More Universal Condemnation of ABC News' Brian Ross

NewsBusters has Jon Stewart's amazing take down of Brian Ross at ABC News, "Jon Stewart Slams Brian Ross: 'What Story Does a Guy Have to Blow to Get in Trouble at ABC?'" (Video.)

And Peter Wehner comments, "Jon Stewart Destroys ABC’s Brian Ross":

Anyone who watches Jon Stewart knows that he’s a person of liberal political views – but he also shows impressive flashes of independence. Last night was such an instance. In the course of his show, Stewart skillfully rips apart ABC News and its chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, for falsely suggesting that the Aurora, Colorado, killer was a member of the Tea Party.

Ross, based on the flimsiest evidence, took an innocent man and, in the words of Stewart, “casually, baselessly, and publicly accused [him] of – I don’t know – maybe being a mass murderer.”

Stewart then explains why this occurred. The mindset of Ross, according to Stewart, is that linking the Tea Party to the atrocity fits into “a pre-existing narrative. I should get that on the TV.” As Stewart puts it, “Tea Party, low taxes, madman. You do the math.”

Stewart then asks, in the form of a joke, quite a serious question: What story does a guy have to blow to get in trouble at ABC? What exactly does a chief investigative correspondent have to get wrong in order to be grounded by the news division?

When it comes to ABC News, apparently, tendentious, reckless and false allegations aren’t terribly problematic – at least when the object of the smear is the Tea Party.

Exactly.

And even Stephen Colbert hammers Brian Ross for his "partisan" hackery, "Partisan Speculation & Campaign Pauses Around Colorado Shooter."

As I've noted, the condemnation of ABC has been universal, left and right. See, for example,"Of Course Brian Ross Blamed the Tea Party."

And now even more, from Jonah Goldberg, "Brian Ross’s Brain Cramp: The facts don’t always suit the ideological agenda."

RELATED: "Repsac3, Hate-Addled Internet Predator, Screams 'Liar' at Virtually Entire World on Politicization of Colorado Shooting," and "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'."

Al Qaeda in Iraq Returns After U.S. Withdrawal

Thanks Baracky.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Iraqi Distress Signals" (via Google):

The Obama Administration last year made little serious effort to keep a smaller contingent of noncombat troops in Iraq beyond the 2011 withdrawal deadline. An American presence had calmed sectarian fevers and gave Mr. Maliki more confidence to share power.

But the White House priority was a total withdrawal it could point to as a promise kept to the political left as the re-election campaign neared. Now the U.S. has little leverage as the factions compete for power and self-preservation in a region where Iran now counts for more than America does.

Iraq has to find its own democratic way, and the U.S. can't serve as mediator forever. But Mr. Obama took the U.S. out of the country cold turkey and has since shown no interest in a crucial Middle East country where so much American blood was shed. The last ambassador left Baghdad in early June, and the Administration has no replacement on deck.

The abandonment of Iraq is consistent with the Administration's response to the 17-month conflict in Syria. President Obama says "the tide of war is receding," but you wouldn't know it from the arc of instability that is forming from Lebanon, through Syria, Iraq and into the Persian Gulf.

God, he's been just a horrible president. I can't wait to send the dude packing, and his fat-ass hypocrite wife MOoch.

Elton John Praises President George W. Bush and Conservatives for Saving Lives of More Than 8 Million Africans With AIDS

Well, he really goes against the grain, doesn't he.

From Peter Wehner, at Commentary, "The Human Drama of Saving Lives."

BONUS: Sky News has an interview with Sir Elton here.

PREVIOUSLY: "'Replace the Stigma With Compassion' — Elton John at International AIDS Conference."

Mitt Romney Hammers Obama in Speech to Veterans of Foreign Wars

At the Los Angeles Times, "Mitt Romney strongly criticizes President Obama in VFW speech."

Also at Nice Deb, "Video: Romney Blasts Obama For “Contemptible” Foreign Policy Leaks – WH Responds – Feinstein Backtracks."

Shocker — Employers Plan to Drop Health Care Coverage Under ObamaCare

Wizbang has the post.

Also, more on ObamaCare at the New York Times, "3 Million More May Lack Insurance Due to Ruling, Study Says":

Of Course Brian Ross Blamed the Tea Party

From Dennis Prager, at National Review, "Explaining Brian Ross’s Mistake: Why ABC Tried to Blame the Tea Party for Aurora.":

James Holmes is a human earthquake. We are as ill-equipped to predict the eruptions of such human beings as we are to predict the eruptions of the earth.

But that doesn’t mean that nothing meaningful came out of the Aurora tragedy.

Something quite important did, though few Americans are aware of it because it has already entered the mainstream media’s memory hole.

On ABC’s Good Morning America on Friday morning, Brian Ross, chief investigative reporter for ABC News, announced to George Stephanopoulos and millions of viewers that there’s “a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado page on the Colorado Tea Party site,” which mentions Holmes “talking about joining the Tea Party last year.”

Ross acknowledged that “we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes, but it is Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.”

As the Baltimore Sun’s TV critic, David Zurawik, wrote: “So, why put it out there in the first place, if you don’t have it nailed down?”

While blaming ABC News and Brian Ross for besmirching reputations and irresponsible reporting, Mr. Zurawik doesn’t answer his question.

I will.

The news media — as there are almost no non-liberal mainstream news media, the term “news media” means liberal news media — believe they have a higher calling than reporting news.

In order to understand this, I offer this anecdote. A number of years ago I was asked to moderate a panel of judges that included a former, very liberal, California Supreme Court justice. At one point the justice said that his role as a judge was to fight inequality, poverty, and racism. I respectfully disagreed: If that is what he wanted to do professionally, he should have chosen another profession; his role as a judge is solely to administer justice in his courtroom.

People on the left think the way the judge did. The primary purpose of every profession, as they see it, is to increase what they call “social justice.”...

There is an additional explanation.

In general, the Left believes the Right is evil. Not wrong, evil. And to Brian Ross and most of his colleagues at ABC News, the Tea Party is the current apotheosis of American evil.

If you think this is hyperbolic, former New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote that when an anonymous individual threw a brick through a congressman’s window, this somehow proved that the Tea Party was engaged in a “small-scale mimicry of Kristallnacht.”

Kristallnacht, the “Night of the Broken Glass,” is considered the opening act of the Holocaust. In November 1938, over the course of two days, tens of thousands of German Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps; scores of Jews were beaten to death; 267 synagogues were destroyed; and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized — often by having their windows smashed, hence the term Kristallnacht.

No one at the New York Times criticized Rich for his comparison of the Tea Party to Nazi murderers. Why would they? Nearly everyone at the paper probably agreed with him. And defeating the Right is more important than moral or factual accuracy.

On the day after Jared Loughner killed six people and gravely injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others, in an almost perfect preview of Brian Ross, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote that right-wing hate had provoked Loughner: “It’s the saturation of our political discourse — and especially our airwaves — with eliminationist rhetoric that lies behind the rising tide of violence. Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the Right . . . .”

Lest the ABC News smear be forgotten, I thought it important to devote a column to it. But the truth is that, in varying degrees and in a variety of ways, it happens every day — in movies, in schools, in courtrooms, and, of course, in the news media.

Excellent.

PREVIOUSLY: "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'," and "Repsac3, Hate-Addled Internet Predator, Screams 'Liar' at Virtually Entire World on Politicization of Colorado Shooting."

'Let America Be America Again'

The great new Scott Brown ad, via Weekly Standard, "GOP Operatives Praise Scott Brown's Latest Ad."

'Batman' Star Christian Bale Visits Aurora, Colorado

At the Los Angeles Times, "Batman actor Christian Bale visits Aurora, Colo., shooting victims."

