I used quotes in the headline because the threat was so vague it could have been two ragheads chatting up the fact that they'd love to pay back the Orioles for collapsing in the second half of the season.
"We received some information a couple of days ago with a possible threat to a tunnel, nothing specific. We are interviewing people as we speak," said Carla McIntosh, a spokeswoman for the FBI who said she could not give details."
That's cool, I don't want details. Details tell the enemy how close we've gotten to his messkit and let them wonder how we obtained the information.
"Jim Pettit, a spokesman for the governor's homeland security office, said: "We're acting out of an abundance of caution."
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the threat was phoned in to authorities by a person claiming to have information from abroad. Authorities are skeptical of the claim, but are checking it out nonetheless, the official said."
Better skeptical and proactive than skeptical and caught by surprise. Problem is it comes at a time when conservative blogdom is still ranting about that Oklahoma University wack job who blew himself up real good, and that's all we needed were more the sky is falling essays from Powerline and Michelle Malkin. Now, I fully understand that very few bloggers are anything that even remotely resemble a journalist, and most of what we deal in is gossip, innuendo, and personal rants on what's been ailing us lately, but that doesn't stop the run-and-lock-your-doors crowd...who take so very much exception to the MSM "snubs"... from acting as if they were Edward R. frickin Murrow reincarnated, reporting from a sinking ship in the South Atlantic.
The me-too, me-too blather only makes us ALL look childish, and the very best way to be looked upon as exceptional is...pssst...to BE exceptional.
But shucks, we really can't. We provide our own brilliant take on a story then expect a carpet of roses strewn about our feet as we walk to the dais to accept the pulitzer, but guess what, kids, we're the fact-checkers and nothing more. The unpaid editors who chime in when something tweaks us in an area we have some familiarity with, but the last time anyone actually broke a story was when Charles of LGF...among others...noticed that the forged Bush memos were done in Times New Roman and said so.
Okay, back to the Baltimore Harbor bomb threat, and I'm getting the distinct feeling that a lot of these threats are nothing more than misdirection plays, or flat out fabrications designed to stir up the old anthill. Who the frig would want to blow up the frickin Baltimore Harbor Tunnel? What message does THAT send to the world? When you're working on a tight budget and are squeezed for operatives and the logistics to support them, you go after the brass ring, not some tunnel that nobody in the world has ever even heard of, because it's all about taking out symbols of America. The actual damage is unimportant, it's the gotcha-where-it-hurts that counts.
Blow the tunnel to kingdom come and what have you accomplished? Proved Bush right? Alert the country to the fact that terrorism is for real? Awakened the drowsy lion for what purpose?
By all means take the damned things seriously but don't lose touch with reality and become part of the hive-mind that cowers from every tremble that shakes loose from the lopsided spinning of a troubled world. Yes, terrorism is real. Yes, they want to hurt us and hurt us bad. But not every lunatic kid who offs himself is out to destroy America.
No comments:
Post a Comment