Wow, what a weekend, huh? You may have heard we had a bit of a kerfluffle this weekend in NYC/NJ. Let me give you a rundown of events leading up to this morning. Some things you should know right off the bat, the UN started its yearly General Assembly this morning with all the Heads of State in town including President Obama who will be making a speech today for the last time as US President.
Anyway, here is a sketchy timeline of events from the front lines:
The first pipe bomb went off in a trashcan on Saturday morning along the route of the third annual Seaside Semper Five Marine Corps Charity 5K run in Seaside Park, NJ. Fortunately, no one was hurt at all. It could have been much worse, but because the run was delayed for last-minute entries. If they had started on time, the bomb would have gone off while runners were passing.
Next was another explosion at around 8:30pm at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Again, fortunately because the pressure cooker device was placed in a large construction dumpster, the explosion was weakened enough that only 29 people were injured, but none life threatening. Our wonderful terrorist task force jumped into action and discovered another pressure-cooker device a few blocks away and it was swiftly disposed of.
But this is where it really began to get weird and scary. Sunday morning our wonderful politicians stepped in to calm us all down by pretending at first that none of this had anything to do with "international terrorism" or anything. Mayor DeBlasio went so far as to admit that the explosion "was intentional". This statement invoked a collective "Yah think?" from the citizens (me) of NYC. He went on to qualify his "intentional" with a "but that they had no reason to believe that it was not terrorist related". A few minutes later, Gov. Cuomo made his statement that, well, maybe it was terrorist related, but prolly not "International". Obama went to radio silence.
This morning I woke to radio reports of 6 pipe bombs that were found at a commuter train station in Elizabeth, NJ. The first was found by two homeless men who were going through the trashcans and found a backpack. They saw what was in it and called the cops.
Then this cellphone alert* was broadcast at around 8am:
On a personal note, when I got this alert, I decided to changed into something less "corporate comfortable" and more "run for your life"-ish.
Anyway, the NJ police found the guy this morning. He had spent the night in a bar and when the bar owner came to open up, he called the police. He didn't recognize the guy, but the police did; shots were fired and the perp was taken alive.
And now the politicians are acknowledging that maybe this was possibly a real terrorist attack with international overtones. Harry Reid started yammering on about gun control for some reason, and Pres. Obama has not weighed in at all that I know of.
Oh, yeah, there was a terrorist knife attack in a Minnesota shopping mall too. At least ISIS had the good grace to claim that one...
Questions? Comments?
*By the way, this "extreme emergency" alert system was used for the first time today.
Anyway, here is a sketchy timeline of events from the front lines:
The first pipe bomb went off in a trashcan on Saturday morning along the route of the third annual Seaside Semper Five Marine Corps Charity 5K run in Seaside Park, NJ. Fortunately, no one was hurt at all. It could have been much worse, but because the run was delayed for last-minute entries. If they had started on time, the bomb would have gone off while runners were passing.
Next was another explosion at around 8:30pm at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Again, fortunately because the pressure cooker device was placed in a large construction dumpster, the explosion was weakened enough that only 29 people were injured, but none life threatening. Our wonderful terrorist task force jumped into action and discovered another pressure-cooker device a few blocks away and it was swiftly disposed of.
But this is where it really began to get weird and scary. Sunday morning our wonderful politicians stepped in to calm us all down by pretending at first that none of this had anything to do with "international terrorism" or anything. Mayor DeBlasio went so far as to admit that the explosion "was intentional". This statement invoked a collective "Yah think?" from the citizens (me) of NYC. He went on to qualify his "intentional" with a "but that they had no reason to believe that it was not terrorist related". A few minutes later, Gov. Cuomo made his statement that, well, maybe it was terrorist related, but prolly not "International". Obama went to radio silence.
This morning I woke to radio reports of 6 pipe bombs that were found at a commuter train station in Elizabeth, NJ. The first was found by two homeless men who were going through the trashcans and found a backpack. They saw what was in it and called the cops.
Then this cellphone alert* was broadcast at around 8am:
On a personal note, when I got this alert, I decided to changed into something less "corporate comfortable" and more "run for your life"-ish.
Anyway, the NJ police found the guy this morning. He had spent the night in a bar and when the bar owner came to open up, he called the police. He didn't recognize the guy, but the police did; shots were fired and the perp was taken alive.
And now the politicians are acknowledging that maybe this was possibly a real terrorist attack with international overtones. Harry Reid started yammering on about gun control for some reason, and Pres. Obama has not weighed in at all that I know of.
Oh, yeah, there was a terrorist knife attack in a Minnesota shopping mall too. At least ISIS had the good grace to claim that one...
Questions? Comments?
*By the way, this "extreme emergency" alert system was used for the first time today.
Obama and many other Democrat leaders have talked about the Islamic terror attacks though they don't see what motivated them or what the attackers have in common.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately like the war on drugs the war on radical Islam will be a war that never ends (which isn't to say that we can't win major battles or defeat groups) but recognition is a key first step so Trump is one up on Hillary.