Christian Bale, star of the Batman trilogy of movies, paid a surprise visit Tuesday to injured victims of the recent shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo. The shooting occurred during a midnight screening of the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Twelve people were killed and 58 were injured in the attack early Friday; a suspect was arrested in a nearby parking lot afterward.

Bill Voloch, interim president of Medical Center of Aurora, told the Denver Post that Bale spent about 2½ hours Tuesday at the hospital, where he met with seven of the victims. Five are being treated at the center; the two others came from Swedish Medical Center to meet with the Welsh actor.

"The patients were really happy to meet Bale," Voloch was quoted as saying. "They are obviously big fans of his movies. They wanted to see Batman and were really pleased to see Bale."

Bale, who was accompanied by his wife, Sibi Blazic, also met with doctors, police officers and emergency medical technicians who were among the first responders, the paper reported.

Keep reading.

Lots of folks wanted Bale to to visit victims' families in costume, which is really bad idea. I'm glad he went as is.

Syria Chemical Weapons Threat

Note first this excellent on the ground video report at Russia Today, "Syria warns will use chemical weapons in case of foreign attack." I say excellent, all but the last minute or so when RT's anchor went to radio show host and 9/11 truther Kevin Barrett, who argued that Syrian WMDs are being hyped by the West to justify invasion, allegedly just like the U.S. did in 2003 with the Iraq war. William Jacobson reported on that yesterday, "Syria threatens to use WMD which are figment of neocons’ imagination."

That said, there is some controversy on the nature of the threat, but given Syria's border with Iraq, and Iran's funding of terrorist groups in Lebanon and elsewhere, the absence of threat is not a foregone conclusion by any means. Here's Telegraph UK, "Syria raises prospect of using chemical weapons arsenal":

Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, fighting for its life, has shocked the west by threatening to use its arsenal of chemical weapons if outside forces intervened in its civil war.

And at the New York Times, "Syria Threatens Chemical Attack on Foreign Force":

Lebanon — Syrian officials warned Monday that they would deploy chemical weapons against any foreign intervention, a threat that appeared intended to ward off an attack by Western nations while also offering what officials in Washington called the most “direct confirmation” ever that Syria possesses a stockpile of unconventional armaments.

The warning came out of Damascus, veiled behind an assurance that the Syrian leadership would never use such weapons against its own citizens, describing chemical arms as outside the bounds of the kind of guerrilla warfare being fought internally.

“Any stock of W.M.D. or unconventional weapons that the Syrian Army possesses will never, never be used against the Syrian people or civilians during this crisis, under any circumstances,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, said at a news conference shown live on Syrian state television, using the initials for weapons of mass destruction. “These weapons are made to be used strictly and only in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic.”

Mr. Makdissi said that any such weapons were carefully monitored by the Syrian Army, and that ultimately their use would be decided by generals.

Though it has for many years been an open secret that Syria possessed a large cache of such weapons, the government has traditionally tried to retain some strategic ambiguity to keep its enemies guessing. Then on Monday, after Mr. Makdissi appeared to confirm that reality, the government quickly retreated to its familiar position, saying its remarks were misinterpreted.

Asked whether Syria was finally acknowledging that it had chemical weapons, Mr. Makdissi repeated roughly the same response, but began it by saying that any stock of unconventional weapons or chemical weapons “if they exist” would not be used domestically, but would be used against foreign intervention.

But the attempt at verbal sleight of hand did little to conceal what appeared to be Syria’s intent, experts and Western diplomats said.

Now, though, Syria is backtracking a bit. See CSM, "Chemical weapons? Syria 'backpedaling furiously' over weapons threats."

BONUS: At Jerusalem Post, "Russia warns Syria against using chemical weapons."

Ho-Hum, Sally Ride Was Lesbian

I cracked open the hard-copy version of the Los Angeles Times this morning with my coffee. Sally Ride's obituary is front page news, "Sally Ride dies at 61; first American woman in space."

It's a straightforward obit, but getting to the end of the piece we have this:

Ride is survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years; her mother, Joyce; her sister, Karen, known as "Bear"; and a niece and nephew.

I thought, great, she's lesbian and decided to keep her personal life private while she pursued her career. She was married in 1982 but divorced five years later with no children. That would be 1987, and in fact, it's quite possible that she left her husband, astronaut Steven Alan Hawley, for a woman. Now that would have been news! She could have caused a sensation, struck a blow against the patriarchy! Women of the world unite! But no, she was at the pinnacle of her profession and decided to continue achieving. She could have come out as lesbian any time after that. Why not? Who knows? But it's not like there wasn't a massive homosexual rights campaign raging all those years. I think she just thought better of it, and went about pursuing her dreams without all the gay extremist showboating. Frankly, just being a woman in space was f-king pathbreaking. No doubt she thought busting through one glass ceiling was enough, at least in her case. Indeed, according to the Times, Ride saw the rights of women as the key civil rights struggle:

In 2001, she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science, to encourage women and especially young girls to become interested in science. She also wrote five children's books encouraging an interest in science.

So it turns out when I logged onto Memeorandum, I found the big headline from the sensationalist BuzzFeed, "First Female U.S. Astronaut, Sally Ride, Comes Out In Obituary." Looks like everyone else wanted Ride out of the closet except Ride.

And here's this at excitable Andrew Sullivan's page, "America's First Woman In Space Was a Lesbian":

Now talk about a buried lede! The only thing preventing the NYT from writing an honest obit is homophobia. They may not realize it; they may not mean it; but it is absolutely clear from the obit that Ride's sexual orientation was obviously central to her life. And her "partner" (ghastly word) and their relationship is recorded only perfunctorily. The NYT does not routinely only mention someone's spouse in the survivors section. When you have lived with someone for 27 years, some account of that relationship is surely central to that person's life. To excise it completely is an act of obliteration. I'm afraid the Beast's tribute is worse. Lynn Sherr manages to write an appreciation which essentially treats Ride as a heterosexual.

The horror!

Homophobia! It's homophobia!

Isn't it always?

Notice that the New York Times "buried the lede!" Imagine what that would been, "Rockin' Sally Ride, First Butch to Blast Into Space, Dies at 61."

And for more humorous pleasure, notice how Towleroad missed the part about Ride's lesbianism, and the readers go batsh*t crazy in the comments: "Towleroad jumps the shark - every hour, on the hour." And note Joe. My. God., "Sally Ride Outed In Obituary," which includes Twitter embeds bemoaning the awful, just awful situation where Ride's partner, Tam, would be "denied" federal survivor's benefits. That would be a monstrous inhumanity, except that according to the Sally Ride Science homepage:

Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy is the COO and Executive Vice President of Sally Ride Science and a Professor Emerita of School Psychology at San Diego State University. Dr. O'Shaughnessy has been interested in science since she was a little girl.

Right. I'm sure Dr. O'Shaughnessy will live out the remainder of her life in crushing destitution, or at least that's what the idiot progressives would have you believe.

Frankly, Sally Ride is one more example of a great American, a great American who happened to be lesbian. She made a life for herself and her partner and thrived. I mean, what held her back? Nothing. But don't tell that to the hate-addled homosexual progressives currently attempting to dismantle decency and respect in this country.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Americans Prefer Romney on the Economy

This USA Today poll is likely to be repeated over and over again until election day. See, "Poll: Romney preferred over Obama to handle the economy" (via Memeorandum):

WASHINGTON – Despite concerted Democratic attacks on his business record, Republican challenger Mitt Romney scores a significant advantage over President Obama when it comes to managing the economy, reducing the federal budget deficit and creating jobs, a national USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

By more than 2-1, 63%-29%, those surveyed say Romney's background in business, including his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital, would cause him to make good decisions, not bad ones, in dealing with the nation's economic problems over the next four years.

