This Week has to be Better Than Last Week

Mike Barnicle, regular contributor to MSNBC’s " Morning Joe” made me want to stand up and applaud when he said the words to the effect of “the senators should just shut up and get out of the way and let the Justice department do what it has to do.” He was responding to Senator Chuck Grassley, who thought we should put off the immigration bill for a while and the three amigos, senators Gramm, McCain, and Ayotte calling for the administration to make Boston's bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaeu an enemy combatant. Then there was Representative Peter King saying that the FBI dropped the ball on the older brother thus allowing the bombing incident to happen.

I don’t know what connection Senator Grassley is trying to make between the bombers, who were here for 10 years, and the current immigration bills that are being worked on. One of the bombers was a legal resident, and the other was a naturalized American citizen. I can understand where one who is opposed to an immigration bill in the first place looking for straws to make their case. This immigration bill has been in the works for a long time and border security and vetting those who are allowed to enter our country has always been at the forefront.

The questioning of Dzhokhar is already taking place even though he is unable to talk. A first-year law student could win a death penalty for the prosecution because there’s a mountain of evidence against him such as an eyewitness, admission to the fact and video. Peter King wants him to be labeled an enemy combatant for 30 days, so they can squeeze all the intelligence out of him. In 2009, a special group of interrogators, known as the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, was created especially for terrorism cases. The group is comprised of FBI, CIA, State Department and other agencies, to extract the needed information as quickly as possible. Even when Dzhokhar is convicted, he will be housed for a time in maximum security where more information might be obtained. I have a problem with Representative Peter King labeling America, a battleground because that makes it easier for government to label American citizens enemy combatants. Dzhokhar Tsarnaeu will be tried in a civilian court because it’s unconstitutional to subject American citizens to a military commission.

The Sunday talk shows were mostly about pointing fingers and questioning the lock down of a large American city. Peggy Noonan took it a step further by blaming President Obama for not being able to push through the background check which had a 90% approval. What rock has she been hiding under? The American people backed background checks; 90%% of Democrats voted for it, but 90% of Republicans voted against it. Only in our dysfunctional government does a 54 in favor and 46 against count as a loss. This morning Joe Scarborough said a source in the Boston police force (unanimous of course) told him that the lock down was questioned. It is my opinion that Joe Scarborough (libertarian) saw the move as government takeover. On another show, one Republican consultant said that if the subject were hiding in a boat in Louisiana, he would have gotten his head blown off. I believe that and that’s why I’m against vigilante justice. We needed this subject to taken alive because of the information he might have might help us prevent another bombing.

It’s funny how jealousy takes over a professional journalist. I’ve always thought Howard Kurtz was as good a journalist as there is. Sunday on his program “CNN’s Reliable Sources," it was obvious that he didn’t like the idea that during the coverage of the bombing, NBC’s Pete Williams was quoted as being the most reliable newsman. He said Williams made a mistake by telling everyone the police had found a body in a boat. Kurtz thought that the word “body''” meant “dead body.” CNN is still reeling from being wrong on the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, and now they are being mocked along with the Boston Globe, AP, and Fox News for jumping the gun. CNN used to be the one cable network that you could rely on to give up- to- date and accurate news, but they are being caught up in the numbers' game. CNN made a major mistake but nothing compares to putting the picture of two innocent teenagers on the front page (implicating them to be the bombers) just to sale newspapers. like the New York Post did.

A Job Well Done

I’m so impressed in the way Dzhokar Tsarnaev was captured alive by professional law enforcement. The Federal and State and local law enforcement performed as if they had done this several times before (which they haven’t) using the knowledge they acquired from intensive terrorism training. Think about this when you prefer low property taxes over training for such events; this is an item tax protesters put into the debt column. I don’t think we will ever see a large city like Boston and the surrounding communities being put into a lock down ever again. Perhaps many of you got to see a rare picture of Boston without traffic. I give a lot a credit to the people who complied and stayed indoors, rather than try to confront the suspect. Then again, this is another situation where a lot of the homeowners in Watertown probably had guns but were afraid to confront a nut case who might have had  more firepower than they did and was not fearful of using it. When I saw the overwhelming amount of law enforcement on the scene, I deviously thought about those blowhards who brag that they want to buy the baddest guns on the planet to fight off a tyrannical government coming for their guns. Good luck with that. Wasn’t it heartwarming to see all those clapping and cheering for the first responders as they were leaving the area?

Now that the subject is caught and recuperating from his wounds the controversy will begin over giving him his Miranda rights and a civilian trial. It’s primarily a Federal case because terrorism (possible international terrorism involvement) so the feds will use the “public-safety safety exception” to ask Dzhokar the obvious questions such as who else was involved, are they any more bombs and why they did it. After 48 hours, he will have a lawyer, and his Miranda Rights read to him but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he will clam up. What he says prior to him being read his Miranda Rights can be used in a court of law. That ruling is far below his constitutional rights, so I don’t know why people aren’t satisfied with that. . I hope the Atty. General doesn’t give in to those who want him tried in a military court. Justice would be served if he was tried in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

I agree with a pundit who said that the scene of the people cheering law enforcement and shouting”USA USA” is not what the terrorists of the world wanted to see. Boston doesn’t have near as many cameras as New York, but I bet as soon as the City Council meets; a lot more will be ordered. Cameras are a deterrent to terrorism because I just can’t imagine that the two Boston Marathon bombers thought they would ever see their pictures splattered on the nightly news. True, they weren’t the sharpest terrorist in the world because they stayed in the vicinity not knowing our capability of putting together video from citizens and store owners.