July 24, 2004 by s.z.

Wo'C Update: Part III 3.  The Manchurian Candidate Frank Rich's promised piece on this movie is out now.  He does say what Drudge's sources told him about the film being even more partisan than Farenheit 9/11 (Pete, who blogs at A Perfectly Cromulent Blog,has seen The Manchurian Candidate; he  very effectively rebutts some of Rich's claims in the comments section for yesterday's entry about the movie). Anyway, Rich's point is that the Republicans have fear as a campaign tactic, but the Democrats have pop culture.  Allow me to quote one paragraph, since it goes nicely with the Terror in the Sky stuff: It [the threat of a terrorist attack] is also the subtext of this entire presidential campaign. A late-June USA Today/CNN poll shows that 55 percent of Americans feel less safe because of the war in Iraq - a figure that has spiked 22 points in merely six months. Fear rules. Fear rocks. Fear of terrorism is George W. Bush's only second-term platform to date (unless you count fear of same-sex marriage). Let John Kerry roll out John Edwards as his running mate, and Tom Ridge rushes to grab back the television spotlight by predicting that Al Qaeda will "disrupt our democratic process." Never mind that he had no "precise knowledge" of such an attack or any plans to raise his color-coded threat level; his real mission, to wield fear as a weapon of mass distraction, had been accomplished. Odds are that the next John Ashcroft doomsday press conference will be timed to coincide with the run-up to Kerry's acceptance speech on Thursday night. So, while the movie doesn't sound all that good, I do have to commend the Dems for chosing pop culture instead of fear as their weapon of choice. 4.  Robert Alberg You recall Robert Alberg, don't you?  He's the guy who was arrested under a terrorist statute for possessing ricin.  Remember?  Oh, and he's the son of Tom Alberg, venture capitalist, big Republican donor, and former chairman of the Discovery Institute.  (As you know, the Discovery Institute is the group that tries to get Intelligent Design taught in the schools, and which espouses "forming militias, lowering environmental standards when corporate profits are threatened, and increasing the role of religion in politics.") Anyway, when we last heard from Robert, it was when I googled his name and found it on the docket for a competency hearing -- there hasn't been anything on this story from the media since his arrest last spring. Until now.  From the Canadians.  (By "now," I mean a couple of weeks ago, and by "Canadians," I mean the Globe and Mail.) So, it turns out that Robert is currently under observation in a psych ward, and it looks like the D.A. is going to let Robert plead not guilty by reason of insanity or something. "He's lonely and who knows what's going on" in his head, said Mr. Blackstone, the prosecutor. "When they did a search of the home, they found that he had mercury, he had uranium rocks, he was developing rockets. I think in one of his e-mails he said he wants to blast off into outer space or something. So it's not what we thought it was when we did the search warrants." He describes Mr. Alberg's case as "tragic and scary," and admits he is leaning toward asking that he be committed to a mental-health facility. "There's no information that he was going to actually use the ricin or was connected to some sort of organized group to use it. He is not the criminal of the century." Even so, he says, Mr. Alberg (who had labelled several jars in his kitchen: "Caution ricin poison") has left him a little rattled. "Yeah, you worry about these cases because you have to rely on the psychiatrists. You hope they are right. If the guy turns out to be a total raving lunatic and goes out and kills people, we'll feel very bad about it." The G&M also tells about Kenneth Olsen, who is serving a 14-year jail term for possessing ricin.  The prosecution claimed that Olsen was going to use the ricin to kill his wife -- but there is no evidence of that.  But since they prosecuted him as a terrorist rather than an attempted murderer, they didn't have to prove anything about his plans. Frank Cikutovich, Ms. Davis's lawyer, said he, like many, feels that Mr. Olsen was prosecuted in an overreaction to perceived threats of terrorism. He noted that, when Mr. Olsen was arrested, America was hypersensitive to terrorism threats because of 9/11 and the subsequent anthrax-mail attacks that had left five Americans dead and 17 injured. "People were scared. The community was ready to lynch him," he said. Authorities were so edgy that, rather than charging him with attempted murder, they deemed him a terrorist, which meant prosecutors did not have to identify a target, or prove that he took steps to carry out any killing. Under the biological weapons statute of the Patriot Act, it is a crime to "possess any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system of a type or in a quantity that, under the circumstances, is not reasonably justified by a prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose." Olsen's wife and mistress are trying to get his sentence reduced, but so far, it doesn't seem to be working.  