The findings raise questions about Obama's strategy of targeting Bain's record in outsourcing jobs and hammering Romney for refusing to commit to releasing more than two years of his tax returns. Instead, Americans seem focused on the economy, where disappointment with the fragile recovery and the 8.2% unemployment rate are costing the president.

To be sure, Obama retains significant advantages of his own. By 2-1, he's rated as more likable than Romney. By double digits, those surveyed say the president better understands the problems Americans face in their daily lives. He has an 8-percentage-point advantage on being seen as honest and trustworthy.

However, Romney has the edge when it comes to being able to "get things done," and the broad landscape seems tilted in his favor...

Continue reading.

Republicans and independents are more enthusiastic about the election by 18 points, and 61 percent say the government is taking too activist a role in the economy, "trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses." And the Obama-Democrat attacks on Romney's business experience have had virtually no effect on the public's perception of the candidate's leadership qualities.

As always, though, what matters most is what's happening around the battleground states, and all signs point to a close election.

More on that from Nate Silver, "July 23: Is Minnesota a Battleground Again?"

Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to U.N., Blasts Western Nations for 'Propaganda' on Syria, Defends Moscow's Veto of Sanctions Resolution Against Assad

This is an amazing interview, decidedly bellicose and "stridently," in Ambassador Churkin's words, propagandistic.

I discussed Churkin at my earlier entry, "U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian Government."

The Diseased Mind of the Rampage Killer

A lengthy essay from Victor Davis Hanson, at PJ Media, "The Demons of the Modern Rampage Killer."

Tonight, I wish to know nothing about him other than the information necessary to try, convict, and punish him—and any data that might provide some sort of deterrence in preventing another such rampage.

In comparison to those he killed and maimed, and the legions of their relatives and friends, he is nothing. We the sophisticated with university degrees are supposed to know better: that hanging such a nightmarish criminal when convicted is both barbaric on our part and offers no statistical evidence that it will deter future such killers.

Perhaps. But society needs to be affirmed with a certainty that it has the clear sense of evil and good to try, convict, and punish the killer. Hanging Saddam or Eichmann, for all the controversies over their trials, at least offered some finality: they were evil and now are no more—and now we don’t worry whether Saddam was unloved, or the circumstances of Eichmann’s childhood.

In other words, I don’t care a whit whether the Aurora killer was a loner. I don’t care if he was unhappy or if he was on medication. Millions share such pathologies without killing a mouse. I don’t even know whether giving him swift justice will deter the next mass shooter. Yes, give the suspect expert legal counsel; call in all the psychiatrists imaginable; sequester the jury; ensure the judge is a pillar of jurisprudence; but if he is found guilty, I would prefer the gallows and quickly so, to remind us that we live in a civilization that prefers to remember the victims and to remember nothing at all of their killer.

Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County District Attorney: Decision on James Holmes Death Penalty 'Months Away'

At Telegraph UK, "Colorado shooting: 'death penalty decision is months down the line'." And CNN, "Death penalty decision months away, DA says."

RELATED: At CBS 4 Denver, "District Attorney Carol Chambers Put 2 of 3 Inmates On Death Row."

In Bizarre, Bitter Diatribe, Washed-Up Leftist Bill Moyers Attacks United States as 'Arsenal of Death'

Holy cow!

And I thought Rep. Jim Moran had blown a gasket.

Bill Moyers is so over the top he's about blast off to Mars. What a freak! He's contemptuous of the Constitution and he completely ignores the real facts of gun violence in this country, which I've discussed here in recent days. He rants about how the U.S. used to be the "arsenal of democracy" but is now the "arsenal of death." And he attacks the NRA as death's "enabler ... paranoid, delusional, and as venomous as a scorpion."

I am so glad that I never, ever see this man on television. Seriously. Is he even on PBS anymore? I would personally show up at his studio, weekly, to stage a one man protest, I find him so repulsive. But he's got the right to rave on as such, just as much as any person retains the right to own a gun for protection against the real lone killers out there, killers for which there's little explanation other than the grip of evil.

Progressivism is a disease, and Moyers is its embodiment. What an bitter little man, and awful bitter decrepit man-stump.

Here's an old piece on Moyers at FrontPage Magazine, which places him right along with all the other commie-enabling America-bashers that just infest the progressive left. What a hateful, hateful man. See: "Bill Moyers: Fat Cat for the Fifth Column."

Sensuous Katie Holmes Photo Shoot Just Days Before Divorce from Tom Cruise

The piece suggests you wouldn't know that Katie Holmes was under any marital stress. And frankly, given the speed at which they settled, I think she came out looking like a pro --- a strong, capable woman, the kind that feminists are supposed to be raving about.

In any case, lovely pictures, at London's Daily Mail, "The reinvention of Katie: Miss Holmes gets a sultry fashion makeover in photoshoot taken just days before dumping Tom Cruise."

Second Fatal Shooting in Anaheim Weekend Unrest

Jeez, it's getting to be a long, hot summer out in Anaheim.

At the O.C. Weekly, "Anaheim Police Kill Second Man on Sunday," and at the Orange County Register, "Anaheim shootings: Police prepare for protests."

More at the Los Angeles Times, "Anaheim chief 'very concerned' about uptick in police shootings."

Mariah Carey Joins 'American Idol'

She might have the star power to keep it going for awhile.

At the Los Angeles Times, "It's official: Mariah Carey will join 'American Idol'." (And see WeSmirch.)

And earlier at the Times, "With Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez out, the 'Idol' fun begins," and "Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler quit 'Idol'; Randy Jackson next?"

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Holmes Family Statement on Colorado Theater Massacre

See the Los Angeles Times, "Suspected Colorado gunman's family stands by son, attorney says," and "Colorado theater shooting: The next legal steps for James Holmes."

More at the Wall Street Journal, "Colorado Suspect Is Silent at His Hearing."

'Replace the Stigma With Compassion' — Elton John at International AIDS Conference

I love Elton John. And I'm so glad he's not dead.

At Telegraph UK, "Elton John tells Aids conference 'I should be dead'":

In his address at the International Aids Conference, Elton John tells the audience "I should be dead" because he didn't take precautions against HIV in the past.

Musician Elton John spoke to a packed audience at the 19th International Aids Conference in Washington, DC on Wednesday and said that because he did not take precautions, he should have contracted HIV years ago.

"Ladies and gentlemen by all rights I shouldn't be here today. I should be dead. Six feet under in a wooden box. I should have contracted HIV in the 1980s and died in the 1990s. Just like Freddie Mercury, just like Rock Hudson, just like so many friends and loved ones of yours and mine," Elton John said.

He also called on people to stop marginalizing people with HIV-Aids during his key note address.

More at that link above.

Thank goodness medical science has developed effective treatments to lessen the effects of the disease.

And I hope those at the conference follow John's model behavior as a gay man: live a stable life, be good to your family and support traditional values, and by all means eschew the radical homosexual politics that alienates so many decent people of good faith.

PREVIOUSLY: "Elton John Admits It's 'Heartbreaking' for Son Zachary to Grow Up Without a 'Mummy'."

Air Force C-17 Lands at Wrong Airport

At MyFox Tampa Bay, "Giant military cargo plane lands at small Tampa airport."

FLASHBACK: "Long Beach Boeing C-17 Tour."

'Batman' Moviegoers Undeterred by Tragedy

I'm not surprised. It's supposed to be an excellent film.

See the Los Angeles Times, "'Dark Knight Rises' opens to estimated $160 million amid tragedy."

