Some consider the Nation’s Capital as “Fantasyland on the Potomac”. Other outsiders are “Fed Up” with the Federal City. It's better to consider D.C. as “the District of Calamity” (sic).
After the a jury sentenced Dzhohkar Tsarnaev to death for killing three people and maiming 264 exploding two bombs near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, former Governor Martin O'Malley weighed in.
While the prospective Democrat Presidential candidate claims to respect the decision of the jury, his rhetoric reverts to a blame America first mode.
To mark the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing, Vice President Joe Biden participated in the solemn memorial tribute.
The Vice President gave a stirring speech which ranged from an emphatic whisper to a defiant proclaimation while speaking before the invitation only crowd of 2,600 people at the Hynes Convention Center, close to the finish line where three people were killed and 260 people were injured in a terrorist attack by two ethnic Chechen Muslims.
Alas, Biden's bloviating had some awkward elements. In commending the Boston Strong ethos epitomized by many in touched by the travesty, the Vice President pronounced "It was worth it."
To be fair, here is the quote in context:
"Let me say to those quote
‘survivors’ [who spoke previously]. My God you have survived and you
have soared. It was worth it, I mean it sincerely, just to hear you
speak. You are truly, truly inspiring. I have never heard anything so
beautiful.”
Biden is known for his sui generis verbal gymnastics which seem awkward but can still win over the home crowd. Biden's tribute fused fanfare for the common man, a defiance to terrorism and some sports metaphors. Not surprising for a 71 year old Democrat preparing for his own race.
It is amazing how Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's official story has changed about the Saudi so called student who was guarded as a person of interest before the Obama Administration dropped all concerns about an individual due to be deported as a terrorist.
In a fluid investigation of an atrocity like the Boston Marathon Bombing, it is understandable the investigators might have false leads. But it is curious how Napolitano's story has changed. On April 18th Big Sis sarcastically refused to answer any questions from Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC 3rd) about any person in custody. Napolitano said on the record: :“I am unaware of anyone being deported for national security reasons
at all...again, I don’t think that he was
technically a person of interest or a suspect that was a wash”.
He was not on a watchlist. What happened is — this student was,
really when you back it out, he was in the wrong place at the wrong
time. He was never a subject. He was never even really a person of
interest. Because he was being interviewed, he was at that point put on a watchlist, and then when it was quickly determined he had nothing to do with the bombing, the watch listing status was removed..
Obviously, there was double speak from the Secretary in the DHS in that utterance as he was not on a watchlist before he was put on a watch list. And now the U.S. government officially does not know where this material witness to the Boston Bombing has gone.
Napolitano also relied on the student visa, where he was supposed to be a student at the University of Findley, except this foreign exchange student never showed up for classes in Northeast Ohio, yet managed to be front and center for the Boston Marathon when there was a terror attack. The government claims that the Saudi student transferred to Boston. The problem is that the University of Findley has no records of the transfer.
There continues to be a hub of strange activity about the Boston Marathon bombing, but the bizarreness continues to emanate from between the beltways in the District of Calamity. But if America is still has the rule of law instead of a rule of men, it might be woe for the most interesting Woman still in the Obama Cabinet.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Aunt, Maret Tsarnaev, who lives in Ontario, Canada, gave a presser when Boston was on lock-down in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists. She insists that they are being framed.
Hearing that your kin has killed and crippled scores of innocent people at the Boston Marathon might not compute so it is somewhat understandable the Maret Tsamaev would proclaim her newphews innocence when besieged by the press. What is not as easily excused is seeking out the media to shill her fantastic viewpoint. On Saturday, the Blaze Radio Network’s Buck Sexton Show had an unprompted phone call from Maret Tsarnaev.
At first, it sounded as is Ms. Tsarnaev was extending an olive branch to those impacted by the atrocity. But shortly afterwards, she continued to peddle the narrative of “The boys were framed, there is no proof–you do the math.” While it is possible that this was a crank call, the grief in the woman’s voice along with the consistency of the denial made it less likely that it was a Howard Stern cohort or other crank yankers. Buck Sexton blazed with stinging impeachment of the Aunt’s proclamation of innocence, which he later seemed to regret, as he assumed that it was family still in denial. Granted, that is a charitable assessment but it begs the question of why such a person would seek out media and push crackpot conspiracy theories. It frankly sounds like a foundation is being laid for a “Loose Change” campaign which has persuaded a significant minority of people to believe that 9/11 was an inside job, despite all of the probative facts. SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com
One of the more striking images from the Boston Marathon bombing was a photograph of a ashen hued, gravely injured victim being wheeled away from the terror site.
