2 posts tagged “terrorism”

A few weeks ago, Keith Olbermann received an envelope with an unidentified white powder in it, and had to call out the police to deal with it.  He was taken to the hospital for preventative decontamination since they weren't sure at the time what the powder was.  The New York Post, despite having received one of the real Anthrax letters that were sent out around the time of the 9/11 attacks, was very demeaning to Keith and the fact that he and the police were taking the threat seriously (which it *could* have been).

Well, now a suspect has been caught and arrested, and Keith has finally explained part of why he and the investigators were so angry about the Post's article (aside from the fact that it was just generally an assholeish thing to do):  By publicizing the incident, the Post let the sender know that the letter had gotten to its recipient which, in turn, just encouraged him to send more letters - which he did.  The investigators had asked the media to keep quiet about the letters - and, aside from the NY Post, everyone did, even though it was primarily media personnel who had gotten the letters - but the cops still had to go out on 13 separate calls in the NY area ALONE, which, as one of the FBI agents on the case noted, took those resources away from dealing with real threats.

Oh, and yeah, the guy who apparently was sending the letters *is* a staunch conservative.  He apparently has been a somewhat frequent poster at "Free Republic", a fairly seething cesspool of rightwing dung.  And they say that the LIBERAL bloggers are sending the same message as the terrorists?  Sure. 

Here is Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on the new GOP ad featuring quotes from Osama Bin Laden and his followers intended to scare people into voting Republican next month.  Below that, for reference, is the ad itself.  I include it only so that those who have not yet seen it can understand what all the fuss is about.  I do NOT in any way, shape or form endorse the ad or think it has any place in this campaign (though, of course, they do have the right to create and pay for it to be aired, no matter how stupid or wrong-headed I think it is!)