But there is a silver lining to the story of Robert Alberg: According to Mr. Blackstone, Mr. Alberg's family, from whom he had become increasingly isolated, has drawn closer to him since his arrest and "been very supportive." In what must have been a poignant reunion, his father showed up recently to drive him to Harbourview [psych ward]. So, our lesson is: when parents get too busy with their creation science and their Bush benefits, and their various corporate boards, kids can turn to terrorism.  But if the whole family then rallies round the black sheep, there can still be a happy ending. 5.  Susan Lindauer As you will recall, Susan is the second (or "distant") cousin of Andrew Card, and was arrested and charged with "conspiracy to spy for Iraq" after she left Andrew a letter saying that she wanted to talk to him about changing America's policy toward Iraq.  She also seemed to have mental health issues (paranoia, grandiosity, etc.)  Remember how the wingnuts all made a big deal about how she had worked for several Democratic members of Congress and lived in Takoma Park (a known hang out for liberals), thus proving that the inevitable progression of being a Democrat and a liberal was treason?  Last I heard, Susan was going for a mental health evaluation.  That was back in March.  The media has reported nothing about her since (as far as I can tell).  So, what happened to her?  If she is the big spy we were told about, why aren't we hearing anything about her trial?  If she is just a nut who was given travel money by the Iraqis because they believed her grandiose claims that she could use her relationship with Card to effect policy, and later arrested by the feds because her actions could prove embarassing to Card and the White House, why haven't we heard about her release?  Geez, do the Canadians and I have to do EVERYTHING, American media? Anyway, if you hear anything about Susan, let me know.  Oh, and if you were on that Flight to Fear with Annie Jacobsen, Joe Scarborough wants to hear from you: We would also ask any people that flew on that flight, No. 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles, where the 14 Syrians were running all over the plane and some people believe may have been doing a dry run for a future terror attack, if you were on that flight that the FBI is investigating, that other homeland security officials are investigating, please contact us.  We want to get you on the air and have you tell your side of the story.  So, if you were on that flight where the Syrians ran all over the plane (got out of their seats, walked in the aisles, and went to the rest rooms), and were annoyed by a whiny woman and her quivering husband, then contact Joe, so you can be on TV.  8:01:24 AM

WoC Updates, Part II What Ever Happened to Annie Jacobsen? We thought Terror in the Skies was over and done with, but Noooo!  Here's a brief chronology of what's happened since the musicians were found to be the back-up band for the Syrian Wayne Newton, and even Michelle Malkin said that this wasn't a dry run for an attack. 1.  WomensWallStreet.com Stands by Their Annie Yes, the WWS sticks to their claim that this WAS a newsworthy story, not just the ravings of a hysterical fear monger (which is understandable on their part, since it's their only story that anyone has ever paid attention to).  They still have their popup poll about whether this was a "dry run" (which was running something like 95% yea when I visited their site earlier today).  And here's what they told The Desert Sun:   Brendi Rawlin, a spokesperson for WomensWallStreet.com, said verifying the Syrians were part of a musical band doesn’t completely explain their actions on the plane. "They actually still believe this was a dry run, regardless of whether they were musicians," Rawlin said, citing responses to the article and quotes attributed to Adams. "If terrorists can learn to fly planes, couldn’t they learn to play instruments?"  Well, Adams didn't say that it was a dry run, he said that the musicians hadn't done anything wrong, were thoroughly checked out, and were released.  So, "they" must refer to the Jacobsens and the people who took the WWT poll.  And since "they" sound like paranoid kooks, "we" don't really care what "they" think. 2. Annie's story catches the eyes of a Moonie Times "writer." Thursday's Washington Times column by Audrey Hudson will likely shock you. Hopefully, it will catch the eye of someone who can take action. Reports include numerous Middle Eastern men boarding planes, gathering in aisles, taking turns in the bathroom, swapping a McDonalds bag as they pass in and out... enough to make one woman on the flight begin crying in fear. What happened? Nothing. Hey, that's not me making fun of Annie, that's Fox and Fools ... I mean Fox and Friends.  