Repsac3, Hate-Addled Internet Predator, Screams 'Liar' at Virtually Entire World on Politicization of Colorado Shooting

For all of hate-blogger Walter James Casper III's embarrassing, over-the-top bleating, he's in fact never shown that Brain Ross's premature speculation wasn't political. In fact, that Ross sought to tie suspect James Holmes to the tea party was nothing but political, because his statement couldn't be farther from a routine mistake of fact. Ross "investigated" the suspect's name, found out there was a "James Holmes" in Colorado who belonged to tea party groups, and then went on the air with it. He didn't wrongly report the suspect's age or occupation, or some other descriptive non-political fact. He instinctively went with the same well-worn blood libel smear against the allegedly "violent" tea party movement. He was comfortable smearing the tea party for mass murder because that's what network elites do. Simple as that. And of course it was entirely wrong and Ross has been universally condemned for "politicizing" the reporting. Not "misreporting" the story, "politicizing" it in the most disgusting way imaginable. Regina Thomson, President of the Colorado Tea Party Patriots, repudiated Ross's smear as "shameless and reprehensible." This happens every time there's some kind of horrible massacre, for example last year in Tucson. Left-wing journalists, pundits, and bloggers jumped to exploit the bloodshed to destroy conservatives. And that Repsac3 is now so blindingly enraged to be called out on his dishonesty--- when even far-left "Wonkette" called Ross's smear a reprehensible move --- is just, well, pathetic.

And note now that the epic hate blogger didn't think it enough to attack Michelle Malkin, who had written a perfectly reasonable and well-documented report, as a "whiney wingnut victim." No, in his insane descent to dangerous incoherence, he's now basically calling virtually everyone who's responded to the Colorado politicization a "liar":

Politicizing the CO Shootings bit.ly/LEojKb A lie every time @ampowerblog repeats it. ABC ran w/ bad TParty link 2b first, not bias.
— J. Casper (@repsac3) July 22, 2012

Actually, it's Repsac3 who's lying. As I've reported throughout, the condemnation has been virtually universal, left and right, attacking Ross's initial report as disgustingly political. Here's IBD's editorial from Friday, for example, "ABC News' Tea Party Apology Isn't Good Enough":

ABC News quickly apologized after one of its reporters tried to tie the Colorado massacre to the Tea Party. When will the network apologize for the blatant media bias that led to this monumental screw-up?

Less than eight hours after the movie theater shooting spree left 13 dead, "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos turned to reporter Brian Ross who, he said, had "found something that might be significant."

Ross' finding? There's a guy named Jim Holmes who joined the Colorado Tea Party last year.

Stop the presses!

Never mind that a simple online search of the Denver area turns up more than a dozen Jim Holmeses, any one of whom was just as likely to be the shooter as the guy Ross found on the Tea Party site. And never mind that Ross had zip, zero, nada information on the Jim Holmes whose name he did find.

Why bother taking such elemental journalistic steps when you can possibly be the first to tag a right-wing group with a mass shooting?

There's also the question of why Ross' first instinct was to go trolling around Tea Party sites. That, as much as Stephanopoulos and Ross' decision to go on the air with the bogus information, reveals the enormity of the media bias at work here.

This is the same bias that was on glaring display after the Gabby Giffords shooting, when reporters tried — falsely and based on no evidence whatsoever — to pin the shooting on heated Tea Party rhetoric.

It's the same bias that pushed the mainstream press to trumpet unfounded claims that Tea Partyers hurled a racial epithet at a black congressman. And that propelled these same reporters to cover up actual crimes — rapes, murders, destruction of property — perpetrated by their "Occupy Wall Street" friends.

Shortly after Ross' report, ABC News apologized "for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted."

Sorry, but that's not good enough. If ABC News was genuinely sorry, it would take a hard look at how such a fantastically biased report could have made it on the air in the first place.

Exactly right.

And this is the same basic point that Michelle made in her post on Friday, "Blame Righty impulse blows up in media faces…again." And tea party groups are still indignant that they get blood libeled every time there's a national tragedy. See Jennifer Stefano, the Pennsylvania State Director of AFP, at Fox News, "Media must stop falsely accusing the Tea Party every time tragedy strikes."

And here's John Kass, at far-left Chicago Tribune, "ABC makes a wrong — and biased — snap judgment: Colorado massacre quickly becomes political":

How long does it take for a major American television news network to politicize mass murder and blame conservatives for the blood of innocents?

Not long.

It happened on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday morning, as the country woke to the news of the mass murder during the midnight showing of the new Batman movie: A heavily armed man named James Eagan Holmes allegedly killed 12 and injured 58 others in a suburban theater outside Denver.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos, once a top aide to former President Bill Clinton, and ABC reporter Brian Ross teamed up to quickly place the horror at the feet of American conservatives.

Stephanopoulos: I'm going to go to Brian Ross. You've been investigating the background of Jim Holmes here. You found something that might be significant.

Ross: There's a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado tea party site as well, talking about him joining the tea party last year. Now, we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes. But it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado. Stephanopoulos: OK, we'll keep looking at that. Brian Ross, thanks very much. And that's all it took, a mention, a name, a possible connection about a Jim Holmes joining the tea party movement that is reviled by establishment Democrats and (though not often reported) establishment Republicans. The connection was made. It was artfully done.

But there was one thing wrong with the ABC report.

It was the wrong Holmes.

The Holmes ABC referred to was a middle-aged man. The one arrested with the guns and the gas bombs and the mask and the booby-trapped apartment is James Eagan Holmes, a 24-year-old graduate student who was in the process of dropping out of school.

After an onslaught by bloggers over the Internet on Friday, ABC news issued a correction.

"An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado tea party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect," said ABC News in a statement. "ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted."

We all make mistakes. But this one smacks of political bias. And when you add political bias to the rush of breaking news, as seems to have happened here, things get stinky.

It could have been an honest mistake, perhaps. It might have come across as a mistake if Stephanopoulos had interjected and said, "No, Brian, we don't have enough evidence to make that connection to the tea party." Instead, the former aide to Bill Clinton thanked Ross for his reporting. It's no wonder that virtually the entire political establishment reacted the way it did. ABC News was out there on a limb, as James Taranto reported at the Wall Street Journal --- and for someone to come along and then essentially call all these people "liars" is simply beneath contempt. But that's Walter James Casper for you. He's been working the Internet for years, attempting to undermine and destroy conservatives.

I could keep going, because the examples are all over the web. But in fact there's no need to keep going. The facts are out there, but those blinded by ideological bigotry refuse to see them.

Walter James Casper is now back to stalking this blog and sending me unsolicited tweets. He's even kicked back up the old "American Nihilist" hate-site after I reported it to the Irvine Police Department previously. But it's all of a piece, I guess, as a conservative on the web shining truth on progressive evil. The left tries to shut folks down with stalking and intimidation, but you have to shine a light on the hate and defeat them. It takes a lot of time, but Repsac3 is a particularly resistant form of progressive pestilence. He never went away after being reported to the police, despite announcing that I'd "won the Internet." He just shifted gears a bit, and is now back in the hunt for his next political kill.

PREVIOUSLY: "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'."

BACKGROUND: "Intent to Annoy and the Fascist Hate-Blogging Campaign of Walter James Casper III."

Are Politicians 'Cowed' by the NRA

I think the example of the rampant bloodshed in Chicago this month is a very effective response to all the left-wing cries for gun control coming out of the Colorado shooting. But it's interesting seeing progressives getting all worked up about this.

