The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘We Got Him’

Posted on | April 20, 2013 | 36 Comments

“We got him” — that’s what they told Boston Mayor Thomas Menino after Dzhokar Tsarnaev was apprehended — alive — Friday night, ending a weeklong manhunt that those of us who followed it are unlikely ever to forget. It was like live-blogging a Die Hard sequel. The minute you thought to yourself, “Well, it can’t get any crazier than this,” it did, but the whole thing was crazy from the very beginning.

Chechen Islamic terrorists bomb the Boston Marathon.

Re-read that sentence. It makes no sense at all.

If you had proposed that as the plot of a novel before Monday, any publisher would have laughed you out of his office: “Chechens? What the hell is a Chechen? And why the hell would these Chechens want to bomb the Boston Marathon?” But . . . they did, didn’t they?

Yeah, two Chechen brothers decided that they’d build bombs out of pressure cookers, packing them with ball bearings as shrapnel to blow people’s legs off. Then these crafty jihadists, who had pulled off the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, implemented their clever escape plan . . . Oh, wait.

They had no clever escape plan. Given a three-day head start, by which time they could have been halfway across the globe, instead the Brothers Tsarnaev fled no further than the suburbs of Boston. As late as Wednesday, “Suspect Number Two” was still hanging out at college, working out in the gym. It wasn’t until after their photos were shown to the world at a press conference that the Brothers Tsarnaev decided to make their move, which involved shooting a campus cop at MIT, then carjacking a Mercedes SUV for a car chase during which they threw bombs out the window at pursuing cops.

Brilliant plan, “Suspect Number One.”

The cops shut down the entire city of Boston — no buses or trains Friday — and told people to stay indoors. Then the cops held a press conference to say, “Go back to your normal lives.” An hour later, “shots fired” and we had a televised standoff that finally ended with “Suspect Number Two” being arrested on a boat in the backyard of a house at 67 Franklin Street, Watertown, which briefly became the world’s most famous address. (Dzhokhar is now being treated at Beth Israel Medical Center, because God has a sense of irony.)

And in that moment of triumph and relief, with one suspect dead and the other in custody, the first instinct of liberals was to wonder if the FBI had read Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his rights.

Meanwhile, the liberals who spent four days hoping and praying and predicting that this heinous atrocity was perpetrated by right-wingers are now busy telling us that we shouldn’t focus on the Islamic beliefs of these Chechen terrorists — disciples of radical imam Feiz Mohammad — or the fact that these guys were immigrants.

Our Moral and Intellectual Superiors are now lecturing us that it’s wrong to speculate about motives.

Maybe I’ll write some more later about these ridiculous douchebags, but for right now, I’m just incredibly tired and grateful that Suspect Number One is a cold heap of decaying flesh and Suspect Number Two is going to face justice for what he did.

We know what he did. And we don’t need any liberal sermons about the need to “respect a basic presumption of innocence.”

What part of “fuck you, David Sirota” is so hard to understand?

 

 

 

PREVIOUSLY:

 


Category: Terrorism

‘We’re Halfway There’

Posted on | April 19, 2013 | 21 Comments

Dan Riehl has the gruesome photo and quotes the Boston Globe:

The image of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, dead and naked on a slab, snapped by an unknown person, was emailed repeatedly by law enforcement officers Friday.
“Suspect 1” was written above the gruesome picture. . . .
“Mission accomplished. We’re halfway there. Justice is served.”

It’s been kind of busy the past 24 hours at Viral Read:

You can click here to follow continuing developments at ViralRead. Sorry for the paucity of blog commentary, but when big news is breaking, covering it is my job. The patience of readers is appreciated, as are your continuing contributions to the Shoe Leather Fund.

 

 


Category: Terrorism

At a Loss for Words Now

Posted on | April 19, 2013 | 27 Comments

Busy day Thursday, for obvious reasons — the press conference, the official suspect photos — and a couple late developments I’ve got to catch up with before I can go to bed. Dan Riehl may have a hot scoop here that I’m not willing to follow now, but I’ll certainly keep watching.

Twice, I tried to compose posts here Thursday, but interruptions kept happening, and then I saw something that really got to me.

That’s evil. Just pure,  cold evil.

UPDATE: Just about the time I planned to go to bed, a shooting near MIT turned into a police standoff near Watertown, Mass., and now it’s being reported that the suspects have been identified and were the subjects of all this police action. It’s now past 4 a.m., and I’m halfway through a pot of coffee, 20 hours into the day.

