreement at the party has to be thrown out the window.

Aside from the weapons fired during the massacre, law enforcement personnel found, according to The New York Times, more than a dozen pipe bombs with material to manufacture more, thousands of rounds of ammo at the assailants' home, and there was an explosive device that malfunctioned at the scene of the crime. We may never know the true motive behind their actions because the married couple was killed by police in the aftermath of their heinous act.

Was there any clue? Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, had a 6-month-old daughter and seemingly everything to live for. Farook's family is at a loss to understand his actions. In an open society, this kind of an attack is impossible to predict or prevent. While we would like to think we have the technology to do all things, we don't. All of the weapons used in this attack were obtained legally. The wherewithal to build pipe bombs is at the fingertips of anyone with a computer and an Internet connection.

While we can't sit back and do nothing, we do have to be aware and remember the words of one of our founders, Ben Franklin, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "EDITORIAL: No place to hide from haters of liberty ."