Brilliance

The U.S. terror watch list is clearly a flawless and objective ranking of the biggest threats to the nation.

TSA on the Streets

Several months ago, I heard about the company behind the TSA body scanners lobbying to push their products into America's trains, buses, stadiums, and other public places. And it looks like the TSA took these efforts seriously, producing studies pushing for this very thing, even to the point of mobile scanners being able to examine people walking down a sidewalk.

This is offensive on every conceivable level, but my jaw also drops at the sheer pointlessness of it all. Are we really that scared of terrorism that we need to give up our entire notion of a right to privacy? I know I am not. And I don't think most other people are either. But I do feel that the combination of a powerful and wealthy company combining with a new federal agency looking to increase their power and budget is a really tough alliance to beat down.

The Best Friend Terrorists Have Ever Had

I've always thought Joe McCarthy was a far better agent of the Soviet Union than whoever was actually spying for them. McCarthy weakened American democracy, undermined the Voice of America, gave the U.S. a horrible international reputation, and made the nation's rhetoric about freedom look like hypocrisy. What actual agent could do more?

Similarly, I don't know who could better advance terrorist aims more than Terry Jones. Who could do more to undermine American foreign policy aims, our relationship with the Islamic world, and to expose everything we say about freedom as complete hypocrisy? No one. The proof is in the increasingly bloody pudding.

DeMint's One-Man War on Labor

Given what almost happened in Detroit, I sure am glad Jim DeMint is holding up Obama's head of TSA nominee because he fears TSA could join unions!

This kind of thing is the real threat the collapse of the Senate as a functioning democratic institution presents to the nation. Filibusters and nominee holds prevents the government from functioning as smoothly as it should, thwarts democratic will, and could endanger national security.

But hey, TSA workers joining unions is a far greater threat than terrorism! And really, aren't union members and terrorists more or less the same thing....

Shorter Jim DeMint: Unions Are Terrorist Organizations

Via Duss, Jim DeMint keeps it classy, even compared to his own standards.

Chris, I am concerned, because it’s related to another issue that we’re dealing with now in the Senate. The administration is intent on unionizing and submitting our airport security to union bosses’ collective bargaining. And this is at a time, as Senator Lieberman said, that we’ve got to use our imaginations, we’ve got to be constantly flexible, we have to out-think the terrorists. And when we formed the airport security system, we realized we could not use collective bargaining because of that need to be flexible. Yet that appears now to be the top priority of the administration. And this whole thing should remind us, Chris, that the soft talk about engagement, closing Gitmo, these things are not gonna appease the terrorists. They’re gonna keep coming after us, and we can’t have politics as usual in Washington, and I’m afraid that’s what we’ve got right now with airport security.

Airplane Security

While I suppose there is a psychological need to see the government doing something about terrorist attacks, the response to the attempted Detroit bomber is totally stupid.

Particularly worthless are the rules on international flights saying you can't get out of your seat for the last hour of the flight. Why? What is this possibly going to accomplish? Couldn't a similar bomber just detonate the plane after takeoff? Or in mid-flight? And what's going to happen when babies need their diapers changed? When someone needs to vomit? When someone has continence issues?

The only way to make flights totally safe is to strip-search passengers and to ban them from taking anything at all on the plane. And this is not going to happen. It wouldn't work politically and it wouldn't work for the airline industry.

The real lesson to take from Detroit is that passengers are simply not going to allow a terrorist attack to take place. No one has successfully used an airplane for terror in over eight years. There are several reasons for this of course, and increased airport security probably has made a difference. But the biggest reason is because passengers are going to subdue anyone suspicious. This is one case where we can count on the people to do the right thing--as they did with Richard Reid and as they did this week.

Instead of relying on this, now I have to get to the airport even earlier and be subjected to indignities so that the government can show it's doing something.

Bill O'Reilly, Propagandist of Terrorism

Also, he's an apologist for terrorism that he helped cause.

O'Reilly is as great a threat to peace and safety in this country as Osama Bin Laden.

Good Reasons for Late-Term Abortions

One of many reasons why this nation needs people like George Tiller.

Anti-Abortionist Terrorists Strike

George Tiller, RIP.

How many deadly attacks by right-wingers have to happen before we can have an open discussion about right-wing terrorism in this country? Of course, I'm sure the few public places dedicated to terrorism writ large in this country (such as the Oklahoma City Memorial) will continue to downplay these attacks for political reasons and instead talk about hippies burning SUVs as their prime example of domestic "terrorism."