It's part of their hyping of Audrey's article in their "Friends Insider" section of the Fox site; they entitled this entry "Safe at Home?" [Audrey will] have another report tomorrow and we are efforting to have her on our show.  I hope all the efforting paid off, Audrey was booked for program, and her nonsensing made the Friendly Fox women cry in fear. 3.  Sure, the musicians weren't terrorists, but THEIR VISAS HAD EXPIRED!!! Scarborough Country first brought this important detail to everyone's attention: SCOTT WEINBERGER, WNBC REPORTER: My sources are telling me that the investigators never looked down to check the date.  The expiration was three weeks prior to the flight ever taking off.  SCARBOROUGH: ... These guys—I have been talking about Inspector Clouseau as it relates to Sandy Berger and his bumbling in classified documents.  It looks they‘re like a bunch of Inspector Clouseaus around here that couldn‘t even answer the basic question of whether these 14 Syrians who are suspected of terrorism were in the United States legally. I would guess the FBI and the immigration authorities have to be very embarrassed by what you‘ve uncovered. These Syrians were suspected of terrorism by ANNIE -- nobody else seems to have thought they were menaces.  Anyway, I hope that the next time Joe needs the FBI, they recall that he called them "a bunch of Inspector Clouseaus," and they take their time rescuing him from a deadly McDonald's sack. Scar then brings on Michael Smerconish, the head of SMERSH.  Okay, actually Michael is a talk radio pest who just wrote a book called either “Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11," or "Fleecing Sheep: How Demagogues Continue to Profit from Your Post 9/11 Fears By Writing Scary Books" (the title hasn't been finalized yet). SCARBOROUGH:  OK, what are the dangers here, though, that you—by making these overgeneralizations, a lot of civil libertarians are saying, hey, you are sounding just like FDR in 1942 when he started throwing Japanese into interment camps.  How do you separate those two activities, the rights of Arab-Americans to move freely across the United States and the needs of this country to protect itself from some people that, you know -- you can narrow it down, the people that want to blow up American targets, the chances are good, they are going to be Islamic extremists.  They are going to be males.  They are going to be like 20 to 45 years old.  How do you balance those conflicting needs?  SMERCONISH:  I have to tell, Joe, that when you put civil liberties in one hand and when you put the common good and protecting Americans in the other, I think that that balance tips in favor of protecting America.  So, we should dispense with civil liberties so that we can protect ourselves from Syrian musicians who scare our women and hog our onboard restrooms.  Start those internment camps now! Oh, and Joe should out the Orcinus coverage of all the non-Islamic extremists who want to blow up American targets.  You know, just so he'll know what he's talking about for once. But anyway, re the claim of the expired visas, Michelle Malkin blogged about it and then her readers who know about such things wrote in with some factual data -- for instance, that you don't go by the date stamped on the visa (because that date is for entering the country) to tell if it's expired.  And here's what a border agent said: As said earlier, in lay parlance, "overstaying a visa" could also mean having an expired I-94. But even then it would not necessarily make them an overstay. You see, you can actually apply for an extension of your I-94 while you are here at an inland office with BCIS. And the funny thing is, when you apply for an extension you are legally allowed to stay, even if you documents expire, until you receive a response, which generally takes longer than 45 days. So basically, you can automatically extend your stay for up to 45 days if you merely receive a peice of paper saying that you are waiting for a response. So, were the musicians actually here illegally?  I'm not sure.  But take a look at this Dallas News story from a few hours ago:  Misbehaving Syrians carried expired visas: 13 musicians who disrupted flight not a threat, officials say. Yes, those musicians weren't terrorists, but they did misbehave by glaring at a woman, and disrupted a flight by, you know, using the restrooms and looking like Arabs. Here are a couple of paragraphs from the story: Although immigration officials believe the musicians are legitimate artists who pose "absolutely no national security threat," [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] spokesman Dean Boyd said checks on the status of the visas should have been conducted at the time. "  [...] Fourteen Syrian musicians aboard the plane were run through criminal and terrorism watch lists before officials determined they were legitimate musicians and allowed them to leave the airport. Later information indicated that 13 of the musicians entered the country on P-3 artist visas that expired June 10, more than two weeks before their June 29 flight. The 14th man was a legal U.S. resident, Mr. Boyd said. All have since left the country, he said. An official with the Transportation Security Administration said domestic passengers are required only to show a valid ID and that there is no immigration or passport checking on a point-to-point domestic flight.   