| Gov't Blind to Motive of Muslim Killer - HUH |
[WND.com 07.18.15]
TRAIL OF TERROR
Shooter's motive stumps Obama, FBI, media
Rush: 'Must avoid bigotry, racism, prejudice and, obviously, the truth'
Garth Kant is WND Washington news editor. Previously, he spent five years writing, copy-editing and producing at "CNN Headline News," three years writing, copy-editing and training writers at MSNBC, and also served several local TV newsrooms as producer, executive producer and assistant news director. He is the author of the McGraw-Hill textbook, "How to Write Television News."
WASHINGTON - The nation's top talk-radio host, Rush Limbaugh, says parody becomes real life when the Obama administration tries to respond to Islamic terrorism in America.
- President Obama said it was a "lone gunman."
- White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the FBI was "looking at a variety of possible motives."
- U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said "it's premature to speculate on the motives of the shooter."
- FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Edward Reinhold said he "no idea" what the shooter's motive was because, "There is nothing that ties him to an international terror organization."
Given those statements, Limbaugh observed that life seemed to be imitating art, as the nation's top investigators claim to be stumped as to what possibly could have prompted Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez to murder four Marines in broad daylight in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Thursday.
On Friday, Limbaugh dug up a comedy skit from 2007 that he said "parodies exactly what's happening in the Drive-By Media this moment, today and last night."
The eight-year-old skit on Fox News Channel's "1/2 Hour News Hour" included dialogue that Limbaugh suggested was a mirror of the real-life reaction to Thursday's shooting:
Female anchor: Six men have just been charged with conspiracy to murder in connection with a plot to blow up buses and subway cars in London during the summer of 2005.
Male anchor: The six would-be suicide bombers charged are Muktar Said Abraham, Ramzi Muhammed, Yasin Omar, Manfu Asiedu, Adel Yahya and Hussain Osman.
Female anchor: Since their capture, the big question for Scotland Yard has been, "What exactly is it that links these six individuals? What common denominator motivated this seemingly random group of young men?"
Male anchor: It is puzzling, isn't it?
"Yes, it was, very puzzling," Limbaugh jested sarcastically. "That was parody in 2007, eight years ago. Today it's the news."
If the administration, the FBI and the media were stumped, a group that monitors online posts by radical Islamists was on the case.
A picture of Abdulazeez had already begun to emerge on the day of the massacre, after the SITE Intelligence Group discovered a blog post from the shooter extolling the virtues of fighting "Jihad for the sake of Allah."
On July 13, Abdulazeez wrote, "Don't let the society we live in deviate you from the task at hand. Take your study guide, the Quran and Sunnah, with strength and faith, and be firm as you live your short life in this prison called Dunya." In the context of the post, Dunya apparently signified the world, as opposed to the afterlife.
Limbaugh also observed how readily the media parroted the Obama administration's line that investigators were still searching for a motive in Thursday's attack.
He played a series of audio clips from television news coverage of the massacre:
- Shepard Smith: "Now the search for motive."
- Don Lemon: "... too soon to know the motive."
- Lester Holt: "The motive for the attacks unknown."
- John Berman: "Any sign of a motive?"
- Paul Cruickshank: "We do not yet know the motive at this point."
- Erin Burnett: "They're desperately trying to figure out what the motive might have been."
- Wolf Blitzer: "This individual, we don't yet know the motive, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez."
- Joie Chen: "Investigators are already looking into the suspected shooter's background to identify some motive. The trail so far has not revealed much."
Limbaugh then deadpanned, "The media's pulling its hair out trying to figure why in the world would this average, ordinary blend-in-with-the-crowd, never-stop-him-in-a-lineup American teenager, Mohammed Youssuf Abdulazeez, what in the world could have motivated him to shoot five people. Why in the world would something like this happen?"
Tongue firmly in cheek, the talk-radio king then diagnosed the hesitation to state the obvious.
"We have to be very, very careful here, my friends, not to rush to judgment. We have to move slower than the glaciers move to avoid bigotry, to avoid prejudice, to avoid racism and, obviously, to avoid the truth. And that's what we must avoid at all costs. We must not find the truth. And if anybody does find the truth, they better not say it."
Later, he added, "Now, you would think that after all of the previous Muslim terror attacks, the authorities in the news media would start see a pattern. But they don't want to jump to any conclusions, and they don't want to move any faster than the glaciers move. They don't want to bring up Muslim terrorism until we've gotten used to the idea that another four people have been killed. Nobody wants a backlash against Muslims.
Limbaugh also pointed out that former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes wasn't even sure if a man named after the founder of Islam was a Muslim.
Fuentes had said on CNN, "I know that what the name sounds like, but we don't know that it's a Muslim name. We know it's an Arabic name. We don't know what this individual was believing in, and that's what they're gonna be trying to determine."
Limbaugh also mentioned such headlines as one from Reuters that proclaimed, "Investigators Seek Motive Behind Tennessee Shooting Rampage."
It was just one of many.
Here are a few more:
- Los Angeles Times: Chattanooga gunman's motive remains a mystery, authorities say
- Washington Post: As investigators probe motive in Chattanooga rampage, a portrait of the shooter emerges
- CNN: Chattanooga shooting: 4 Marines killed, a dead suspect and questions of motive
- NBC: No motive known for gunman opening fire on Marines
- CBS: Authorities look for motive in Tenn. rampage
- ABC: Authorities try to figure out motive of Chattanooga shooting
- Detroit News: Chattanooga gunman's motive a mystery
- Chattanooga Free Press: Officials comb through shooter's history in search of motive
- Philly Voice: Investigators seek motive behind Tennessee shooting rampage
- Front Page Magazine: Authorities Still Searching for Motive of Muslim Terrorist
- Haaretz: FBI search for motive in Tennessee shooting rampage after ISIS ties ruled out
Follow Garth Kant @DCgarth