"The more we learn of Boston bombers the more they seem like bumblers. And there's the rub: any idiot can terrorize, doesn't require genius."
Thus tweeted The Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta earlier this morning. While some followers agreed, others shot back that it was a woefully inaccurate take, to say the least.
"Bumblers? Where have you been, the moon? They're Islamist terrorists; killed and maimed a large number of innocent Americans," tweeted author Michael Stedman of Wellesley, Mass.
"Bumblers? 3 killed, 282 wounded, 1 cop killed, 1 cop wounded, Boston paralyzed in 1st successful terror bombing since 9/11," objected Breitbart.com blogger Kristinn Taylor.
Confronted with some pushback, Franke-Ruta tweeted to Stedman, "I think the word their uncle used was 'losers.'"
Of course they're losers, Stedman shot back: "They are Islamist terrorist losers. Aren't they all? Don't belittle the damage these religious fanatics do."
Franke-Ruta then sent the following tweets to Taylor:
- That's my point exactly. It doesn't take a genius to terrorize. Look at Richard Reid for another example.
- Their uncle called them "losers." That fanatics who can't succeed in daily life can still terrorize America says something.
Minutes later, replied again to Stedman, Franke-Ruta insisted that she had "[z]ero intention" of belittling the damage caused by the Boston Marathon bombers: "You all just went through hell up in Boston."
The more we learn of Boston bombers the more they seem like bumblers. And there's the rub: any idiot can terrorize, doesn't require genius.
— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) April 23, 2013
UPDATE: As my colleague Tim Graham reminded me, Franke-Ruta formerly worked for the Washington Post as the national web politics editor.
