Brian Ross’s The Blotter, perhaps unintentionally, provides a succinct commentary on the state of the world today with these two headlines, posted one after the other at the Blotter site:
German Police Release Suspected Plane Plotters
Jailed Blogger Could Spend a Year in Detention
That’s right–terrorists who plot to blow up airliners and commit mass murder walk away in Germany, while a blogger in San Francisco who filmed a violent protest and refuses to hand over the footage to a judge could very well spend a year in jail.
The story out of Germany is especially disturbing and involves half a dozen Muslim men, oops, I’m sorry, half a dozen generic “people”, plotting to blow up an Israeli El Al airliner out of Frankfurt airport.
Six people in Germany are suspected of planning to smuggle a bomb aboard an airplane. [Which just happens to be the official airline of Israel and would have had a majoirty of Jews on board. But let’s not mention that either].
Despite the fact that investigators have indicated they found evidence that the suspects had been negotiating with a Frankfurt airport security pass holder to smuggle a bag of explosives onto a plane, five of the six were released over the weekend…
…German law permits police to hold suspects for 24 hours unless there is hard evidence to charge them or hold them longer…”This case is encouraging in that our security authorities are clearly very observant, get very close to possible [terrorist] structures and, at least so far, have succeeded in intervening early enough,” Stefan Kaller, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told the AP.
The Germans are “encouraged” that they discovered a plot to mass murder Jews, and then let the perpetrators go. I feel safer already, don’t you?
Josh Wolf? I think you could have found a better comparison than that. To put him on par as a blogger, much less journalist, is stretching credulity.
[Ms. Bruce isn’t putting anyone on a par with anyone else–her point is the comparison of ABC News/Blotter headlines–ed].
Not really Longtabsigo,
How does any one American’s rights pale here? It is you who are stretching credulity by ignoring the rights of every American. And open your eyes and your mind, the blogosphere is a monumental happening and influence to world politics everywhere. It is internet journalism giving contrary opinions a chance.
Yes, there are others. Worse than us is Italy, where journalists like Raffaele Jannuzzi, Stefano Surace, and the late/great Oriana Fallaci were jailed for what we covet as freedom of speech.
Actually Longtabsigo, I thing you have already been Californicated. Go here to check your pulse:
http://www.pigazette.com/porkchops_californicated.html
Respectfully,
CinderellaMan