So, even though the men were legitimate musicians, posed no threat, and have already left the country, they didn't have to show their passports to travel domestically, and may or may not have overstayed their visas.  To quote Count Floyd, scary stuff, boys and girls. 4.  Annie Put on Official Federal "Scaredy-Cat" List  As Bellytrys, Atrios, and probably some of the rest of you noted, KFI News talked to the air marshals who were on the plane with Annie.   Since the piece is titled "Air Marshals Say Passenger Overreacted," you can guess that they aren't part of the group calling Annie a hero.  In fact, at first they thought SHE was the terrorist. The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service.   [...]   The source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves. So, even though they feared it might be a ploy to smoke them out, the marshals were so worried that Annie and hubby might panic the other passengers and cause real trouble that they told the flight attendant to tell Annie there were marshals on board and everything was under control.  As you'll recall from Annie's article, that's when she became "officially terrified."  I wonder how she would have reacted if the flight attendant had her that everything was okay and everybody was safe because President Bush is in control now.   Oh, and the marshals said that FBI agents met the plane and interviewed the musicians not because they or the pilot and crew thought something was wrong, but because Annie had complained.  I guess that "sit here quietly and provide me with a written description of the terrorists and the lyrics to every Carpenters song you can recall " thing really was just a ploy to get the Jacobsens to calm down.    Anyway, some people in the blogosphere have been making fun of Annie since the remarks of the marshals were reported.  But Michelle Malkin is defending this brave Security Mom Hero: Following the lead of anonymous air marshals (see Eric Leonard's KFI news story), some in the blogosphere are piling on Annie Jacobsen. One blogger calls her a "sniveling little twit." [...] I respectfully take issue with this characterization. Let's remember what exactly Annie and Kevin Jacobsen did on their flight. By one unnamed marshal's own words: Jacobsen and her husband had a number of conversations with the flight attendants and gestured towards the men several times, the source said. Who's freaking out? The unnamed marshals who spoke to KFI are popping veins over the Jacobsens for having merely discussed their concerns with the flight crew and "gestured towards the men." Well, apparently they were acting freaked out enough that they were alarming the trained air marshals.  In her first article, Annie said that her husband was "beyond anxious" when all the men had done was exchange glances.  Annie got "shivers down her spine" when the drummer just gave her a dirty look.  Then her husband got out of his seat and found a flight attendent to share his concerns with, and the official terror started.  So, even if the Jacobsens "didn't jump up and scream 'We are going to die!'," I imagine that their conversations in their seats, their body language, and all that gesturing was enough to make the marshals worry that they were going to do some screaming.  The Jacobsens didn't even muster up the courage to say meekly to the Syrians, "Hey, could you please sit down. You are making me nervous." That's right, they didn't -- so why exactly did you declare Annie to be a "Security Mom Hero," Michelle? Bottom line: Everybody would forgive Annie for her little freakout if she hadn't made such a big deal (articles, TV, radio) about the non-existant danger she was in.  She invited the "piling on" by being sniveling little twit AFTER she landed safely.  And the Moonie Times, Dallas News, Joe Scarborough, Fox and Fuckwits, and everybody else who is using her story to scare people to get ratings and sell newspapers (and possibly to convince people to demand four more years of Bush, "No Foreigners Allowed" flights, and detention camps for brown people), should be placed in stocks and have rotten fruit thrown at them. 4:36:28 AM