“Suspect Number Two” is reportedly still at large.

He will eventually burn in hell.

UPDATE: Suspects are reportedly brothers from war-torn Russian province of Chechnya. Well, one of the brothers is from Chenya, the other was — Suspect Number One is dead, and Suspect Number Two is a fugitive.

 

Category: Terrorism

Joe Biden Invents Phony Gun Statistics — Because SHUT UP HATERS, That’s Why!

Posted on | April 18, 2013 | 49 Comments

Stephen Gutowski describes the goofball’s latest anti-gun idiocy:

By combining, apparently in his head and on the fly, the demonstrably inaccurate “80,000 plus people a year” with the debunked claim that 40% of gun sales in America don’t require a background check, Mr. Biden reaches the completely unverifiable claim that “between 30,000 and 50,000 who get a gun who are not qualified. Probably higher.” That claim, the child of two other blatantly inaccurate claims used to forward gun control agendas, is, of course, itself used to forward a gun control agenda.

Facts? Logic? Who needs silly stuff like that, when you’ve got President AngryPants ranting against his opponents as moral inferiors? Besides, there’s always “shameless emotional bullying — political necromancy,” and the familiar “absolute moral authority” of victimhood employed to silence rational policy debate.

Our political, academic and media elites deliberately foment this atmosphere of hysterical emotionalism that empowers, for example, the insufferably smug Lawrence O’Donnell to blame the NRA — ! — for the Boston Marathon bombing.

The decadent creatures who would rule over us are forever “Hijacking crises for fun and profit,” as Ed Morrissey says. Or, more to the point, they are hijacking crises to augment their power and enhance their narcissistic enjoyment of imaginary superiority to the rest of us.

 


Category: Joe Biden, Media Bias, Terrorism

LIVE AT FIVE: 04.18.13

Posted on | April 18, 2013 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Mississippi Man Arrested In Ricin Letters Case

A PG County fireman in a protective suit enters a decontamination are a after tests in the Hyattsville mail handling facility

A PG County fireman in a protective suit enters a decontamination area after tests in the Hyattsville mail handling facility

Suspect arrested at his home in Corinth

Ten States Threaten EPA With Lawsuit
Agency has failed to issue guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions

Senate Shoots Down Gun Control Measures
Bipartisan vote triggers Obama tantrum



POLITICS
Senator Max Baucus Says Obamacare Heading For Train Wreck

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) addresses the Montana state legislature

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) addresses the Montana state legislature

Coauthor of Affordable Care Act rakes HHS Secretary Sebelius over coals for implementation failures


Gosnell Murder Trial: Grisly Testimony Of “Abortions Gone Wrong”


Supremes Nix Mo. Warrantless Blood Tests In DUI Cases

Military Court Ruling Upholds Secrecy In Wikileaks Trial

Boston Bomb Suspects Spotted On Video; No Arrests Yet

Police: Wife Says Disgraced Former JP Killed Kaufman County DA And Wife

SecDef Hagel Cancels Proposed Distinguished Warfare Medal For Drone Pilots, Cyberwarriors



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Crude Falls Below $88 As IMF Lowers Global Growth Outlook: NYMEX $87.99, Brent $99.27
Yen Remains Higher After Japanese Cut Foreign Debt Holdings
Apple Shares Drop Below $400 On Fears Of Slowing Sales
Cerberus’ Feinberg Said To Weigh Bid For Freedom Group
India Rushes To Buy Gold As Prices Fall
EBay Grows 1Q Earnings But Outlook Falls Short
Fed Says “Moderate” Growth Across U.S. Led By Housing
Why Dish Is Playing Hardball For Sprint
Google Will Brick Glasses If Owners Resell Or Loan Them Out
Nintendo’s Fils-Aime: 3DS Performance Very Strong
Provo Utah Is Next City For Ultrafast Google Fiber
Evernote CEO: We Want To Build Hardware
Iceland Gets Anti-Incest App
ACLU Claims Slow Smartphone Updates Are Privacy Threat
Samsung Considering DRAM Chips From Apple Supplier SK Hynix
Hands On With The Toshiba Kirabook: Can Great Hardware Coupled With An Amazing Display Save Windows PCs?
Spain’s Siri-Challenger Sherpa Learns English, Arrives In The U.S.



