Posted on 08/08/2007 10:14:36 AM PDT by Pyro7480
By now it's been so widely adopted by the media that it's easy to be numb to it, but Chicago Tribune's E.A. Torriero breathed new life into the Bush-caused-it meme in the I-35W bridge collapse story by adding a new twist. The bridge collapse, suggested Torriero, is insult added to injury for mostly Muslim Somali immigrants already angered by American foreign policy.
In a story filed the evening of August 7, Torriero portrayed the collapse as insult added to injury for Somali immigrants, weaving in suggestions that America under President Bush is becoming akin to a third world country, unable or unwilling to build and maintain safe infrastructure:
To the Somalis who live near the bridge, the picture remains unfathomable. After all, they said, bridges collapse in underdeveloped African nations not in metropolitan Minneapolis.
[...]
Still, the collapse was something Somalis never expected to witness in their new homeland. And it has some wondering if the American government has misplaced its priorities by ignoring a decaying national infrastructure in favor of its costly foreign policy.
"Instead of building bridges, they spent more on invading countries," said Abbi Osman, a young Somali who came to Minnesota four years ago and was watching buddies play dominoes Tuesday in a Somali coffee shop. "They are investing in the wrong places."
As icing on the cake, Torriero suggests that the Minnesota bridge collapse is just another way which America under President Bush has victimized Muslims:
The collapse too adds to uneasy feelings among Somalis who say they have felt a federal backlash since Sept. 11, 2001 not only because of their Muslim faith but also because Somalia has been accused of harboring terrorists associated with Osama bin Laden. The bridge collapse has added jitters for Somalis who in recent years regrouped and rallied around one another.
"This all adds up to be very painful," said Omar Jamal, a Somali who directs the Somali Justice Advocacy Center that fights for Somali rights.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
unbelievable.
‘You can’t make this stuff up.”
Yes they can - and - do.
No kidding... this is amazing.
What a flippin LOON.
not Americans. Somalis.
oh, the poor illegal aliens.
How about this was all a sleeper cell attack by islamo terrorists and we should start deporting.
This is simply beyond belief. I swear by the Almighty, I am not exagerrating when I tell you I sit here stunned and dumbstruck. This is not to be believed.
This is Somailis saying this? The people who are only in this country because of an interventionist foreign policy? I think the reporter is putting some heavy spin.
Let’s see. Bridge built in 1967. Democrat majority in the House. Democrat majority in the Senate. LBJ (democrat) in the White House. Bridge was inadequately built and fails catastrophically decades later... It must be Bush’s fault. These people are really sick.
the editor who let that rubbish get into print should be fired, same for the ‘reporter.’
Thanks for this.
I’ve added the keyword “35W”. In an effort to track all stories related to this, please add “35W” to keywords on any/all threads regarding the bridge collapse story.
Thanks......
I lived in Somalia. There are no bridges in Somalia. If you want to cross a river, you get wet.
Did you see anything about illegals in there? The red carpet was rolled out for the Somalis... they didn't have to sneak over the border.
Watching others play Dominoes during the day sure beats working for a living. How old is Abbi and where was he when a certain helicopter got shot down over Mogadishu?
I love this..
We should make this stupid bridge a rallying point for STUPID GOVERNMENT SPENDING
If they hadn’t spent millions on ‘diversity training’ and other such useless governemnt feel-good crapola they could have renovated bridges.
Hey, all ! The guy is right ! Defund the State department, the IMF, the UN, the World Bank, and lots of other international organizations that are the recipients of our tax dollars.
Let’s stop sending money and/or troops to Somalia and other 3rd world nations in the ME, Africa, South/Central America and the like, and keep those dollars at home to benefit our own country.
Sounds like a good plan.
You think the Trib reporter is spinning?
I can’t read the Tribune and take it as a news source.
It is a self help rag run by social workers.
Perhaps the new bridge should have an extra lane only for immigrants to allow a quick escape from the oppression and fear that they encounter daily.
It should go in both directions.
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