Given that Islamic terror attacks in the West are becoming lower level/less elaborate/more frequent willful blindness is something I predict the public won't support.
Also, while screening of adult refugees seems to be adequate, a lot of their kids are joining terror groups (as I've noted before there have been at least a few dozen Somali American terrorists) so bringing in more is a bad idea.
Bev, Just because a guy is Islamic and said he did it in the name of Islam does not mean whatever he did was done in the name of Islam. He could have been acting on behalf of the chicken shack where he worked for all we know. Heck, he might not even know.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's not call it terrorism until after a jury we trust says so. We don't know if setting off bombs was terrorism. It could have been something else. Maybe a negligent attempt to dispose of bomb making material? Maybe it's unicorn food?
You're giving ISIS something to complain about by calling this terrorism! And you're distracting from the real terrorists... Republicans.
Sheesh!
BTW, I love this: On a personal note, when I got this alert, I decided to changed into something less "corporate comfortable" and more "run for your life"-ish.
ReplyDeleteYou have wonderful wit, Bev! :D
On what Anthony says, I agree. I don't think the war on Islamic terrorism is a war we can "win." We can win battles and weaken their ability to do things for sure, but the underlying problem is that Islam produces violent crazies who think they have a right to kill infidels. Until the rest of Islam drives that out of the belief system and makes those people pariahs, they will keep coming.
ReplyDeleteThey are about a 1,000 years behind Christianity in terms of becoming a mature religion.
In terms of immigrants, I'm all in favor of cutting off Islamic immigrants or immigrants from these suspect countries. That said, we could cut immigration to zero and it won't stop these people because this idiocy afflicts young males with problems, whether they are immigrants or locals.
In retrospect (meaning it's too late to do anything about it now) it was a mistake to ever refer to anything as a "war on terror" no matter what flavor the terror may be. It's just too nebulous.
ReplyDeleteConversely, a war on ISIS is good (counter)branding. You can pin stuff on ISIS and thus you can win a war against ISIS--provided you define winning narrowly enough. For a good cross-reference, consider that no one disputes that the Allies defeated the Nazis in WWII despite the fact that there are still Nazis around.
Now, the current administration's reluctance to declare an enemy could signal one of two things. 1) They see the threat as nebulous and therefore impossible to defeat fully or 2) they're spineless wimps who refuse to take decisive action or even call a spade a spade.
Like I said, you can beat Nazis without eliminating them.
PS, defined narrowly enough also means not defined too narrowly. Overly narrow definitions set off BS detectors, and the narrower they get, the more detectors go off.
ReplyDeletefortunately, Deblasio is being universally chastised for being stupid.
ReplyDeleteI think the real point here is that can we just stipulate that when a bomb explodes (or is found) in a public area, we can freely call it "an act of terrorism". The fact that the press/liberals jump to "If it is called terrorism, then it must mean "Islamic terrorism"! And that makes you Islamophobic" is stupid and ignorant. Tim McVeigh was not Islamic, but no one would quibble about his status as a terrorist, right?
Oh, and Andrew, thanks, my gallows humor keeps me moving forward. If you can't laugh it off, then the terrorists win!
ReplyDeleteThe terrorist in Minnesota brought a knife to a gun fight...
ReplyDeleteCritch - Literally. God bless the good guy (gun range owner) with that concealed carry license. He saved a lot of heart ache.
ReplyDeleteAnthony - You are right. This isn't a traditional war where two armies stand across from each other. But it is also not a "war" that can fought only in the "narrative" as Obama would love to believe.
ReplyDeleteBut, as experience has taught me, there is one overriding aspect to all of these incidences - people seeing something and saying something or doing something. The cops/military/elected leaders can't do anything to stop this stuff. It's really up to us to keep our eyes open and a lot of good luck.
OT: Check this out. Colin Kaepernick talking about getting death threats and being killed:
ReplyDelete“To me, if something like that were to happen, you’ve proved my point and it will be loud and clear for everyone why it happened, and that would move this movement forward at a greater speed than what it is even now. Granted, it’s not how I want it to happen, but that’s the realization of what could happen. I knew there were other things that came along with this when I first stood up and spoke about it. It’s not something I haven’t thought about.”
Talk about paranoia. "I knew I could get killed if I spoke up." //rolls eyes
Bev, Humor is key to life.
ReplyDeleteBev, if a white guy commits any high-profile crime, the media stretches to call it terrorism. Just like they work to characterize rowdy (white) sports fans as thugs.
ReplyDeleteA little off topic, the NY Times is in meltdown over the Missouri Legislature overriding our governor's veto of Constitutional Carry of firearms...certainly not aimed at the great state of NY folks here, but we really don't care what the NY Times thinks of us. Hell, most of their writers couldn't find us without a GPS.
ReplyDelete