The Scary World of John Hindraker

By Cernig

Someone set of a tiny explosive device outside the Times Square Armed Forces Recruiting Station in New York in the early hours of this morning. Despite the fact that the bomb was more bang than blast, not even shredding the old army-surplus ammo box it appears to have come in, the NY Police described it as an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) - which while technically true evokes parallels with IED's in Iraq and this device bore the same relationship to those things as a Times Square pigeon has to a T-Rex.

Predictably, the wingnuts are pissing themselves with fear over the possibilities.

John Hindraker at Powerline headlines his post "ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS OR CODE PINKERS?" (Yes, all in caps. I'm just amazed there weren't twenty exclamation points too.)

A.J. Strata doesn't even stop to seriously consider the Islamists - he knows who the real enemy is. "Who Would Bomb Recruiters In NY City? Lunatic Liberals Of Course".

And Ed Morrisey proves his rationality has sailed into the sunset with his move from the Captain's Quarters into the boiler room at Hot Air.

Given the escalating protests over military recruitment, it seems inevitable that people would bomb those who seek to protect the nation and fight our enemies.

I have to agree with John Cole - the logical gap in that sentence, that anti-war protests must inevitably turn to violence, is a veritable yawning chasm. Mind the step.

At least Confederate Yankee, who has his own impromptu analysis which shows just how much of a squib the bomb was, mentions the only evidence of any connection whatsoever to anyone at all and says clearly that he thinks it's unlikely any anti-war group was responsible. That evidence is the only evidence anyone has right now.

Law enforcement officials are looking into whether the suspect is the same man who threw explosive devices at the British and Mexican Consulates in the early morning hours in the past couple of years.

In October, witnesses told police they saw a man on a bicycle throwing a small black powdered device at the Mexican Consulate in Midtown. In May, 2005, a similar incident also occurred at the British Consulate building. No one was hurt in either of those two incidents.

Law enforcement officials said a preliminary review shows Thursday's explosion was caused by a can filled with some sort of explosive powder.

"In 2005, 2007, dummy hand grenades were used and the explosive, black powder, was put into those grenades and that caused the explosion," Kelly said. "Here, it may be similar powder -- we still have to determine that. But it was placed in an ammunition box. That was the carrier for the explosive. There was no grenade."

Mexico isn't even involved in Iraq or Afghanistan. James Joyner feels the evidence just points to "a thrillseeker with no real political agenda."

Lets see now - the evidence tying this to a lone wacko on a bike is circumstantial ("the size of the blast, the time of day, and a bicycle"), but the evidence tying it to an anti-war movement or Islamist group is...um...nil.

Must be Code Pink or AQI then.

Welcome to the Scary World of John Hindraker.

What 9/11 Changed

By Cernig

9/11 took a generation of Playstation warriors and the previous generation's rightwing Black Helicopter Paranoia crowd and welded them into a constituency which drove America's policies and politics for seven long years.

Greenwald in great form.

Over the past couple decades, prior to the Bush Era, the people who needed the sort of psychological fulfillment that comes from prancing around as Hofstadterian faux-warriors waging Civilization Wars obtained their fulfillment from playing board and video games or, at worst, dressing up on the weekend in camouflage costumes and -- rather than playing golf or going fishing -- marched around in militia formations, primed to defend the nation from Janet Reno and her squadrons of hovering U.N. black helicopters. It was equally pathetic, but at least the damage was minimal.

But the 9/11 attacks and ensuing events catapulted their paranoia and powerlessness syndromes from clownish sideshow to dominant political faction. And their fevered, self-serving fantasies have empowered the Federal Government beyond anyone's wildest dreams, created a completely out-of-control domestic surveillance state, subordinated even the rule of law to the lawless dictates of Security State officials, and dismantled long-standing constitutional protections and political values so basic that they were previously beyond debate. In Civilization Wars, all is fair and justified -- torture, lawbreaking, domestic spying, limitless government power, because the imperative of their crusade outweighs all.