Historical Image of the Day

Bombing of U.S. embassy, Nairobi, Kenya, 1998

Historical Image of the Day

The USS Cole after its bombing off the coast of Yemen, 2000

Political violence from Mexico's drug cartels?

Last night someone threw some grenades into a plaza during Mexico's Independence celebrations in the capital city of Michoacán. The governor of Michoacán is claiming it was drug cartels. So far, 8 are dead and over 100 people are wounded, but the numbers or changing quickly. You can read more about it here or here (in English). If it does turn out to be related to organized crime, this would be the first time they have engaged in such an open attack on civilians, and during a symbolic political event. The consequences of this attack are likely to be pretty bad...

UPDATE 9/18/08: Just a quick update on these attacks. First, the number of dead is 7, not 8. There were a number of conflicting reports when I originally wrote the post. Second, it seems the attacks might be linked to the cartel, La Familia. I've read it might be related to different factions within the cartel that are fighting each other, or it may be a rival cartel that is striking at La Familia. La Familia has been attempting to spread its operations through Michoacán and Central Mexico, and may have pissed off some other cartel.

Ecoterrorism?

What is ecoterrorism? For an act to qualify as ecoterrorism, don't you have to terrorize somebody? Isn't that the name of the game?

I ask because these "ecoterrorists" who burned these giant homes north of Seattle today are going to face charges far beyond regular arson. I'm not really defending burning giant homes, or SUV dealerships, or blowing up bridges in a classic Ed Abbey kind of way. Although I really don't care when rich people lose all their possessions. Anyway, burning empty homes in not terrorism. Burning SUVs in a car dealership is not terrorism. The Earth Liberation Front and other fringe environmental organizations engaging in such actions have been careful not to hurt anyone.

But they sure scare the hell out of the authorities. The overreaction to these burnings is pretty outstanding. I mean, no one was actually living in these homes. And the only people who lost money was the insurance companies.

If you go to the Oklahoma City Memorial, there is a interactive computer screen where you can touch different states and see what kind of "terrorist" acts have taken place there. There is hardly anything about weirdo right-wing people or organizations like Ruby Ridge and the Freedmen. And there is virtually nothing on racism. But there sure are a lot of these supposed ecoterrorist attacks. Oooh, I know I am scared. Could a bunch of hippies come set fire to my Honda Civic? Will I be able to sleep tonight?

But then, the Bush administration has chosen to define terrorism any way it wants to. Is the US raining bombs down on the Iraqi people terrorism? No, of course not. We are giving them freedom! Yet burning a bunch of empty gigantic homes is terrorism. Totally and completely absurd.

And just to be clear, I have had real problems with the more radical environmental groups for a very long time. I'm not saying engaging in these actions is a good thing. In fact, it is totally meaningless. But to say they are terrorists is to define the word to the point of irrelevance.

How Can We Be Taken Seriously On Terrorism?

The recent release of Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from a U.S. jail makes me wonder if the Bush Administration even takes themselves seriously anymore on the issue of terrorism.

Posada is a full-blown terrorist. I have a friend who has personally seen declassified CIA documents where operatives say he is crazy and highly recommend cutting all ties with him. He was bragging about blowing up the plane in 1976 that killed 73 people and Havana hotels in the 1990s before he did it. Yet the U.S. (or perhaps I should say the Republican Party) continues to support him both because they want the votes of the Miami Cubans and because they don't actually believe their own anti-terrorism rhetoric. Sure, they support crushing terrorists, but only if those terrorists don't work for U.S. interests. If they do, great!!!

Just Wondering posts an article by journalist Robert Parry explaining Posada's history. Check it out.

During the Cold War, U.S. governments paid very close attention to how the nation was seen by people around the world. We were fighting the Cold War and therefore needed to win over the new nations of the developing world. The Soviet Union was taking advantage of America's racism to influence these nations against us. Therefore, the Kennedy and Johnson administration starting supporting the civil rights movement in no small part for Cold War reasons. The Bush administration has learned nothing from this. They don't care at all what the rest of the world thinks. They only care about the next election cycle.

Most of the world doesn't take us seriously on terrorism anyway. That we allow a terrorist to roam virtually free within our own borders because he targets his hatred against Cuba just ensures that it will take a long time for the world to look to the U.S. for leadership again.