So, How's that War on Terror going?

Story from Yahoo News, via Orcinus:

A 27-year-old Austin man was arrested on Friday and charged with placing an unexploded bomb containing some 2,000 nails outside an abortion clinic in the state's capital.

The explosive device also included a propane tank and a mechanism "akin to a rocket," Austin Police Commander David Carter said.

The device was discovered on Wednesday in the parking lot of the Austin Women's Health Center, police said.

The Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force -- made up of federal, state and local law enforcement authorities -- arrested Paul Ross Evans, who authorities said was on parole for an unspecified crime.

Just casually curious as to when this guy gets his all-expense paid trip to Guantanamo Bay, with free waterboarding and kangaroo court trial military tribunal thrown in.

Nope, the story goes on to say about how this guy actually got some due process, like arraignment, bail hearing, presumption of innocence, that sort of thing. Guess he was too white and right-wing to be a terrorist.

Forecast calls for Showers and a 30% Chance of WWIII

Yes, today's the latest day given for our nuclear attack on Iran. Here's an excerpt from those paranoids over at the Jerusalem Post:

The United States will be ready to launch a missile attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as soon as early this month, perhaps "from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 6," according to reports in the Russian media on Saturday.

According to Russian intelligence sources, the reports said, the US has devised a plan to attack several targets in Iran, and an assault could be carried out by launching missiles from fighter jets and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted a security official as saying, "Russian intelligence has information that the US Armed Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations for a missile strike against Iranian territory."

Note the date of the article. Apparently, April Fools' Day is celebrated in Israel. Nevertheless, I've heard it from other sources as well.

Why is a "missile attack" on a recalcitrant Iran a big deal? Unlike many on the Left with whom I've found myself allied these past six years, I don't automatically assume that missile equals nuke.

That said, the bunkers that the US claims Iran is doing bad nuclear things in are themselves buried deep enough that they might require nuclear bunker busters to destroy. And an attack on Iran, nuclear or no, could drag Russia, China and India in - against the United States. Fun times.

So far, once again, it looks like cooler heads have prevailed. But the Chimp and his cronies keep trying to drum up an attack on Iran - and if they get their way, the fallout will affect all of us.

Pun definitely intended.

Was going to write a post about Cheney

but dammit, the Rude Pundit beat me to it.

The incident should remind us that George W. Bush is only a heartbeat away from the Presidency...

I Finally Figured it Out

Who Attorney General Alberto "Abu Ghraib" Gonzales reminds me of:



I mean, habeas corpus isn't just Constitutional Law 101 - it's Schoolhouse Rock. Federalist 84? Tenth Amendment? Apparently, neither of these exist in Torturin' Al's Bizarro World - or, like all to many, he considers the Constitution clause by clause and not as a whole, just like anyone trying to get out of a contract does. I mean, the concept that the Constitution doesn't enumerate individual rights but rather limits the Federal government's infringement of them is grade-school civics.

Terrorist Captured in California

Reuters story here regarding the poster boy of the right-wing blogosphere, Chad Castagana, and his arrest on charges of mailing terrorist threats and fake anthrax to media outlets and public figures.

Oliver Willis points out, here, that this guy was a regular poster at Free Republic and Ian Schwartz' blog.

A few questions spring to mind:

Whenever some lunatic on the "Left" (i.e. not a Bush-worshiper) does something stupid like this, he or she is portrayed as the face of the left-wing blogosphere. Why don't we portray this dork as the face of the right-wing?

Aren't we fighting terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them over here?

I thought we were fighting a Global War on Terror - that law-enforcement solutions weren't manly enough and we had to stamp out terrorists wherever they may hide with missile attacks and military strikes. Think I would have heard of tanks in the streets of Woodland Hills.

I guess he's lucky he's a politically correct terrorist. Were he a Muslim, he'd be getting waterboarded in whatever hellhole we've replaced Gitmo with.

Sure hope this is the right guy. We can't assume that he's guilty just because he was arrested. Good thing we have the rule of law in this country. Unless, of course, the Chimp says differently.