All of that is bad enough. But listening to the authors of these events martyr themselves by claiming that their crusades are "psychologically exhausting" is really too much to bear. The reason they pursue those crusades endlessly, and will continue to pursue them until stopped, is precisely because the only thing they find "psychologically exhausting" is the prospect of having to live without their Supreme War of Civilization, whereby they defend the greatest things ever, under siege from the most Evil villains ever, with them -- and only them -- courageous and tough enough to "do what needs to be done" to triumph.

Read the whole thing.

Bolton Still Whining For NIE Do-Over

By Cernig

Via Memeorandum, I see that John Bolton is still whining because the last National Intelligence Estimate on Iran didn't produce the excuses for war he wanted. Today, the WSJ gives Bolton a platform to call for the wahmbulance - John wants a do-over. Nevermind that administration officials from Cheney on down have said they're just fine with the NIE. Bolton also wants the intelligence community purged of all those who won't toe the neocon party line. He says he wants the intelligence community to just shut up about policy: "Mr. McConnell should commit the intelligence community to stick to its knitting -- intelligence -- and return its policy enthusiasts to agencies where policy is made." But does anyone seriously think, in an administration that has made politicizing federal agencies into high art, that the neocon policymakers in the IC would be ousted along with those who might oppose them? Naaaah - not even Old Walrus-face beieves that crock of s**t - after all, politicizing intelligence is something he's had long experience at.

Faithfully, other neocons are jumping on Bolton's Bandwagon yet again. One has even spotted the obvious - that any reversal on the NIE now would mean McConnell's resignation or firing as DNI - and has a replacement in mind. If you guessed John Bolton then it wasn't exactly rocket science to figure out.

But I've a better idea. If the Bush administration, in lame-duck mode, really thinks it needs a new DNI then I suggest Zalmay Khalilzhad. He's a neocon of long standing. He knows the enemies of America well - in some cases he's had dinner with them and escorted them to parties. And he has the massive advantage of not being named John Bolton.

Update Via Think Progress comes news that DNI McConnell but back at Bolton for attempting to get the DNI fired.

Today during a Senate threat assessment hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell about Bolton’s assertions. McConnell replied:

MCCONNELL: Sir, I’ll start by saying that the integrity and the professionalism in this NIE is probably the highest in our history in terms of objectivity and quality of the analysis and challenging the assumptions and conducting red teams on the process, conducting a counter intelligence assessment about “were we being misled” and so on. So I would start by saying that the article you refer to is a gross misrepresentation of the professionalism of this community.

Stick that in your moustache, John.

I-35: Highway To...Heaven?

By Cernig

There are no fundie crazies who are crazier than Texas fundie crazies. That's why commuters in the Dallas area were recently treated to the spectacle of a bunch of them blessing I-35.

the small contingent of churchgoers believe that Interstate 35, a sprawling highway running from Texas to Minnesota, is specifically mentioned in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 35.

"A highway shall be there, and a road," reads a portion of the chapter's verse eight, "and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it..."

But if I-35 is indeed the place, some Christians believe there's a lot of work to be done before the road can fulfill it's saintly destiny, according to CNN's Gary Tuchman, who was on the scene in Texas as believers launched an effort to pray for the road.

"Churchgoers in all six states recently finished 35 days of praying alongside Interstate 35, but the prayers are still continuing," reports Tuchman. "Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the 'holy' highway, it needs some intensive prayer first. So we watched as about 25 fervent and enthusiastic Christians prayed on the the interstate's shoulder in Dallas."

Their prayers go out for safer neighborhoods, "more godliness" and also in hopes that businesses lining the highway, including strip clubs and other "unclean" establishments, might clean up their act.

Tuchman says the faithful also point to "a link between the area near this highway and tragedies that have happened in history, such as the bridge collapse on I-35 in Minneapolis last August and the assassination of JFK 44 years ago near I-35 in Dallas."

"We just want to say 'wow, why would this happen on one highway,'" one of the prayer campaign's organizers, Cindy Jacobs, told CNN. "Let's pray that there be safety for everyone on these highways."

Cindy Jacobs and her husband Mike run Generals International, a prophetic group of evangelistas based in Red Oak, Texas. Their website decsribes Cindy as:

a respected prophet who travels the world ministering not only to crowds of people, but to heads of nations. Perhaps her greatest ministry is to world influencers who seek her prophetic advice.

