Super Bowl Update

WMRA's official blogger-in-chief--that being I, Martha Woodroof--am happy to be back at the computer after my annual, personal Big Dig in the Woodroof gardens. Our flowers are, if I may say so, looking mighty fine, despite the dry weather. Invasive weeds are banished. Queen Anne's Lace and wild poppies remain as welcomed additions.

So now, it's back to the real world. Which really is a fine, if complicated, place to be. . .

This morning, I opened The New York Times to find that an arrest had been made in the New York City failed car bomb attempt. As I'm sure you know, "Faisal Shahzad, 30, (pictured left as he appears on his Facebook page) was taken into custody at Kennedy Airport on board an Emirates flight to Dubai . . " Two other men were removed from the plane, but it is not known if they were part of the plot. Evidence, the article says, does point to more than Mr. Shahzad having been involved in the attempt.

Mr. Shahzad, a legal immigrant to this country from Pakistan, had just returned from there. So this, toward the middle of the article, caught my eye:

The investigation was shifted on Monday to the control of the international terrorism branch of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, a multiagency group led by the Justice Department, according to two federal officials.

“As we move forward, we will focus on not just holding those responsible for it accountable, but also on obtaining any intelligence about terrorist organizations overseas,” {U.S. Attorney General] Mr.[Eric} Holder said.

Officials cautioned that the investigation of possible international contacts did not mean they had established a connection to a known terrorist group.

“It’s a prominent lead that they’re following, the international association,” said a senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. “But there’s still a lot of information being gathered.”

The New York Post's, much more tabloidian in style, reporting of the arrest was just as straightforward, as was The Washington Post's and the LA Times.

Glenn Beck has yet to comment at the time of this posting, and Rush Limbaugh is still focused on accusing environmentalists of blowing up the BP oil rig.


What we've been told, so far, is that this car-bomb was planted by someone with Pakistani roots whose intent, according to Attorney General Holder, was to kill Americans. Yet the language used by the Attorney General to describe the event, the investigation, and this arrest has been noticeably lacking in the dramatic, the political, the opportunistic. I have read or heard or seen nothing from the man that smacks of fear-mongering speculation.

Of course the plot was foiled, the bomb didn't go off. And this makes it much, much easier for all of us, including Attorney General Holder and all other government and law enforcement officials involved, to stay calm and resist speculation.

There is still, however, much more to be learned about possible terrorist connections. This, as we continue to slog our way through two wars; at least one of which is now considered by many to have been entered into in part because of false claims about terrorist connections made by politicians and government officials. It's left some a bit leery of what we're told by those in charge of such investigations.

My question is, are you any less or more leery of what the Obama administration has to say on the subject of terrorism, than you were of the Bush administration?