There was an interesting story in the Minneapolis StarTribune yesterday about an elderly man who heard someone breaking into his home and, when confronted in his bedroom by the intruder, shot and killed the burglar. The original story was pretty spare on details, though the police indicated that the homeowner was within his rights and was not likely to be prosecuted.
Considering that it’s the Strib, however, and its well-established anitpathy toward guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens, I wasn’t suprised to see in today’s follow-up story that the paper, in its commitment to informing the public (as long as it can advance its own agenda, that is) solemnly informed us that the homeowner’s house was dilapidated and likely to be condemned, thereby suggesting that the intruder may have mistakenly thought the house was abandoned (which, of course, makes it all right to break and enter). At least the condition of the house had some connection to the story. The article finished by reporting that the homeowner was a former teacher and school principal who had been fired 25 years ago for being “unfit to teach” due a “list of deficiencies” including having a “rigid and stiff” classroom manner and for picking on and swearing at students. He’s evil!
No doubt tomorrow we’ll have another story focusing on the young “victim” who will turn out to be a troubled young man just on the verge of getting his life together before his fatal misadventure, which could have been prevented if only someone had “done something.”
Okay, that’s the news business. When you’ve got a story that gets a lot of attention you naturally want to follow up and include more details to keep the readers coming back. For example, let’s take one of the biggest stories of the past few days that has both a local and national following: the “flying Imams” who were cold-bloodedly persecuted for innocently scaring the bejeezus out of their fellow passengers and the flight crew:
The imams say they were removed from the Phoenix-bound flight because they were praying quietly in the concourse. They had been in Minnesota for a conference sponsored by the North American Imams Federation.
But other passengers told police and aviation security officials a different version of the incident. They said suspicious behavior of the imams led to their eviction from the flight…
…The passengers and flight crew said the imams prayed loudly before boarding; switched seating assignments to a configuration used by terrorists in previous incidents; asked for seat-belt extensions, which could be used as weapons; and shouted hostile slogans about al Qaeda and the war in Iraq.
Flight attendants said three of the six men, who did not appear to be overweight, asked for the seat-belt extensions, which include heavy metal buckles, and then threw them to the floor under their seats.
Wow, holy indignation, airline security and national attention! I can’t wait for the Strib to bring us more information about the backgrounds of these now frequent flyers, or to tell us more about this important Muslim conference held in our very own Twin Cities and attended by our very own first-ever Muslim congressman-elect, Keith Ellison!
Perhaps I’m expecting too much, given the Strib seemed to have a lot of trouble getting anything other than sketchiest of details about Ellison’s background such as his campus writings and long-time affiliation with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Finding out more background information on these humble holy men is probably even more difficult. Unless you’re Michelle Malkin, that is:
Will they mention Shahin’s admitted ties to Osama bin Laden and denial of the 9/11 al Qaeda plot?
Or his connection to a Hamas-linked terror charity front?
Will they mention Mahdi Bray’s terror-sympathizing statements and stances?
Or the Muslim American Society’s radical embrace of sharia and faux pose as the “moderate” front for the Muslim Brotherhood? (My debate on Laura Ingraham’s radio show with one of the double-talking MAS spokesmen here.)
Or will they mindlessly play along with the grievance-mongers, lazily echoing the cries of “Islamophobia” and joining in self-flagellation?
Oh well, see you in the funny papers.
Everything I’ve read, mainly via bloggers who are compiling all the facts and presenting them in an organized and methodical manner (jeez, just like a journalist should do) leads to me to believe that this was a staged operation on the part of these guys to make headlines and gain more sympathy from “the necessary idiots” in America–in other words, liberals.
I wish that’s all it was.
In my opinion this is a concerted effort to further water down our security processes. In our society if you cry “discrimination” and “racism” or any “phobia” loud and long enough you can accomplish anything….including convincing our elected leaders that protecting our lives isn’t really that important.