Well, here's a little bit of mainstream media (MSM) coverage of the apparent attempted-terror bombing in Norman, Oklahoma, that killed Joel Hinrichs III outside a football stadium full of over 80,000 people.
However, this article, from the Wall Street Journal (online), in my opinion, merely continues the irresponsibility of the MSM in its treatment of this obviously serious incident which certainly warrants greater scrutiny than do many of the fluffy stories the MSM has preferred to follow instead.
The article discusses the treatment accorded the incident by us bloggers as well as the MSM treatment.
Be sure to read the article to get the whole picture.
Now let's scrutinize this example of MSM "information". The WSJ states the following:
To that unsettling set of facts, blogs and local Oklahoma TV stations added several apparent inaccuracies, including: that Mr. Hinrichs was a Muslim and visited the mosque frequently; that he tried to enter the stadium twice but was rebuffed; that he had a one-way airplane ticket to Algeria; that there were nails in the bomb and that Islamic extremist literature was found in his apartment.
None of these claims are true: Mr. Hinrichs's family, university officials and the Federal Bureau of Investigation say Mr. Hinrichs suffered from depression, and the explosion was an isolated event.
Ah, so these are the sources cited by the WSJ. I see. Hinrich's family? It's almost a foregone conclusion that his family would prefer not to believe that he was a terrorist; that he was just depressed and committed suicide. Understandable, of course, and I feel bad for the Hinrich family. But the MSM treats family public statement as absolute fact, therefore that's proof that there was no terrorism? Nope, I'm afraid it won't do.
The article continues:
The FBI's investigation is nearly complete. On Oct. 4, the FBI issued a statement saying, "At this time, there is no known link between Hinrichs and any terrorist or extremist organization(s) or activities."
Ok, so we also see the FBI being used as a source. Two points the WSJ seems to not grasp:
One, the FBI used the phrase, "...at this time...", therefore there cannot be any conclusion of no-terrorism.
Two: the FBI does sometimes have to downplay or hold back information from the MSM for various reasons. It's certainly true that this may very well be the case for the Normal bombing. Again, no possibility of conclusion of no-terrorism.
Here's where it gets fascinating:
In an interview, David L. Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma and the former senator who was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while most news reports have been responsible, there has been a "feeding frenzy of false rumors" on blogs and in some local TV stations. On Friday, he said in a letter to students and staff that investigators had found "no evidence of a conspiracy involving others which creates an ongoing threat to our OU community."
Notice he summarily dismisses the blogs and local tv stations as promulgating "false rumors" without backing up his claim with any evidence of anything being a rumor? Further, how exactly does he know there's been no evidence found by "investigators"? That's the question, which, unanswered, casts a pall of uncredibility over his statements.
Now, Mr. Boren is an interesting character, as we see in this report by Doug Hagmann of the Northeast Intelligence Network, and is hardly one who can be considered a reliable source, once one learns some disturbing information Mr. Hagmann gives us on Mr. Boren's past activities and the circumstances surrounding them.
I urge readers to read the whole Hagmann report, as always. But here's a taste from the report itself:
In the fall of 2001 and in the shadow of 9/11, BOREN went to great, inexplicable and near criminal lengths to protect one of his students. That student, Mohammad Yaseen HAIDER of Pakistan and former President of the O.U. Pakistan Student Association, was indicted by a federal grand jury which accused him of sending an anthrax threat by e-mail. HAIDER was also at the center of controversy for reportedly making false accusations of "hate crimes" against two other O.U. students, accusations that were ultimately dismissed. As HAIDER'S accusations began to fall apart, what did the master of Spin BOREN do? He gave HAIDER a job at O.U.'s Parkview Apartments - the same apartments, by the way, occupied by 2005 bomber Joel Henry HINRICH III. Interestingly, HAIDER continued to work as a clerk at Park View until he was arrested by INS. It gets better, however: two of HAIDER'S Park View neighbors, Hussein Al-Attas and Mukkaram Ali, prior students of Islamic ideology, were also arrested due to their association with terrorist Zacharias Moussaoui, arrested for his involvement in the 9/11 attacks on America.
Wow- think about that. Should anyone who bends over backwards for someone of such character and connections be considered a reliable source in this case by anyone, be it the MSM or the blognet? I don't think so.
Once again the MSM has blown its credibility and demonstrated its worsening irrelevance with respect to the blognet. At least we serious, concerned bloggers (not all bloggers are, but there are good ones amongst us) are doing the people a selfless service whereas the MSM cavalierly dismisses any possibility of terrorism in the face of compelling evidence and in the post-9/11 world.
October 14 2005 Update:
WorldNetDaily reports that Oklahoma University has tightened security for the football stadium outside which Hinrichs blew himself up.
Why would they do that after going to the trouble to downplay the bombing and discourage any thinking that it may have been a terror attempt and that there was no threat to security? Truth be told, security everywhere tends to be increased following a perceived threat or threats, therefore the University must perceive a threat of a terrorism nature despite statements to the contrary.
Read the WND article for yourself. It also contradicts some of the dismissive claims made by the WSJ article above.
October 17 2005 Update:
Michelle Malkin has more here: "The OU Bomber's Suicide Note".
The Jawa Report has a post similar to this one here.