Carlos Arredondo assisting Jeff Bauman, at Boston Marathon Bombing
[photo credit : Charles Crupa/ AP]
Jeff Bauman, Jr. is a 27 year old was waiting near the finish line to cheer on his girlfriend running in her first Boston Marathon. After the first explosion, Bauman had lost both legs below the calf and his shirt was on fire. The man in the cowboy hat, Carlos Arredondo, stopped distributing flags, jumped over the fence and ran toward the victims laying on the ground. Arredondo extinguished Bauman’s burning shirt with his hands, tore off a shirt to act as a tourniquet on a leg stump. Arredondo stayed with Bauman to comfort him until emergency workers reached the blast victim. Bauman had to be resurrected during surgery as he had almost exsanguinated. Unfortunately, both of Bauman’s legs had to be amputated. But while Bauman was still in intensive care on Tuesday under heavy sedation, he asked for paper and a writing utensil. The patient wrote “bag, saw the guy, looked write at me.” When Bauman was put in contact with the FBI, he was able to describe the bomber as wearing “cap, sun glasses and a black jacket over a hooded sweatshirt.” Bauman noted that he locked eyes with the terrorist who placed the backpack at the finish line. This description was enough for law enforcement to eventually identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev, suspect number 1. As news broke out that Bauman was instrumental in identifying one of the terrorists, bloggers began a crowd-funding campaign to cover Bauman's medical costs, which had raised $160,000 by Friday afternoon. In addition, Jeff Bauman was visited at Boston Medical Center on Thursday by Silver Lining Playbook star Bradley Cooper and New England Patriots Receiver Julius Edelman. The football player tweeted a photo with the Twitter message: 'Visited #survivor #stud #hero Jeffrey Bauman Jr. today. He was looking great and is a true inspiration. #strong'.
Jeff Bauman, Jr. being visited by Bradley Cooper and Julius Edelman [photo credit: @Edelman11/Twitter]
After the hub of strange activity around the Boston Bombing and the the bloody manhunt which shut down Beantown on Friday, it is good to give fanfare for the common men like Bauman and Arrendondo who facilitated the capture of the terrorist bombers. May there be more stories of heroics to bring ALL of the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon Bombing to justice.
One of the nicknames for the city of Boston is “The Hub” as Bostonians consider themselves living in “The Hub of the Universe”. Alas, after the Boston Marathon Bombing, it has become the hub of strange activity. The race of government investigators to find those responsible for exploding two IED bombs that currently have killed three people and severely injured at least 150 has been conducted over a strange path indeed. On the one hand, it is wise to remember in breaking news stories that initial reports are often wrong and the fog of war can obscure the truth. Yet on the other hand, the Fort Hood shootings and the Benghazi bungle has shown how the Obama Administration will consciously publicize false stories, obstruct the truth and deny responsibility when it comes to linking the White House to foreign inspired terrorism during President Obama’s watch. *** Yesterday was a strange day in the Lamestream Media. Major news organizations like CNN and Fox News were reporting at 1:30 EDT from tips from high placed police sources that a suspect in the Boston Bombings was going to be arrested. CNN’s John King reportage revealed that it was a “dark skinned man, but he did lingustical gymnastics so as not to report that he was foreign or a Muslim. The media expected a 1 PM FBI briefing on the impending arrest that was delayed five times then cancelled. It is strange that two prominent media sources were burned with this explosive information. But putting these strange events in the Hub can best be understood by breaking the Bostonian conceit that it is the Hub of the Universe. Events our nation's Capital, the District of Calamity (sic) may have severely impacted the Boston Bombing investigations. On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry had a photo op scheduled with a Saudi counterpart. At the last minute, the meeting became a closed door meeting and the photo op was explained away as a scheduling mistake. It is strange that Foggy Bottom would have set up a photo op for a scheduling mistake. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama had an unscheduled meeting with the Saudi Ambassador. It was a “walk by” meeting, so as not to have it on the White House schedule. The procedure is for a lower level Executive Branch official to have a meeting with an open office door and the Chief Executive walks by and notices someone and then has a closed door meeting. What makes these instances of Executive Branch minutia relevant is how the story changed in Boston. Sudden, there was no suspect that was going to be arrested. In fact, the Saudi who had been a person of interest was suddenly slated to be deported.
This repatriation to the Saudi Arabia for 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was being framed as being close to his family. But Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi comes from a prominent Saudi family which may be supporters of Wahabbism (the sect of Sunni Islam that inspires Al Qaeda). So the young Saudi with powder mark burns on his hands would be an embarrassment to the Saudi Kingdom and might cause a diplomatic fissure with the United States. ***
A hospitalized Abdul Rhaman Ali Albabi [photo: Okaz]
When Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was considered a person of interest, an event file was created. According to ICE, the reason is under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities”. Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi ‘s visa had been revoked and he had submitted to voluntary departure. But before these public papers were classified and he was quietly shuffled off to Saudi, The Blaze exposed the situation and officials are reconsidering their strategy. But the Saudi newspaper Okaz reports that the Saudi consulate has been assured that all Saudis have been cleared, including Alharabi and Nura Kahlid Saleh al-Ajaji *** So if the reports about the linkage with the Saudis and dark skinned males are accurate, it does not fit the narrative which the Obama Administration would approve. *** Before jumping to conclusions, it would be wise for the facts to shake out. Unfortunately, experience has taught that the Obama Administration and the compliant Lamestream Media are happy to shun inconvenient truths. And the hub of strange activity around the Boston Bombing has done nothing to dispel this perspective. Strange days indeed. SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com
