Day: 4/22/2013

Fox News Mystery: Conspiratorial Article On Boston Bombing ‘Suspect’ Disappears [Update]

Posted by on April 22, 2013 at 7:48 pm. 4 Comments :

In a peculiar and suspicious chain of events, Fox News ran an article by commentator Todd Starnes with the provocative headline “Saudi National Questioned in Boston was on Terror Watch List.” But the article was not there for long, and has since been deleted from other conservative news sites as well.

There was no evidence in the article affirming the title’s allegation other than Starnes’ assertion that “sources have told me.” Starnes went on to say that his sources alleged that “Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi had been deemed inadmissible” for entry into the United States because he was engaged, or likely to become engaged, in terrorist activity. “Two additional sources,” Starnes said, “have confirmed to me that Ali Alharbi is set to be deported as early as this week.”

The article also notes that national security officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, have denied the reports and stated explicitly that Alharbi is not being deported, nor was anyone else with any connection to the Boston marathon bombings. All of the chatter in the right-wing media about this was definitively debunked days ago.

Despite the dismissals by Napolitano and others of these rumors, Starnes weaves a speculative tale of innuendo that he fails to back up with any substance. The missing article echoes the conspiracy theories emerging from the fringe outposts of Alex Jones’ InfoWars and Glenn Beck’s The Blaze. Beck’s recent foray into these wilds of reckless slander has been titillating his fans for several days with promises of jaw-dropping revelations that he literally described as the most important story in the history of the country. His pledge to unveil the sordid details Monday went conspicuously unfulfilled.

Glenn Beck

But here’s where the plot thickens. The delusional ravings of Jones and Beck might have been supported in some small measure by the article posted by Starnes. Mind you, Starnes did not have any better proof than they did that some untoward activity was taking place, but at least his column could have been cited as a rather useless and circular corroboration – and, in fact, Beck did just that. Which makes it all the more curious that Fox News made the column disappear. The link currently returns a “No Results Found” page. Making matters worse, Starnes also posted the article on the conservative Townhall web site, where it was also scrubbed. [Note: The Townhall article remains in Google’s cache]

What can explain this odd self-censorship by two separate, unaffiliated web sites? The articles simply vanished with no comment or correction. Was there a discovery that they were so far off base that they put the publishers in jeopardy of being sued for libel? If so, simply removing them would not be an effective defense without an apology for any harm done. It would more likely serve to prove that they had an awareness of the potential for harm and sought to cover up their actions.

Fox News

Another theory might be that Fox and Townhall are actually covert liberal agents who are in cahoots with Obama and the jihad movement and decided it would be better if they didn’t publicize these allegations. Plus they could sabotage Beck’s effort to reveal these harrowing truths and crush his credibility (if there were any left for crushing).

Alright, I know I shouldn’t be giving Beck any help in concocting his paranoid delusions. First of all, he’s better at it than I am. And secondly, it’s like giving a drug addict a fix. But what else might explain the behavior of Fox News, who ordinarily would leap at the opportunity to implicate Obama in some nefarious intrigue?

These missing articles create a mystery all their own, and it’s one that will likely never be solved because Fox is not forthcoming on matters related to their pseudo-journalistic endeavors. They rarely acknowledge errors in the best of circumstances, so we ought not to expect them to do so after having secretly excised a piece of dubious reporting. For all we are likely to ever know, these articles were just sucked into the black hole of Fox’s nightmare factory.

[Update 4/25/13] The articles referenced above are still missing and there have been no explanations or corrections offered. However, the “false flag” schemes they promote have been adopted by a GOP congresswoman from New Hampshire, Stella Tremblay, who said that “The Boston Marathon was a Black Ops ‘terrorist’ attack…by our own Government.”

Also, on Wednesday Beck interviewed a retired INS Special Agent on his webcast who disputed Beck’s account of the affair saying that “it doesn’t make sense.” Not surprisingly, Beck glossed over that portion of the discussion as if it hadn’t happened.