One of the New York Times pieces I've linked recently (I don't care enough to go back and find it) quoted Democrat New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy to the effect that Members of Congress were "afraid of the gun lobby." I'll have more on the congresswoman later (she's interviewed at Democracy Now! here), but for now I wanted to share this piece at the Guardian UK, "America's love of guns: how attempts to tighten gun laws have foundered" (Americans are "cowed" by the NRA), and also this CBS News clip featuring Democrat Rep. Jim Moran --- who is factually wrong on at least one or two points (suspect Holmes did not walk into the theater armed, so metal detectors at the door wouldn't have stopped him, for example). And while the "politically castrated" remark is colorful, notice after that how Moran essentially argues that nothing would have stopped the shooter --- he was wearing a "bullet proof vest" --- and citizens defending themselves "would have just caused even more deaths." Perhaps not, especially since Holmes' AR-15 jammed and someone familiar with firearms who was packing would have recognized an opening and perhaps saved lives. It's all conjecture. No one wants a movie theater breaking out in gunfire like "the O.K. Corral," but people like this are ridiculously loose with their statements and fabulously hostile to the Second Amendment. It's been a very revealing last couple of days in that respect.

And toward the end there Moran drops that magic number of "6,000 rounds of ammunition," which as I mentioned is like honey to the busy-bees of the anti-gun lobby. These people sound like raving idiots overwhelmed by all the political opportunity this week. Sheesh.

PREVIOUSLY: "'As Easy as Ordering a Book From Amazon' — Suspect James Holmes Amassed 6,000 Rounds Via the Internet."

'As Easy as Ordering a Book From Amazon' — Suspect James Holmes Amassed 6,000 Rounds Via the Internet

The public isn't moved toward greater gun control coming out of Aurora, although it's amazing the kind of arsenal the suspect amassed.

This is from this morning's front-page at the New York Times, "Suspect Bought Large Stockpile of Rounds Online":

DENVER — Unhindered by federal background checks or government oversight, the 24-year-old man accused of killing a dozen people inside a Colorado movie theater was able to build what the police called a 6,000-round arsenal legally and easily over the Internet, exploiting what critics call a virtual absence of any laws regulating ammunition sales.

With a few keystrokes, the suspect, James E. Holmes, ordered 3,000 rounds of handgun ammunition, 3,000 rounds for an assault rifle and 350 shells for a 12-gauge shotgun — an amount of firepower that costs roughly $3,000 at the online sites — in the four months before the shooting, according to the police. It was pretty much as easy as ordering a book from Amazon.

He also bought bulletproof vests and other tactical gear, and a high-capacity “drum magazine” large enough to hold 100 rounds and capable of firing 50 or 60 rounds per minute — a purchase that would have been restricted under proposed legislation that has been stalled in Washington for more than a year.

Mr. Holmes, a graduate student in neuroscience with a clean criminal record, was able to buy the ammunition without arousing the slightest notice from law enforcement, because the sellers are not required in most cases to report sales to law enforcement officials, even unusually large purchases. And neither Colorado nor federal law required him to submit to a background check or register his growing purchases, gun policy experts said.

A few states like Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey, and cities like Los Angeles and Sacramento, have passed restrictions on ammunition sales, requiring permits for buyers or licenses for sellers, or insisting that dealers track their ammunition sales for law enforcement.

But in Colorado, and across much of the United States, the markets for ammunition — online and in storefronts — are largely unregulated, gun-control advocates say.

I imagine those gun control advocates see this angle as a way to get some leverage for stricter gun laws. But the same rebuttal applies: the suspect is an extreme anomaly and tighter gun control laws wouldn't have made a difference. He bought legally and would have been able to buy legally under whatever regime is in place. Had he been restricted in Colorado he could have gone somewhere else and a ban on Internet sales would probably violate the Second Amendment. And frankly, if someone's determined enough to amass a stockpile for a mass murder, he'll do it legally or not.

In any case, the Wall Street Journal also has a piece on the arsenal, "Rifle in Shooting Once Was Federally Restricted."

Obama Praises Himself for Ending Iraq War on Same Day Insurgents Kill at Least 100 in New Offensive

The administration's badly flawed Iraq drawdown is coming home to roost, ironically on the same day that President Obama was conducting a round of gutsy call, football-spiking political events, including campaign ads and military speeches.

Jake Tapper notices, "President Obama Praises Self for Ending War in Iraq on Bloodiest Day of the Year in That Country" (via Memeorandum). It's not insignificant, Jake, not at all.

See the New York Times, "Iraq Insurgents Kill at Least 100 After Declaring New Offensive" (via Memeorandum):

BAGHDAD — In a coordinated display intended to show they remain a viable force, Iraqi insurgents launched at least 40 separate attacks throughout the country on Monday morning, setting off car bombs, storming a military base, attacking policemen in their homes and ambushing checkpoints, the Iraqi authorities said.

At least 100 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the single bloodiest day this year, according to Iraqi officials in the many areas where attacks took place.

The attacks, coming in the early days of Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim religious rite, were predicted Sunday in an audio message attributed to the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Bakir Al Baghdadi, and posted on the group’s Web site. Mr. Baghdadi vowed that a new offensive, which he called Breaking Down Walls, would begin soon.

The offensive was without precedent this year at least in the sheer number of attacks, spread over so many locations in a third of Iraq’s 18 provinces, from north to south. It was sure to raise concerns about the government’s ability to contain the violence, six months after the last American troops left the country.

“I think Al Qaeda in Iraq made a big joke of the government and the Iraqi security forces,” said Khalid Fadel, a military analyst and former instructor at the Iraqi Military College. “They were so clear that they were going to launch attacks during Ramadan, and the government said that they have information of about 30 terrorist groups entering the country, but still the security forces are unable to prevent the attacks.”

Mr. Baghdadi said in the Qaeda statement that “we are returning again to dominate territories we used to dominate, as well as more.” He depicted the attacks as part of a battle launched by Sunnis against the country’s Shiite leaders and people.

Continue reading. And just a few minutes ago I caught a few minutes of the president's speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nevada. He looks almost deathly glum, and he's still speaking at the live feed right now, at 1:05pm.

The Untold Story of the Arab Spring

At IBD, "Obama, Hillary Secretly Helped Bring Islamofascists to Power in Egypt" (via Israel Matzav).

And it all sounded so great at the time, the talk of freedom and democracy in Egypt. Recall former Bush NSC chief Stephen Hadley, "The Two Likeliest Political Outcomes for Mubarak."

The euphoria faded fast, or at least in my case. I don't think Hadley's updated his opinion, despite the accession to power of the Islamists.

Colorado Shooting Suspect James Holmes in Court

I'm watching CBS News, and there's a live feed here.

8:40am: Erick Weber has a picture of the suspect on Twitter.

8:43am: That's it. He's back out of the courtroom.

9:00am: The New York Times reports, "Suspect in Colorado Shooting Appears in Court."

9:05am: A video clip:

New Julie Henderson Bikini Pics!

At London's Daily Mail, "Bikini model Julie Henderson brings some Miami heat as she parades enviable figure on the golden sands."

She's a Sports Illustrated model. See: "Julie Henderson in Desroches Island, Seychelles."

NCAA Slaps Penn State With Huge Penalties

At the New York Times, "Penn State Penalties Include $60 Million Fine and Bowl Ban."

The NCAA vacated all of Penn State's wins going back to 1998, and I'm still trying to figure out the logic of that. You can't erase history, so I guess it just vacates the team's rankings. Anyway, read it all at the link. Late justice, I guess.

Anaheim Places Officers on Leave After Fatal Shooting

At the Los Angeles Times, "2 officers placed on leave after fatal shooting in Anaheim."

And at the O.C. Register, "2 officers on leave after Anaheim shooting":

[VIDEO PULLED]

ANAHEIM – Two police officers have been placed on paid leave after one of them fatally shot an unarmed man as he attempted to flee on foot in a residential alleyway, police Chief John Welter said Sunday.

The shooting victim, 25-year-old Manuel Angel Diaz of Santa Ana, was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 7 p.m. Saturday after being shot in the alley a few blocks northeast of downtown Anaheim.

