JFK Terror Plot: How Soon Before Media Blame Bush For Timing of Arrests?

June 2nd, 2007 2:30 PM

Anybody that has been watching television or listening to the radio today is aware that a major terrorist plot to blow up JFK airport in New York has been thwarted.

*****Update: Michelle Malkin is all over this story.

*****Update II: LGF identifies Netroots' silence on this event.

*****Update III: Read entire DOJ press release here.

As reported by the Associated Press:

Three people were arrested and one other was being sought Saturday in connection to a plan to set off explosives in a fuel line that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport and runs through residential neighborhoods, officials close to the investigation said.

The plot, which never got past the planning stages, did not involve airplanes or passenger terminals, according to the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the arrests had not yet been announced.

Given President Bush’s current low poll numbers, and an ongoing media meme whenever reports concerning terrorism have surfaced in the past four years, an interesting question arises: How quickly will some prominent media member suggest that the timing of these arrests has something to do with the Bush administration’s desire to make the public forget about what’s going on in Iraq, and draw attention to the war on terror?

Too cynical?

Well, before you answer, please consider how the media gushed over Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards’ recent comments concerning the “war on terror” being a bumper sticker slogan created by President Bush to foster an environment of fear. In so doing, the press completely ignored previous occasions when Edwards used the term himself.

Furthermore, consider how the media, with the exception of Fox News and CNN, completely ignored the recent revelation of an al Qaeda torture manual.

Moreover, consider that, as reported by WNBC.com: “Sources said counter-terrorism officials have been following the plot for a little less than one year.”

Finally, please consider how such assertions about the timing of reports on alleged terrorist activities being political in nature have been made by press members in the past.

Then, after considering all of the above, ask yourself whether I’m being too cynical, or likely quite prescient.

As always, we will know the answer in the fullness of time.