SPORTS
Anthem Unites Boston Fans

Lakers Back Into Playoffs As Jazz Fall To Grizzlies

Even Without Crosby, Pens Pound Habs 6-4

Royals Snap Braves’ Win Streak

Timbermutts Finally Break San Antonio Losing Streak

Burnett Takes No-No Into Seventh As Bucs Blank Cardinals 5-0

Raptors End Season With Rout Of Celtics 114-90

Nationals Rake For Ross, Thrash Marlins 6-1



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Gwyneth Paltrow Named Most Hated Celebrity In Hollywood

The winner!

The winner!

Beats out Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart in Star magazine poll

Will Smith In “Focus” For Warner Brothers

“Snow White And The Huntsman” Set For 2015 Sequel

Kelly Osbourne: My Body Isn’t Perfect, But I Love It

MSN, XBox Eye “Heroes” Revival

“Friends” Reunion Will Never, Ever Happen Says Co-Creator

260-Pound Teen Sues Rachael Ray Show: They Made Me Take A Hike!

Whoopi Goldberg Doesn’t Care Who Replaces Behar And Hasselbeck On “The View”



FOREIGNERS
Pentagon Sending Additional Troops To Jordan
Iran Condemns Boston Marathon Bombing
Egypt: Mubarak Going Back To Prison From Hospital
Burma Opposition Leader Says Reforms Depend On Military
Bangalore Blast Fake Mobike Number Foxes Cops
Burgeoning IT Sector Aims To Reverse Palestinian Economic Rot
Senate Committee Passes Resolution To Back Israel In War with Iran
Venezuelan Judge Rejects Call For Election Recount



BLOGS & STUFF
ChartGirl: Give It Arrest
Senator Ted Cruz: Assault Weapons Ban Fails, 2nd Amendment Prevails
Lonely Conservative: Manchin-Toomey Amendment Voted Down In The Senate
Twitchy: Obama Lashes Out
Power Line: Are Benghazi Whistle-Blowers Starting To Talk?
Breitbart: Sealed Sanford Divorce Records Leaked To AP
NRO Online: NRCC Withdraws Support For Sanford A Month Before Election
Shark Tank: Move Over ObamaPhone – Say Hola! To The MarcoPhone
PJ Tatler: SPLC Got It Wrong, Police Charge Wife Of Jailed JP With Capital Murder
Just One Minute: Tom Friedman Continues His Journey To Insanity
Atlas Shrugs: Saudi Terror Cell, Possibly Al Qaeda. Behind Boston Marathon Bombings – Manhunt For Escaped Suspect
Ed Driscoll: Old Media Botches Story, Plays Victim Card
Nate Silver: Why Weiner’s Mayoral Bid Is A Long Shot

James Pethokoukis: Now What For Reinhart-Rogoff And The Case For Austerity?
Legal Insurrection: You Mean The Media Didn’t Want To Report About Aborted Babies Stuck In Toilets And Plumbing?


Live At Five will be on hiatus until Wednesday, April 24. Smitty has graciously agreed to do the FMJRA this weekend, so send him your links – I won’t guarantee I’ll forward any links that show up in my mailbox, as I’ll be in Minnesota, surrounded by half-pretty girls half-dressed to show it.


Category: Live at Five

TV Won’t Show You the Pictures, But the Reddit/4Chan Guys Have Apparently ID’d the Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects

Posted on | April 17, 2013 | 31 Comments

After watching Fox and CNN dance around the subject — “We’ve seen the photos that the FBI doesn’t want released to the public” — and doing some careful comparison of descriptions available here and there . . .

Yep, I guess these are the (alleged) bombers the feds are after.

So, if the feds don’t want the suspects to get spooked by what’s on cable TV, then they must be hoping the (alleged) bombers don’t have Internet access — despite the fact that these guys (allegedly) built bombs based on plans they (allegedly) found on the Internet.

Does this make sense?

Go look at the photo slideshow of yourselves, Guys With Heavy-Looking Backpacks Near the Marathon Finish Line!

And if the FBI gets mad at me for pointing out the ridiculous stupidity of pretending we can’t add 2 + 2 and get “4,” hey, I’m just a blogger in my pajamas, not a million-dollar-a-year cable-TV news star. SWAT me, OK?