Her first calling is, and always will be, prophetic intercession. Ever since the Lord called her with the scripture, “Ask of me the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the world for your possession,” she has taken that calling seriously.

Cindy has forseen revival coming to the Latter-day Saints Temple in Salt Lake City and to Freemasons within the Southern Baptist Convention. Her husband is a "former business analyst...commissioned by God to bring unity and order to the body of Christ" who "carries an anointing to impart the power of the Holy Spirit." They are, of course, fierce believers in Chuck Pierce's "Glory of Zion" apocalyptic vision of mid-East war.

Cindy and Mike believe that the Summer's bad weather across the Midwest is God's work.

It is pouring rain in Texas, Oklahoma and across portions of the Midwest. CNN reports, “Storms dumped up to 18 inches of rain on parts of central Texas, flooding several towns and stranding dozens of people on rooftops, cars and in trees.”

The Holy Spirit has spoken through His prophets, and He is releasing a new cleansing move of holiness across the face of the earth. Last June, through two prophesies given in Washington DC, the word came that God is "Washing Washington". This is now extending all along the I-35 corridor.

If these people were pagan or new-agers, talking about triple Goddesses or chakras, no-one would take them the least bit seriously. But, because they're evangelistas in Texas, they get endorsed by Pat Robertson; are members of the Charismatic Leadership Council of influential evangelist leaders; get slots on religious TV channels broadcasting to just about every nation on Earth and even get time on CNN. They're actually influential, not ridiculed.

Anyone want to bet against them being Huckabee backers?

Conservative Outrage And Misplaced Priorities

By Cernig

Over at Balloon Juice (where the snark lives), Tim F. has this:

Modern-day conservatives wholeheartedly support domestic surveillance, torture, detention without a habeas corpus hearing, unchecked executive power, international influence through armed belligerence and pseudo-religious leader cultism. But liberals are sometimes vegetarian, just like Hitler.

Meanwhile, wingnuts (galore) and free-marketeers are up in arms that Jane Harman has banned "the famously inefficient 100-watt incandescent bulb".

Uh, folks, can we talk about your priorities? You seem to have left them in the crapper.

Judge: WH Visitor Logs Are Public

By Cernig

Here's a double blow to Bush and Cheney's obsessive secrecy.

White House visitor logs are public documents, a federal judge ruled Monday, rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had hoped would get around public records laws and let them keep their guests a secret.

The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which has fought the release of records showing visits by prominent religious conservatives.

Visitor records are created by the Secret Service, which is subject to the Freedom of Information Act. But the Bush administration has ordered the data turned over to the White House, where they are treated as presidential records outside the scope of the public records law.

But U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled logs from the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence remain Secret Service documents and are subject to public records requests.

In a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group, Lamberth ordered the Secret Service to turn over visitor logs regarding nine conservative religious commentators, including James Dobson, Gary Bauer and Jerry Falwell.

...In a separate case, CREW had sought an order declaring illegal a Bush administration policy under which the Secret Service destroys its copies of the logs once they are turned over to the White House.

In that second case involving White House visits by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Lamberth said he did not have the authority to issue such a ruling.

Because the logs were declared Secret Service records, however, they cannot be destroyed without approval from the National Archives.

The AP says that Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, has long been a thorn in the sides of both Democratic and Republican administrations who try to keep too much secret. Can we have more thorns like him, please? Maybe in Congress?

Your moment of "France is Collapsing!"

by shamanic

Well that was fast! It was literally weeks and weeks of a right-wing lovefest for all many some one things French, but that's all gone now as violent riots north of Paris have let the air out of the souffle.

Cut to France-obsessed Gateway Pundit for the photo extravaganza! Oh no! Pamela at Atlas Shrugged says "It's war!" "They've lost control of their country," she warns, then prints sections of an article showing no such thing.

Oh, and for those who don't recall the 2005 riots in France that, at the time anyway, seemed to these bloggers to prove that France was on the verge of joining the new caliphate... well, call me hopelessly complacent, but I still think that's unlikely. Just saying.