Police described Diaz as a "documented gang member," and said he was shot after the officers saw three men near a car in the 600 block of Anna Drive, near La Palma Avenue and State College Boulevard. Believing the activity to be suspicious, the officers approached the vehicle, and all three men fled on foot.

The officers chased Diaz and observed him throwing unidentified objects onto rooftops as he ran, Welter said. What led one of the officers to shoot Diaz remained under investigation Sunday, Welter said.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait said he would be asking California's attorney general to assist in the investigation.

"I'm asking for a full investigation," Tait said at a Sunday news conference. "Transparency is essential. Whatever the truth is, we will own it."

The dead man's sister, Lupe Diaz, said Sunday that her brother was "just hanging out with friends" before the shooting.

"There is no explanation," Diaz said. "It's not fair."

Continue reading.

The suspect Diaz was shot in the butt, and then again in the head, according to an eyewitness.

And note this from the Register's report: "Police reportedly tried to buy any video taken by witnesses on their cellphones, residents said." And the reporter at the clip says the same thing, so there were probably a number of requests.

The police dog jumped out of the police car unauthorized as well, which is fail.

A little damage control, no doubt.

Prof. Glenn Reynolds has written on the right of citizens to record the police, at the Washington University Law Review, "A Due Process Right to Record the Police."

BONUS: There's a huge roundup at the O.C. Weekly, and witnesses reportedly identified the deceased as Manuel "Stomper" Diaz. See, "Anaheim Police Fire Rubber Bullets at Crowd After Officer-Involved Shooting."

Olympic Committee Won't Hold Moment of Silence for Slain 1972 Israeli Athletes

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Not One Moment to Remember Munich":

In spite of the growing calls for a moment of silence in honor of the 11 Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the head of the International Olympic Committee said yesterday that he would not alter his determination to refuse to allow the issue to intrude upon the opening ceremonies of the London Games this Friday. Jacques Rogge said yesterday that it “was not fit” for a commemoration of Munich to be included in the gala start to the global athletic extravaganza.

This week, President Obama added his voice to those already calling for a moment of silence at the ceremony. Perhaps even more importantly, Bob Costas, NBC television’s Olympic host, has said that he will impose his own moment of silence on the coverage of the event when the Israeli team enters the stadium:

“I intend to note that the IOC denied the request,” Costas said. “Many people find that denial more than puzzling but insensitive. Here’s a minute of silence right now.”

Costas deserves great deal of credit for not allowing the IOC’s desire to keep the memory of Munich out of sight during the games (Rogge said he will attend a ceremony honoring the Munich victims in Germany next week). But while he finds the refusal to simply devote one minute to remembrance “puzzling,” there is no mystery about it. Rogge has called requests for such a memorial “political.” While there is nothing political about recalling the terrorist attack, by that he means that many of the participating nations are not comfortable highlighting a crime committed by Palestinians or honoring the memory of Israeli Jews. As historian Deborah Lipstadt wrote this past week, the controversy is more proof that in the eyes of the world, spilled Jewish blood remains a cheap commodity.

Continue reading.

The Lipstadt essay is here: "Jewish Blood Is Cheap."

Alexander Cockburn, Shill for Communism, Dead at 71

David Horowitz comments on the death of Alexander Cockburn:

Alex Cockburn is dead of cancer at the age of 71. Alex was an influential voice in a generation of leftists who did an enormous disservice to this country and the world at large by carrying on a political tradition and promoting a political cause that killed 100 million people in the 20th Century – in peacetime – and consigned more than a billion others to immeasurable and unnecessary poverty, even starvation, by imposing on them the crackpot socialist schemes of Karl Marx and his misguided disciples. Alex’s father Claud was also a noted writer and both an agent of and propagandist for Stalin’s bloody regime. Alex exhibited in his own person many of the worst Stalinist traits. He was personally vicious in attacking political opponents and even friends, such as Christopher Hitchens, about whom he wrote one of the most disgusting columns I have ever read – although in fairness it must be said that Christopher himself was a master of this particular form of literary abuse.

On the other hand, Alex had worthy sense of humor, which even a target like myself could appreciate, and was a clever writer though inferior as a stylist to Christopher whom he obviously envied and paid back with insults. It could be said of Alex that he was also a gutsy individual who, like Christopher, on occasion displayed independence of mind – a rarity among leftists who are normally incapable of challenging the progressive herd. Alex’s most notorious deviation from orthodoxy was his refusal to support the idea that human beings are responsible for climate change, a cardinal tenet of the progressive faith. This caused the obituary writer for the Los Angeles Times, which like most of our metropolitan papers has become a left-wing tabloid, to say of him “his thoughts on global warming aligned him with the far right” – as though matters of science should be subject to a political party line.

Needless to say, the Times obit failed to mention the fact that Alex and his father were shills for Communists, or that Alex was anti-American and an anti-Semite and a cheerleader for the Islamo-fascists of Hizbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood who are bent on destroying us. Despite the unfortunate resurgence in our time of the vile ideologies of the 1930s and 1960s to which he devoted his life, Alex was at the end a bitter and spiteful man. This was the predictable fruit of a life spent badly in recrimination and anger.

The Times' obituary is here: "Leftist journalist Alexander Cockburn dies at 71."

The New York Times also has this, "Alexander Cockburn, Left-Wing Writer, Is Dead at 71." And note an interesting bit, in light of David's remembrance:

After Martin Peretz, the publisher of the The New Republic, had a fainting spell in Paris in the late 1980s, Mr. Cockburn gleefully noted that it occurred at an expensive restaurant where patrons were “so bloated that they have to be rubbed down with Vaseline to squeeze through the door.”

Yet when Mr. Cockburn wrote a column drastically revising downward the number of deaths attributable to Stalin, Mr. Peretz suggested that Mr. Cockburn “has a sentimental interest in this controversy but not the credentials to evaluate it.”

No one drastically revises downward "the number of deaths attributable to Stalin," unless they want to whitewash the crimes of 20th-century leftism, which is exactly what David points out.

And about Cockburn's dissent from the leftist global warming orthodoxy, the communist Down With Tyranny! wasn't down with that:

I can't overstate how important Alex's weekly fuck-the-bullshit journalism was for me in, roughly, his first two decades in the U.S. (beginning in 1973), first at the Village Voice, then at The Nation. In the pre-Internet age, I don't know that anyone reached me as regularly and forcefully with the message that the media are feeding us sanitized (or worse) BS, and that self-proclaimed left-leaners aren't necessarily more trustworthy than the roster of unapologetic establishment whores, and arguably less so in that they pretend to be other-than-whores....

The memorialists are writing in terms like this, from the deck on the L.A. Times obit: "His views didn't always jibe with those of his allies."

Which is a polite way of saying that a lot of people who found in him a champion on a whole range of issues were anywhere from mystified to horrified by what he had to say on other issues. The most conspicuous example, as Carolyn Kellogg puts it in the L.A. Times obit, "was his denial of global warming, which brought him a measure of public attention in 2007." But I often found, on occasions when I read something he wrote from the '90s on (usually by referral from a friend or colleague), that I didn't know quite what to make of it. Was it the fire-breathing truth-teller who had once inspired me so, or was it a hobby-horse-riding crank who had perhaps been living too long inside his own head?

So there was really no point in my seeking out his writing, and I'm sure in those later couple of decades I missed a fair amount of it which would have gotten my juices going and pointed me in directions I needed to explore.

Which is another way of saying I'm not going to read the f-ker if he's not trumpeting the communist party line.

Jeez, these are some sick freak leftists.

'Reliable Sources' Covers Media Response to Colorado Shooting

A follow-up to my earlier post, "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'." As noted, Repsac3 is infected with incredibly deep hatred and bigotry, and this prevents him from even acknowledging progressive error, not to mention left-wing evil.

