Philbin Column: On Ft. Hood, Media and Elites Refuse to Deal with Real

November 10th, 2009 7:16 PM
As we survey the horror of the Ft. Hood massacre, it might be useful to remember that we’ve been here before, with another shooting 16 years ago. The circumstances were very different, but the reaction of the media and other elite – the excusing, the spinning, the slight regard for the victims – has been eerily similar. On Dec. 7, 1993, aboard a crowded rush hour Long Island Railroad…

CNN Misquotes Ft. Hood Private to Cast Doubt on Cries of 'Allahu Akbar

November 10th, 2009 5:20 PM
CNN misquoted a soldier at Fort Hood who was wounded in last week's shooting to  suggest that the soldier's recollection that Major Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" before firing was in doubt. Many in the media have been doing their best to downplay evidence suggesting Hasan was acting in accordance with radical Muslim beliefs."I was sitting in about the second row back when the assailant stood up…

FT's Freeland 'Comforted' Military's Devotion To 'Diversity' Endures

November 10th, 2009 8:12 AM

The War on Terror Made Him Do It

November 10th, 2009 12:54 AM
As is seemingly tradition, the media is once again playing that classic game known as ‘How Can We Blame Bush?'  It's the party favorite where liberals take the biggest headline of the day, and immediately link Bush to the cause in one fell swoop, eliminating all facets of rationale.  Now, syndicated columnist Gwynne Dyer has introduced his own version, something that is only surprising in the…

Matthews on Ft. Hood Suspect Warning Signal: 'That's Not a Crime to Ca

November 9th, 2009 9:11 PM
MSNBC's Chris Matthews has said some things that would make your scratch your head - like getting a thrill up his leg from a speech given by Barack Obama. However, this one will really make you wonder what he was thinking. On his Nov. 9 broadcast of "Hardball," in an interview with Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, Matthews compared the incident of Maj. Nidal M…

CBS’s Schieffer Blames Army for Ft. Hood Shooting

November 9th, 2009 5:32 PM
At the end of Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS, host Bob Schieffer offered commentary on the cause of the mass shooting at Fort Hood: “That doctor [Major Nidal Hasan] should not have been at Fort Hood. I don’t care how hard-up the Army is for mental health professionals....sadly, this shows the Army still does not take protecting soldiers’ mental health as seriously as it does training them to…

Flashback: ABC's Boston Legal Ridiculed Idea MD Could Be a Terrorist

November 9th, 2009 4:52 PM
Two-and-a-half years before Army Major Nidal Hasan, a Muslim medical doctor, murdered 13 at Fort Hood in Texas in what more-and-more looks like a jihadist terrorist attack given his anti-American rants and ties to Islamic extremists, ABC's since-canceled Boston Legal drama ridiculed the idea a doctor could be a terrorist. A scene in the episode first aired on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 -- meant to show…

CNN Zeroes-In on 'Right-Wing' Backlash Against Muslims From Pajamas Me

November 9th, 2009 2:48 PM
On Monday’s American Morning, CNN’s Carol Costello highlighted a column on the “right-wing” Pajamas Media website during a report on a possible backlash against Muslim soldiers, but omitted how the author of the column is a noted feminist, and that her only “right-wing” credential is her focus on Islamic misogyny.Anchor John Roberts introduced Costello’s report, noting that  apparently “many…

CBS’s Schieffer on Ft. Hood Shooting: There Are ‘Christian Nuts

November 9th, 2009 12:10 PM
On Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS, host Bob Schieffer tried to provide some perspective on the Fort Hood shooting, committed by an Islamic extremist: “It’s looking more and more like he was just, sort of, a religious nut. And you know Islam doesn’t have a majority – or the Christian religion has its full, you know, full helping of nuts too.”Schieffer made the comments while speaking to Senator…

ABC: U.S. Knew Hasan Tried Contacting Al Qaeda Months Ago

November 9th, 2009 10:29 AM
ABC's Brian Ross reported Monday that suspected Fort Hood shooter Nidal Halik Hasan tried to contact people connected to the terrorist group al Qaeda.Even worse, U.S. intelligence officials were aware of this months ago, and "it's not known whether the military was ever told by the CIA or others that one of its majors was making efforts to communicate with figures under electronic surveillance…

NYT Wants You To Know: Percentage-wise, Hasan Was Hardly Ever Homicida

November 9th, 2009 7:31 AM
Check out the headline from on the front page of the hard-copy New York City edition of today's New York Times:After Years of Growing Tension, 7 Minutes of BloodshedThe article reports that Nidal Malik Hasan began feeling disgruntled with the Army as far back as 2004.Let's see, there are 525,948 minutes in a year. If Hasan's been feeling "tension" for about five years, that makes about 2,629,740…

CNN's Nguyen Asks: 'Was It Taunting, Was It Teasing, Was It Harassment

November 7th, 2009 3:17 PM
On CNN Saturday Morning News today, anchor Betty Nguyen interviewed a psychiatrist about Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 and wounded 30 others in a shooting spree Thursday in Fort Hood, Texas.  She began by delving into possible reason for Hasan's actions:NGUYEN: Dr. Paul Ragan, a psychiatrist who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder joins me now from Nashville. Dr. Ragan, let me ask…

Media 'Cringe' That Mass Killer a Muslim Since It 'Inflames' Right Win

November 7th, 2009 2:33 PM
Newsweek's Evan Thomas regretted the Fort Hood mass murderer, Major Nidal Hasan, is a Muslim because of how that reality will be abused by conservatives. On this weekend's Inside Washington, Thomas, now Editor at Large with Newsweek after stints as Assistant Managing Editor and Washington bureau chief, rued:I cringe that he's a Muslim. I mean, because it inflames all the fears. I think he's…

Bugler Plays 'Revile'? AP Mangles Fort Hood Flag Photo Caption

November 7th, 2009 7:14 AM