Posted on 07/04/2015 9:00:17 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Police Department announced it would be on high alert for the July 4th weekend. As local ABC 7 reporter Leanne Suter notes, “There are no credible or specific threats, but there is serious concern of a potential homegrown attack.”
So nothing “credible” or “specific” — just “serious concern” about “potential” attacks. Sure, maintaining alertness during periods of vulnerability can be a good thing, but the nonexistence of evidence is concerning, especially when you consider what Deputy Chief Michael Downing said: “The threat stream is very high. In fact, we don’t think it’s been this high since 9/11.”
I’m sorry, what? First of all, what’s the “threat stream”? I assume it’s a specific thing since, according to your use of the definite article, there’s either (a) only the one, or (b) the one you’re alluding to is the most important. However, and more importantly, “since 9/11″? Were we even talking about terrorist threats just before the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City? Sorry, I have to check with my records, and… No, we weren’t.
Yet Downing’s words were immediately caught in the 24-hour news cycle’s nets, and he was invited on to CNN on Friday to discuss his comments and what they indicated (if anything) about the Independence Day weekend. The segment began promisingly, as This Hour co-anchors John Berman and Kate Bolduan asked Downing point blank about his “not since 9/11″ comment and what information convinced him to say it.
Did Downing reveal any new information? Or did he opine that it was a strong, or at least poorly phrased statement, and recant it?
Nope, he merely repeated his prior talking points. And to make matters worse, Berman and Bolduan went along with it and never questioned what Downing had to say (or didn’t say at all). The Deputy Chief argues, “It just makes sense that we’re on a higher level of alert” after listing off various terrorism-linked events around the world, and that’s that.
To counter, I could probably quote Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s 1933 inaugural address — you know, the one with the “fear itself” line that everybody likes to end their emails with — but I won’t. Instead, I’ll try and enjoy my Independence Day weekend festivities, even with the knowledge that a few dozen militarized police or so will be eyeing me and everyone else with twitchy-trigger-finger suspicion. God bless America, y’all.
Check out the clip below, courtesy of CNN:
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Home grown terror = a Saudi with a green card.
We need someone to save us! What will we do?
if we focus on muslims that would be islamophobia
[We need someone to save us! What will we do?]
Call on JESUS!
Yep. And look at all the horrific things they did this evening. NOT. They like to talk a lot it seems.
Home grown terrorist == ivy school educated marxist agitator...
Hey, I have an idea. Let’s import a few hundred thousand or more of them here. That outta teach us.
Turn to God.
Get down on your knees and learn to pray the Rosary.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/dozen-held-brit-sweep-new-fears-chatter-quiets-suspect-spy-osama-captive-u-plan-terror-u-s-article-1.645544
Chris: My God, that's... I don't even know what that is!
Kim Jong Il: Nobody does!
I’ve often wondered why the ‘fear itself quote is held in such veneration...
History showed short thereafter that we had to more to fear. And the common difficulties of our nation were clearly larger than just material things.
And I’d love to find a lib to explain how and why their beloved FDR mentioned rising taxes as a concern of such importance that it was something he needed to fix...
One of the current concerns is making sure the analysts know how to classify chatter in context.
While it may seem obvious, it is worth stating that you read intelligence from Russia through a different lenses than you do intelligence material from China. Language, Nuance, culture, and both strategic and tactical goals will be different.
What is not so obvious is that IS and AQ must also be filtered differently.
AQ wants a certain level of organization. Top down funding and training led to matrices of approval. IS generally exerts structure only within controlled territories and active insurrection. They thrive on chaos and will take any ‘win’ they can get in the external theaters. A lone attacker making a single kill is to be celebrated. AQ wants their folks to keep their heads down until it’s time for the big strike.
Further exacerbating the issue is that it is not uncommon for the external elements (sympathisers, remote recruits, or even loyalists) of both organizations to socialize in the same in-person, online or telephonic circles. The commonalities of two very different organizations makes it more, not less, difficult to track chatter in some cases. The point being that AQ, a more structured organization, going dark has different implications than IS going dark.
I think all the “chatter” the FBI et al are hearing now days are their butt cheeks flapping when the gas is expelled.
Been amidst crowds of bikers every day since Thursday.
Haven’t seen hide nor hair of anyone stupid enough to pull any terrorist crap.
Probably just a coincidence.
[anybody need a flag? it’s the mother lode, there]
:D
“Wishful thinking” is the term, I believe.
:)
These days, I kinda put all that down in the same category like my momma when she told me “don’t run around with them scissors, you’ll poke your eye out!”
Maybe if they actually stopped something before it happened, I’d move them out of the “hey! don’t forget about us - we’re on the job!” category of concern ninnies and give them a little more credit.
Dysfunctional relationship.
They abuse us and then tell us we need them to protect us.
“Been amidst crowds of bikers every day since Thursday.”
Bikers, as in Mongols or Warlocks, or bikers, as in Goldwings and MIA/POW?
There are bikers and there are riders.
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