At the clip, Howard Kurtz briefly mentions that Breitbart's website claimed that the suspect was a Democrat, and then corrected the post. That's premature as well, and I think folks should report the facts about what is happening on the ground before trying to tear apart your enemies. Of course, that is not something the progressives like Walter James Casper believe, so there's literally no reason to expect him to call out folks on his side rather than defend them. As I've documented here for years, he's a genuinely twisted individual, and frankly a sad little imitation of a man.

Also at the clip, Ana Marie Cox makes a good point that if we're going to debate gun control, let's do it in response to news at the local level, around the country, where we've seen a massive loss of human life, especially in Chicago. Glenn Reynolds suggested why that won't be happening, however, "REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF..."

...this month’s massacre in Chicago.

“A mass murder like Aurora, Colorado, naturally grabs the headlines and attention, as it should. A presidential recognition of the murders is appropriate. Yet more than twice as many people have been murdered this month in the president’s hometown of Chicago than were killed in the Aurora shooting. They are just statistics for whom there will be no presidential visits or flags flown at half staff.”

Well, since Chicago already has very strict gun control, these deaths can’t be turned to political use.

And see William Jacobson as well, "Remembering Chicago’s Victims."

Huma Abedin Gets Police Protection After Being Threatened

Following up on my previous entry, "Rep. Michele Bachmann Wants Investigation of Huma Abedin, Aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

And this is wrong, "Weiner wife under guard":

Police and federal officials have placed security around ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, after a New Jersey man threatened her, law-enforcement sources said.

An individual, described as a Muslim man, made the unspecified threat after Rep.

Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last week claimed Abedin’s family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and asked for a probe to see if she is helping the Islamist organization. The man was questioned by the NYPD and the State Department and has not been charged, sources said.

That said, it's a legitimate question about the potential influence of Abedin's parents on U.S. foreign policy. She's a top aide to the U.S. Secretary of State, for crying out loud. Find out what's up with that and be done with it. See Nonie Darwish, for example, at FrontPage Magazine, "Huma Abedin’s Mother and an Islamist Agenda":

Huma Abedin, Secretary Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, could be the nicest woman with the greatest character, but that is not the issue nor should it be a reason to prevent ny inquiry into her family background and connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead of attacking Representative Bachmann for raising important questions regarding Muslim Brotherhood penetration of the US government, the response from the media and Senator McCain should have been a statement to the effect that Abedin has already been vetted and has a sound security clearance. But instead, the response was: “How dare you, Michele Bachmann!”

Now let us examine Huma’s mother’s history and activities. Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin has been identified in Saudi Arabia as one of the founding members of the Muslim Sisterhood, a Muslim Brotherhood women’s group. This is the same group that half of Egypt was too scared to vote for and that was criminalized for many decades in Egypt for its subversiveness and terror activities. Dr. Abedin is no ordinary Muslim woman, but an activist who supports Sharia law. She is also a long-time chairperson of the “International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child” (IICWC). Now let us examine what that group is doing in Egypt today and why many Egyptians are afraid of its activities and are strongly denouncing it.

The last elections in Egypt have proved that half of Egypt is afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood and does not want to live under Sharia, but that is not the same concern of Abedin’s organization (IICWC), which is advocating Sharia law. The IICW contributed greatly to fear of its agenda after a recent publication in Arabic on its website. The following topics were discussed, among others, suggesting the annulment of Egyptian moderate laws, which would be replaced by Sharia laws. Below are some of the positions that appeared in the IICWC publication:

* The IICWC position that the current laws criminalizing female genital mutilation be revoked.
* The IICWC’s position demanding that the laws forbidding child marriage below the age of eighteen be revoked. No new minimum marriage age was given; the group stated that the marriage standard depends on the financial and mental ability and not dependent on a specific age.
* The IICWC’s positions, as reported, demanding that the laws forbidding marital rape be revoked and that polygamy is a right for men.
* The IICWC’s position that a health check-up before marriage be revoked since it is against religion and should not be part of the marriage contract.
* The IICWC’s position that criminal responsibility triggering at age 18 be reduced to age 15.
* The IICWC’s position revokes the right of a woman to register her newborn by herself for a birth certificate because Sharia states that a child’s lineage is given strictly to the father and his paternal line. The child belongs to the father even if it was the product of adultery.
* The IICWC’s position revokes the criminalization of physical and mental abuse of parents against children, so long as the punishment does not cause a permanent deformity or the beating is too extreme.

Above are the values that Huma Abedin’s mother believes in and that her organization is trying to impose on the Egyptian public after the revolution. Huma did not keep a distance from her mother’s activities when she introduced Secretary Clinton to her activist mother. During Clinton’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the US Secretary of State visited and spoke at the Islamic college of Dar El-Hekma together with Huma, where Dr. Saleha Abedin was a vice-dean and one of its founders.

See also the Center for Security Policy, "Ties That Bind? The Views and Agenda of Huma Abedin’s Islamist Mother."

Check that link.

At this point it's clear that Huma Abedin's mother is a woman whose agenda stands radically at odds with U.S. foreign policy. By all accounts, Secretary Clinton is personally close to Huma, and thus it's quite important that the public be reassured of no undue influence being exerted to disrupt U.S. protection of human and women's rights around the world.

Joe Paterno Statue Taken Down at Penn State University

At the Wall Street Journal, "Statue of Paterno Taken Down."

Suspect James Holmes' Rapid Descent

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Suspect's Rapid Descent: Holmes Bought Rifle, Bullets During Month After School Exit":

AURORA, Colo.—In early June, first-year doctoral student James Holmes stood before professors of neuroscience here for an oral exam that marked the beginning of at least four more years of intense study of how the brain works.

Days later, though, school administrators received an email from Mr. Holmes saying that he dropped out of the program. He didn't give a reason.

What happened over the next month is now the focus of law-enforcement officials who say Mr. Holmes entered a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and shot 70 people early Friday. So far, they have learned that between the time he left school and the massacre, Mr. Holmes applied for membership at a shooting range, whose owner on Sunday described Mr. Holmes's answering-machine message as "incoherent, bizarre, freakish at best." The suspect also bought an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a military-style gun popular with sportsmen since a federal ban on its sale expired eight years ago.

Meanwhile, police said, Mr. Holmes had bought thousands of rounds of ammunition via the Internet and received "high-volume" deliveries by mail to his home and school, for what authorities described as an arsenal of weapons and explosives.

Yet amid these developments, on July 9, Mr. Holmes also talked of furthering his education while sharing a beer with a neighbor at a local bar.

Interviews with investigators and people who knew Mr. Holmes, from his high-school years to his last days as a student, depict a cerebral, quiet man whom none thought capable of violence. He was described as a disciplined student—playing online videogames only after studying—and often joined group social events. But even those who shared stretches of intimate space with Mr. Holmes, in dorm rooms or graduate-school laboratories, say he was distant and enigmatic.

Notice two bits of new information here. Holmes, as reported elsewhere today, was turned down after looking to join a gun club. But note too that it's not true that Holmes was a completely isolated loner, which would fit more closely with a brooding outcast profile. Instead, he appeared to enjoy social events with other students, something that I focused on last night, as he seemed to be isolated on campus. That may still be the case, although it's not so clear now or to what degree. And the Journal's piece continues:

Mr. Holmes found a crew of studious students on his floor that appeared a good fit for him his freshman year, hallmates said. He became a fixture socially among the science majors and others. Often, he joined them for dinner and games of Guitar Hero or movie nights to watch Disney films, several recalled.

Still, Mr. Holmes remained a mystery to some. His freshman roommate said the two rarely spoke beyond small talk about "The Simpsons" or "Family Guy." Mr. Holmes often spent his lunch hour in the suite's common lounge watching a show called "How It's Made" on the Discovery Channel, which is about factory products.