Wo'C Updates, Part 1 It's the weekend, time for our "where are they now?" posting, where we check back on some the stories and people we've previously reported on (yeah, that's what we do), and see if they're still alive.  I see it as sort of like "Behind the Music," but in a GOOD way. So, here's our first segment: 1.  Chat With the Bush Twins The chat was yesterday (here's the transcript).  Did they use any of our questions?  Sadly, no!  (Did they use any of Sadly, No's questions?  Sensibly, no!) But it was amusing, none the less.  As Wonkette said: It's not just that 22-year-olds don't talk like that, it's that no one talks like that. Jenna and Barb weren't answering these questions, these questions were being answered by Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove, who may have been dressed like Jenna and Barb. And I don't feel too bad that our questions weren't used, since the twins only answered 14 out of the 2600 submitted -- and no doubt those 14 were selected by the Bush-Cheney campaign people, and not Barbara and Jenna themselves.  (Because I can't see the Bush girls rejecting a question like "In Austin, who do you think has better margaritas, Chuy's or Baby Acapulco?"  for "As young women who embody the future of our nation, how important do you believe character to be when choosing a candidate and how does your dad stack up?")   The NY Times also informed us that: While the questions and answers appeared in slow succession, as if typed live, Ms. Whitson [a spokeswoman for the twins] said some responses had been prepared in advance.  Prepared by whom, you ask?  Sorry, your question wasn't selected for a response. But here are a couple questions that Barbara and Jenna did respond to: Dee Meadows from Waycross GA wrote: With your dad being the President what moment has made you the proudest? Barbara and Jenna Bush answered:Hello, Dee. It is almost impossible for us to choose just one moment that has made us proud. There are so many times we are proud of our dad--we constantly meet people that have benefited from him as a person and as a President and we couldn't feel prouder. Yet, there is no doubt that after September 11, we couldn't have been prouder of our father. It was so moving for us to see our Dad, and the entire American people, handle such an unbelievable tragedy with such strength and courage. We knew that with our Dad as President, he would do everything he could to make sure that the American people were safe and that those that lost friends and family members would feel comforted. "People who have benefited from him as a person"?  Like card sharks and hookers?  And yes, even if he were your father, there was no reason to have been proud of George ON September 11th.  Well, unless you actually believe that after being told about the attack on the World Trade Center he purposefully didn't excuse himself and leave the My Pet Goat discussion because he was knew that would tramautize the children for life; and that he really did fly aimlessly on Air Force One for hours while others ran the nation because AF1 was the main target that day. Oh, and about the line, "We knew that with our Dad as President, he would do everything he could to make sure that the American people were safe and that those that lost friends and family members would feel comforted" --  I'm not saying that this material WASN'T composed by Barbara and Jenna, but that if it was, they must also write most of his speeches. Jill Haltigan from New Carrollton MD wrote:I remember reading during the 2000 election that one of you differed with your father on his stance reguarding the death penalty. How do you approach your dad when you hold a different opinion on a major policy issue? Barbara and Jenna Bush answered:Hey, Jill. Like most kids, we do not agree with our parents on every single issue. Yet, this has never been a problem in our family. Our parents raised us to think for ourselves, encouraging us to make our own decisions and formulate our own opinions. They have always accepted all of our ideas and have never discouraged us from believing in things that they do not necessarily agree with. One opinion that we do share is that our father is the perfect person to be the President of the United States. I think I see the process here.  Some of the responses were prepared in advance by Karen Hughes and Scott McClellan.  The rest were dictated by the young women to a campaign typist/spokesperson, who tweaked their replies a little as she transmitted them to the chat room.  This is what Barbara really said, probably: "Hey, Jill.  Yeah, we don't agree with our parents on lots of things, like, you know, the death penalty, abortion rights, gay marriage, the 4:00 A.M. curfew, the ban on becoming hip-hop groupies until after the election, keeping creepy Dick Cheney around, keeping crazy Don Rumsfeld around, the "no sleeping with Britney Spears' fiance in the Lincoln Bedroom" policy -- you know, lots of stuff.  But Dad knows that he has no moral authority over us, since he was a drunken frat boy party animal until he was in his '30s, and Mother is a doormat, so we can pretty much do whatever we want, and that's the important thing.  But since they said we'd each get a new Maseratti if we did this campaigning thing, we think you should, like, vote for Dad.  He's no worse than that other guy." But there's time for just one last question, this one from our own Chris V.: "Who the fuck do you think you're fooling?"  Barbara and Jenna Bush Daughters of President and Mrs. Bush wrote:Well, looks like our time is up! We really appreciate everyone joining us online today!  Don't forget to vote for our Dad in November! 4:01:43 AM