 

Category: Terrorism

Rule 5 Wednesday: Once More Into The Bleach

Posted on | April 17, 2013 | 16 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Because Debbie Harry was awesome hot back in the day, when I was a young joey.

Def, blonde, but not dumb in the least.

Def, blonde, but not dumb in the least.

First, some administrivia: there will be no Rule 5 Sunday this coming weekend, but please continue to submit links for the Month-End Double Stuf Makeup Edition on April 29. As for this week’s belated parade of pulchritude, insert the standard disclaimer here.

Laughing Conservative hits the beach with Emily Ratajkowski, Subject To Change has some ladies in the kitchen, and Randy’s Roundtable chips in with Sarah Stephens. Ninety Miles From Tyranny contributes Lingerie Ladies and a Morning Mistress, and Mark Krikorian suggests this Daily Mail article on a controversial brassiere study. FOR SCIENCE! Fishersville Mike notes the imminent arrival of Jana Kramer, and Animal Magnetism is back with Rule Five Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon.  Lowering The Boom adds some Kate Upton to the mix, and EBL remembers Annette Funicello. Also, Everyone Link Dan Collins Day with bonus art by Rubens!

A View From The Beach posted Ana Beatriz Barros, Bras Are Bad, Progress! (Kentucky), Best Werewolf Prank Ever, more on Ashley Judd, Topless Protester Confronts Shirtless President, Japanese Weirdness, and The Big Night.

Soylent Green started with the Monday Motivationer, followed by Afternooner 8, Tuesday Titillation Bambi, Humpday Hawtness, Evening Awesome Red Riding Hood, Falconsword Fursday Vintage, Chain Bra Linky Love Barking Moonbat Early Warning System, Not So Snow White, Overnighty Hillary, Corsetcare Confabulation, Evening Awesome Kimberly, Mornin’ Muffin, and the Chain Bra Linky-Love Reach-Around: RSM.

Proof Positive’s Friday Night Babe was Radha Mitchell, his Vintage Babe was Ginger Rogers, and Sex in Advertising this week is Refreshingly Brazilian! At Dustbury, it’s Paulina Porizkova.

The DaleyGator’s DaleyBabes included Shay Diggs, Zulay Henao, Pat Benatar, Momoka Kanou, Catalina White, random hotness, Marielle Roselli, Lisa Morales, Tamala Jones, Maya Koizumi, Jayde Nicole, Caitlyn Winters, and Christine Nguyen.

Thanks to everyone for their linkagery! Submissions for the April 29 Double-Stuf Month-End Rule 5 Sunday are due in the Rule 5 Wombat mailbox no later than Saturday, April 28.


Category: Blogging, Rule 5

BREAKING: Cable TV News Airheads Screwed Up a Major Story, Again

Posted on | April 17, 2013 | 25 Comments

So, I was working on this story:

Chinese Student Lu Lingzi, 23, Identified as
Third Victim Killed by Boston Marathon Bombing

When a certain blonde woman on cable TV news began informing me (and you and a lot of other people) that a suspect in the Boston marathon bombing had been identified from video. And I kept working on the story I was working on, because that’s what you do: Finish one story before starting another. Besides, after years in this business, I’ve gotten used to the rapid-fire breathless bulletins on TV news. It’s what they do, and their 24/7 urgency does not impose on me a necessity to react with panic.

But then the phone rang: “Are you watching this?”

Yeah, I said, I’m watching it, and I’ll get on it as soon as I finish the story I’m working on. The lunatic idea that we have to update faster than the Drudge Report, on a story that everybody in the freaking world is covering,  is a misconception that needs to be explained, but I don’t have time for that today. As of this moment, here’s the headline:

BREAKING: FBI DENIES ARREST OF
BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECT REPORTEDLY
IDENTIFIED FROM VIDEOS

Right now, I’m watching CNN, where Anderson Cooper is trashing the sources who gave him the bad tip. Here’s the FBI’s official denial. A press conference is scheduled at 5 p.m. ET. I’ve been tweeting my frustrations:

You’d think these people would learn something from this, but then I guess I still haven’t learned that “CNN reports” doesn’t really count for much . . .

Journalism and terrorism: Related phenomena? Discuss.

 


 

PREVIOUSLY:

Category: Journalism, Terrorism
« go back — keep looking »

    About

    This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site.

    Subscribe to our feed

    Search

    Admin