Mr. Holmes was disciplined and kept his room tidy. He spent much of his time in the room with his books open or staring into a computer screen. Each night he played an hour or two of online computer games after the studying was done before going to bed early, his roommate said.

"He was very responsible," he said. "He had his quirks, which were that he didn't talk a lot."

Well, now it looks like a guy was, yes, something of a recluse but was attempting to fit in and find a social group. Frankly, he's not that abnormal. Lots of people are shy and reserved, and they hold back from aggressive socializing, staying within their comfort zone. Okay, but the Journal has more on Holmes' academic problems and abrupt resignation from the neuroscience program:

When classes ended in May, the students were required to pass a first-year test referred to as the "prelims." The school said students had to stand before three professors and answer questions.

Shortly after the tests were done, the classmate said, a neuroscience administrator took the group for drinks to tell them Mr. Holmes had dropped out. The administrator said she received a short resignation email from Mr. Holmes that didn't explain why. Some assumed he had gone back to California.

Mr. Holmes hadn't been on campus since June, though his program-cancellation paperwork remains unfinished, according to a university spokesman.

About the time he applied to leave the university, Mr. Holmes began buying thousands of rounds of ammunition via the Web and purchased four guns over the past 60 days, including the a AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, Glock handguns and a shotgun, police said.

Check the link for a few more details.

Here's my piece from last night: "James Holmes' Academic Frustration and Social Isolation."

At this point I'm focused less on the social isolation variable and more on the academic frustration factor. The problem now, though, is that Holmes gave no reason for his withdrawal from the university. The Journal suggests that he'd taken his first-year oral exams. There's more to that than it sounds, that is, there's more to these than just having to "stand before three professors and answer questions." Depending on the department, the student will get to pick his oral examination committee. You're building mentor relationships by this time, and faculty have gotten a good look at you during the first year seminars. The department will usually not advance to candidacy those who've been struggling. The student receives some kind of grade, for example "passed with distinction" or "high pass," that signals a successful oral exam and advancement to the Ph.D. program. A student could get something like an undistinguished passing grade and then not be advanced. Perhaps the student could leave the department with Master's degree. And while that's not in evidence so far in Holmes' case, it's possible he just had an awful experience taking the orals. The committee is going to try to pin you down on your weakest area, forcing you to struggle to explain some area of the literature or big problem of method or so forth. It's not very fun to be harangued like that, and if Holmes had a bad time of it --- that is, if he was pinned down during the orals and didn't acquit himself on some topic --- it could have been a blow to his already questionable sense of self, his esteem. And if so, perhaps he couldn't face his colleagues.

Keep in mind it's not clear from the Journal's report whether Holmes even took the oral exams, so I'm just thinking out loud. If he took them, and then notified the department before the neuroscience administrator took students out for drinks, then the timing would be about right. But that's unclear without a more concise report on this timeline of events.

That's my take for now, then. Grad school is no cakewalk, especially that first year, which might be called "Darwinian." In this case, not only was Holmes perhaps not one of the "fittest," but his failure to survive the program could have sent him off onto a dark path toward becoming a psychopath.

More later...

U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian Government

With the exception of Max Boot at Commentary, and Reuel Marc Gerecht at the Wall Street Journal, we've seen few voices advocating direct military intervention in Syria. (And Gerecht was calling for CIA-directed operations, quite short of full boots on the ground.)

An invasion of Syria would have worked better months ago, had there been enough foresight to realize that it was time for Assad to go and there weren't really other good options. Certainly, the U.N.'s engagement has once again made a mockery of that institution, especially with Russia protecting its balance of power interests in Syria, which include Moscow's only naval base outside of Russian waters. On Thursday this photo at the Los Angeles Times summarized --- like "a picture worth a thousand words" --- U.S. frustration with United Nations diplomacy toward Syrian President Bashar Assad (see, "Russia, China veto U.N. resolution on Syria"). Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has his hands outstretched as he leans forward in a pleading stance, while U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice looks at him, arms crossed, seemingly angry and surely frustrated. It's an amazing shot.

But now here comes the New York Times with the very shocking headline, "U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian Government." Notice how Memeorandum has the original headline, which has now been changed at the Times' website, to "Stymied at U.N., U.S. Refines Plan to Remove Assad." And from the article:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded countries to forcibly bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad, American officials say.

Administration officials have been in talks with officials in Turkey and Israel over how to manage a Syrian government collapse. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is headed to Israel in the next several days to meet with Israeli defense counterparts, following up on a visit last week by President Obama’s national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon, in part to discuss the Syrian crisis.

The White House is now holding daily high-level meetings to discuss a broad range of contingency plans — including safeguarding Syria’s vast chemical weapons arsenal and sending explicit warnings to both warring sides to avert mass atrocities — in a sign of the escalating seriousness of the Syrian crisis following a week of intensified fighting in Damascus, the capital, and the killing of Mr. Assad’s key security aides in a bombing attack.

The administration has had regular talks with the Israelis about how Israel might move to destroy Syrian weapons facilities, administration officials said. The administration is not advocating such an attack, the officials said, because of the risk that it would give Mr. Assad an opportunity to rally support against Israeli interference.

Administration officials insist they will not provide arms to the rebel forces. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already financing those efforts. But American officials said that the United States would provide more communications training and equipment to help improve the combat effectiveness of disparate opposition forces in their widening, sustained fight against Syrian Army troops. It’s also possible the rebels would receive some intelligence support, the officials said.

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Well, as Marc Gerecht indicated, we're already aiding the free Syrian forces with "a rudimentary, small-scale CIA covert action" now under way against Assad. And besides weapons of mass destruction, the next biggest worry is that Islamists will come to power after the regime falls. I can't think of a better way to prevent that, at least in the short term, than by installing an "American Caesar" to govern the country until direct popular elections are held. The biggest impediment to that, frankly, is the risk of open armed conflict with Russia, which would cause a further deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations to rival the worst points of the 20th-century Cold War. But the U.S. shouldn't rule out the option of military intervention for humanitarian purposes, especially amid the continuing refugee flows from the country.

A complete collapse of power in Damascus with no countervailing force is an even worse scenario, so it's going to take a lot of leadership, especially in Washington, to protect regional and international security in Syria in the weeks ahead.

'MIDNIGHT MASSACRE' — Media Coverage of the Colorado Theater Killings

I haven't been using anything like "Batman killer" in my reporting. It just doesn't seem right to reward the suspect with that kind of language. But see the New Statesman's roundup of news outlets that blared some variation of "BATMAN MADMAN" across their front pages: "How the media shouldn't cover a mass murder." (Via Mediagazer.)

And below is the image from yesterday's Los Angeles Times front page. The newspaper has had good coverage, via Yahoo, "Colorado shooting: How newspapers covered the 'Dark Knight' massacre." The caption at the picture reads: "TOM SULLIVAN hugs relatives at Gateway High School, where he was seeking information on his son, Alex, who went to see 'The Dark Knight Rises' for his birthday. Some victims remained unidentified Friday."

British Model Keeley Hazell Shocked at Colorado Shooter's Picture at 'Adult Friend Finder'

She's a Page 3 girl at the Sun UK, and here's the report, "Batman killer’s obsession with Keeley Hazell."

And see London's Daily Mail, "The model 'Joker' was obsessed with: Page Three girl's shock at appearing with gunman in picture posted on adult website weeks before massacre."

And no big news outlets have picked this up yet, but TMZ isn't holding back, "Colorado Shooting Suspect James Holmes - The Match.Com Profile."

Either way, the search for answers continues, at the Los Angeles Times, "Theater shooting suspect a mystery despite intriguing details." And, "Colorado shooting suspect worked for a summer as camp counselor in L.A. County." (Via Memeorandum.)