Okay, Now Be Afraid

Our American Taliban are not going away.

"We told you yesterday about this, the unbearable Rachel Ray in an ad for the donut and coffee chain [Dunkin' Donuts], to which the lunatic fringe responded in an apoplexy of xenophobic paranoia, because that, that thing around her neck, that is not just a stupid scarf; they think that is what Yasser Arafat used to wear on his head," Olbermann intoned. "See, it‘s jihadist chic. Having already driven business to Dunkin' Donuts by applauding its supposed stance in favor of tough immigration laws, the right threatened to boycott."

Olbermann added, "So what did Dunkin' Donuts do? They folded. They were as weak as their decaf."

The Dunkin' Donuts statement read, "In a recent online ad, Rachel Ray is wearing a black and white scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial."

"They pulled the ad because of the possibility of misperception by the right wing equivalents of jihadists, the people in this country who most closely share the mentality of the terrorists, who act the most like Middle Eastern nut jobs, who rail against diversity, try to murder dissent, and care more about flags than about people," Olbermann continued. "You know, the Michelle Malkins of the world.

[...]

At her blog Wednesday, Malkin wrote, "Anti-American fashion designers abroad and at home have mainstreamed and adapted the scarves as generic pro-Palestinian jihad or anti-war statements. Yet many folks out there remain completely oblivious to the apparel’s violent symbolism and anti-Israel overtones.

  Raw Story

Anti-American fashion designers. Take them to Guantanamo. Off with their heads!

And if people are oblivious to the symbolism, then would the symbol have any power?

”Care more about flags” is right. The way the American Taliban have used our flag makes me now reflexively cringe every time I see it. Add to that the way American soldiers planted it in Baghdad, and the furor over Obama (and others) not wearing a flag pin on his lapel, and we unfurl a dark symbol ineed. I’m waiting for the armbands.

It's Real This Time

It turns out the Capitol Police have bolstered security around the U.S. Capitol after a recent al-Qaeda communique threatened an attack on Washington. Lott, according to Roll Call, responded with characteristic gravitas. In light of the heightened threat, Congress can either amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or all of us can run screaming into the inferno.

  TPM Muckraker

The latter choice sounds way more interesting to me. From a visual standpoint particularly.

Actually what Lott said was, or "the disaster could be on our doorstep." And...

Further demonstrating his counterterrorism sagacity, when asked if people should leave Washington, D.C., during the month of August, Lott replied that "I think it would be good to leave town in August, and it would probably be good to stay out until September the 12th."

September 12? Because the magic date will have passed?

Practical fellow, isn't he? Where will all the citizens of DC go for a month and a half? Those that don't have vacation time built up. FEMA trailers in Pittsburgh?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Suppose you were a member of Congress. And suppose you were an idiot. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain

Fear Factor

Do we not get color codes any more?

CNN BREAKING NEWS / RUSH TRANSCRIPT: "Terrorists have been discovered in the advanced planning stages of an attack in Germany on US personnel, military personnel, and/or tourists," CNN reported live on air Friday afternoon.

  Raw Story article

And or?

Sump'n's gonna happen! Sump'n's gonna happen!

A CNN anchor said they were able to confirm the information with "senior federal officials," though acknowledged that "other intelligence officials said that this threat lacked a little 'in specifics in terms of timing.'"

It lacks "a little" in terms of more than timing.

And, why on earth would we need other intelligence officials anyway? "Senior federal officials" ought to be good enough. They haven't led us wrong yet.

ABC News has a special photo gallery on the terror threat fercrissakes. Honestly. You won't believe it. Extremely informative! Check it out for yourself.

"The information behind the threat is very real," a senior U.S. official told ABC.

Yeah, real it is - the information. Honest? Accurate? Meaningful? Maybe not so much. The threat itself real? Maybe not so much either. Who knows? Maybe it's being planned by friends of the Fort Dix Fools. Maybe helped along by the same FBI and/or other US agency.

This attorney purge business is just getting too much press.

CNN really is competing with Fox, isn't it?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Plot to Kill Soldiers Foiled

Six men have been arrested for plotting to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey. They're described as "Islamic militants", or "Islamic radicals", but authorities say they don't believe they have any connection to international terrorist groups. Four were born in the former Yugoslavia, one in Jordan and one in Turkey. Sounds to me like they are an international terrorist group.

I don't see any report on the reason behind the Fort Dix plot. Perhaps it was just convenient, since five of the men lived 20 miles from there.

And also, this was a sting operation. The men were lured into buying weapons from a dealer working with the FBI. It makes me wonder who brought this group together and where the plot originated.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Update 1:00pm: Josh Marshall has some concerns about the arrests along other lines. He could be on to something, but it wasn't my first thought. Or second. In fact, it hadn't actually occurred to me at all and might never have done. It also strikes me as an unusual way of thinking for Josh (would be more like me to think that way than him). He must be getting more skeptical/paranoid after some years of covering the Bush administration's creating stories out of whole cloth.