What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread, so talk about whatever you’d like.
I’m going with the obvious.
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The 2nd Boston Bombing suspect remains in serious condition in the hospital. From ABCNews
“The alleged Boston Marathon bomber who hid from authorities for more than 20 hours was captured tonight by police, sending cheers up through the Watertown neighborhood where he was found.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was discovered by a homeowner lying in a boat in the man’s backyard around 7 p.m. The man noticed blood on the boat, spotted a body inside the boat and called 911, according to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.
According to police, a helicopter with infrared technology then located Tsarnaev in the boat and noted that he was moving about within it. The helicopter directed officers on the ground to the boat, where they briefly exchanged gunfire shortly before 7 p.m.”
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The people of Watertown are relieved and thankful for the job police did here. They took to the streets in celebration. From TheAP
“Reporters and spectators lined up on the other side. The mood was tense, with the few neighbors who ventured out hugging and crying as they heard bangs. Others merely looked on curiously.
Then, one officer slowly started clapping. Then it spread to the crowd. Then loud cheers broke out.”
“But after the capture, celebratory bells rang from a church tower. Crowds lined the streets into the center of town. Teenagers waved American flags. Every car that drove by honked. Every time an emergency vehicle went by, people cheered loudly.”
“Hundreds of people marched down Commonwealth Avenue, chanting “USA” and singing the Red Sox anthem “Sweet Caroline” as they headed toward Boston Common. Police blocked traffic along part of the street to allow for the impromptu parade.”
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The suspect’s sister is heartbroken and skeptical. Police seized a computer from her home. From TheAP
“The FBI on Friday removed a computer from the New Jersey home of a sister of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Police said she was cooperating with the investigation and was “heartbroken, surprised and upset,” though she told reporters she wasn’t sure the accusations against her brothers were true.
The woman, identified by local police as Ailina Tsarnaeva, told federal agents she had not been in contact with her brothers for years, according to Police Director Michael Indri.”
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The father of the bombers had already alleged a set-up, now so has the mother as well. But that’s not what concerns me here. I’d expect them to say this. They’re his family. But some of the other things she has to say are troubling. From WorldNetDaily
“The mother of two brothers believed to be responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing insists her sons are innocent and were “set up,” according to a telephone interview with RT-TV, also known as Russia Today.”
““My son would never do this. It is a set-up,” the woman continued in her interview with RT. “He was controlled by FBI for like, three, five years. They knew what my son was doing. They knew what actions and what sites on the Internet he was going. He used to come home, they used to come and talk to me. They used to tell me that, you know, that they are controlling his – they were telling me that he’s really a serious leader and they’re afraid of him. They said, they told me that whatever he is, whatever country decides, whatever is there, whatever information he’s getting, they are controlling him, so how could this happen? How could they – they were controlling every step of him, and they’re telling today that this is a terrorist act. Never, ever! This is not true. My two sons are innocent.””
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Now as I said, I’d normally dismiss her opinion, except there’s another story out there that says the FBI investigated the older brother 2 years ago at the request of an unnamed foreign govt. The assumption is Russia. He spent 6 months there around the same time. From CBSNews
“The FBI admitted Friday they interviewed the now-deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years ago and failed to find any incriminating information about him.
As first reported by CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, the FBI interviewed Tsarnaev, the elder brother of at-large bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, at the request of a foreign government to see if he had any extremist ties, but failed to find any linkage.”
“CBS News correspondent John Miller reports it is likely Russia asked to have the elder Tsarnaev vetted because of suspected ties to Chechen extremists.”
“This is an issue they’ve had in the past. They interviewed Carlos Bledsoe in Little Rock, Ark., before he shot up an Army recruiting station in 2009. They were also looking into Major Hasan Nadal before the Fort Hood shootings.”
And it’s an issue that raises all kinds of questions about how the FBI is doing their jobs. It also shows a failure in leadership that this continues to happen. And that failure is the White House’s responsibility as well. When you couple that with the story yesterday from JudicialWatch about a criminal arrest and conviction for domestic abuse, a deportable offense, then you have to question why these failures occurred. It appears that had at least 2 opportunities to remove him from the country prior to this. The FBI, INS, DoJ, and Obama Admin have a lot of explaining to do here. Why did this happen?
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Rep. Peter King would like some answers as well. He tried to get some before on other cases of extremists like Maj. Nadal Hasan, and he was ridiculed and called a racist for his efforts. Rep. Steve King recieved the same treatment. Maybe folks will be a little more receptive to having this conversation now. Although I’d expect the Obama Admin to circle the wagons and not want to provide answers. Especially when the evidence seems to imply their policies are not working. From NationalReview
““We can’t be bound by political correctness,” adds King, who chairs the House subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. “I think we need more police and more surveillance in the communities where the threat is coming from, whether it’s the Irish community with the Westies [an Irish-American gang in New York City], or the Italian community with the mafia, or the Muslim community with the Islamic terrorists.””
““I’ve been talking about radicalization of the Muslim community,” he remarks, “and I think this is an example of it.””
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And this also raises questions about the Admins preference for downplaying Islamic radicalism.
From TheTelegraphUK
“Mr Obama and his intelligence community know the threat from al-Qaeda affiliates, but have chosen to downplay it to the US public.
Even when that fight does directly touch on American lives, as it did last September when the US ambassador to Libya was murdered in Benghazi by an al-Qaeda linked group, the administration appears at pains to deny the connection.”
“But as many counter-terrorism experts have been saying – their voices often drowned out or ignored in favour of the pleasing simplicity of the Obama administration’s narrative – the threat from al-Qaeda is too amorphous and shifting to ever have been discounted.”
And it would be foolish to think this has nothing to do with the muslim influence in the Obama admin. That influence is reflected in their policies, and the decisions here to not investigate further and to not deport. And it’s reflected in places like Syria, Egypt, Libya, and pretty much the Middle East as a whole. These are the people they’ve backed in all those countries. That’s not a coincidence.
Like I said, lot’s of questions. But will we get answers?
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But I must say I agree with the President and DoJ on this part. From WeaselZippers.
“During the press conference this evening, the question of whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been read Miranda rights arose. Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney, noted that they had not read him the rights, but were employing the “public safety exception”. The following is a good explanation of the exception.”
“At least 7 IEDs were reportedly found in their home in Watertown, as well as other bomb making equipment. So the question of more bombs were a very real possibility and the exception likely wisely invoked.”
He should be treated like an enemy combatant, because he is. Still, it will be interesting to see if the left get’s as upset about this as they did when Bush did it. But I won’t hold my breath.
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Wandering Views 