Where Are The Anti-Tyranny Teabaggers When Fox News Proposes Bugging Churches?

Posted by on April 22, 2013 at 5:35 pm. 9 Comments :

The Tea Party, and their Republican handlers, have created a cottage industry of fabricated fear mongering over imaginary plots to thrust the American people into slavery. Their incessant wailing over non-existent attempts by President Obama to designate himself a dictator and force his socialist, Sharia law down the throats of patrio-pathic Christicans has reached eardrum-busting decibel levels.

So it sort of makes you wonder why they aren’t aiming their NRA-approved assault weapons at their TV sets that are perpetually stuck on Fox News. Because this morning, Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends proposed that the government place listening devices in houses of worship.

Fox News

Whatever happened to the right-wing advocacy of small government? Where are the zealots who are convinced that Washington is a cesspool of would-be tyrants? How can those defenders of the Founding Fathers be silent when Fox News promotes such brazen violations of privacy and religious liberty?

The truth is that the righteous wing of the Republican Party was never opposed to big government. They have always favored a brand of oppression that focused on the private lives of the people. When they say that they want government “off their backs” what they mean is off the backs of big business. Regulation is a mortal sin to them. But they reserve the right to dictate how law-abiding individuals practice their faith, not to mention who they marry and what they are permitted to do in the privacy of their bedrooms.

Clearly hypocrisy is not foreign to their way of thinking. And that’s how they can sit back and be silent when their spokesmodels say things that are seemingly contrary to what they pretend to believe. Besides, when you violate the rights of minorities it doesn’t really count, does it?

Glenn Beck’s “Most Important Story In History” Just Another Epic Dud

Posted by on April 22, 2013 at 2:45 pm. 9 Comments :

Last week Glenn Beck was salivating over easily debunked rumors that he was convinced were proof of a scandalous cover up by the Obama administration. He spun a tale of a Saudi man who was near the scene of the Boston marathon bombing and was, according to Beck, connected to the Tsarneav brothers. And with the slimy veneer of the great snake oil salesman he is, Beck promised his glassy-eyed listeners that if they could just hold out for the weekend he would reveal unambiguous evidence that the Saudi was a terrorist and that President Obama was personally covering up for him.

Glenn Beck

And now our patience has been rewarded with Beck’s radio broadcast this morning. Completely oblivious to the fact that the man Beck is slandering as a terrorist was found to be a student with no ties to anything unsavory, Beck is clinging to his delusional conspiracy and reiterating his allegations from last week. And despite having threatened the President with the disclosure of the shocking truth, Beck has no further proof of wrongdoing or suspicious connection than he pretended to have previously.

The entirety of Beck’s expose consisted of unsupported allegations that a Saudi man was scheduled for deportation under “section 212, 3B” (security and related grounds). However, the Department of Homeland Security has already confirmed that the person in question was not a security risk and that he was not being investigated or deported. That, of course, hasn’t stopped Beck from persisting in his ramblings and calling for Obama to be impeached. He still has not speculated as to why Obama, and his entire national security apparatus, would be protecting a terrorist. Unless, of course, they themselves are behind the Global Jihad that Beck and his minions have been warning us about.

Beck failed to offer any substance to confirm his charges, other than unsourced “reports” and conjecture. So the weekend-long cliffhanger turned out to be bust. Now, as we all know, Beck having hallucinatory episodes marked by feverish fear mongering is not particularly newsworthy. What’s really troubling about this is that there are four Republican congressmen who are now demanding answers from DHS based on what they call “media reports,” but are really just Beck’s psychotic discharges.

It is always somewhat sad when Beck displays the severe mental deterioration that has become the hallmark of his broadcast career. But it’s downright nauseating that members of congress rely on such bull excrement and cite it in official communications. The American experiment in democracy sometimes comes frighteningly close to failing when people in government act like escapees from an asylum. And it isn’t just the obvious nutcases like Michelle Bachmann anymore.