Yesterday I woke up, turned on CNN and got blasted with a Breaking News Story about the arrest of a purported Al Queda terrorist. Turned to a bunch of other TV stations and got the same Breaking News Story about the arrest. All of the stories were these breathless accounts detailing what a big deal it was and how thorough the cunning and daring do of the FBI, CIA and Bush Administration was and how we had very nearly avoided a major disaster. After those stories, came even more stories detailing the horrific tales of just what a "dirty bomb" was and how thousands, neigh millions had just been saved.

Wow, pretty exciting, right?

Except for a couple of things, things that got lost in the fine print of the story. One, the arrest actually took place in May, a month ago. And not only that, instead of all the accounts that made it seem like it was something right out of a spy movie in which he was inches away from detonating the sucker before the FBI came crashing in and the bomb squad turned the bomb off seconds away from it exploding, they picked him up in Chicago when he was on a "reconnaissance mission." Which means he was a long ways away from actually using the dirty bomb, a bomb, by the way that's not exactly the easiest thing in the world to lug around and release.

Still, there was John Ashcroft, announcing the arrest via special TV hook-up from Moscow. And all the big news stations broke into their regularly scheduled sob stories about the missing girl in Utah with a Breaking News Story about the arrest. Sounds like a lot of people bought it all and that people are walking around thinking that it happened a day or two ago. Even heard someone on the radio saying it (okay, it was the Howard Stern Show, but considering how many people listen to him, it's a big deal). I didn't even realize the arrest got made a month ago until about the fifth or six time the story ran. I also couldn't notice that the only news program to make mention of the strange timing of the anouncement was the always right-on Daily Show.

Hmmm, do you think the media could have been played on this one? That the Bush Administration, still stung by all the bad reports having been leaked over the past couple of months, threw out this big, huge juicy tale at this particular moment to make people think they're not incompetant and that the press bought it hook, line and sinker? That if we were living in a cartoon world right now, the press would all be looking like big, huge lolipops right about now?

And is there any chance the timing of the story has something to do with Smirkboy's big proposal to shuffle a bunch of departments and agencies into more departments and agencies?

You don't think the Administration would be so low to constantly pull scare stories out there everytime they need political Big Mo? Anyone think there'll be a major scare story coming out just in time for the big Novemeber elections?

No. The Bushies would never do anything like that.

And what's up with the kid who they arrested? Another American. Now that's kind of scary. Years ago, all we had to just worry about was disaffected Americans shooting up school buildings or going postal on all their coworkers. Now they can go to Afghanistan or wherever, join Al-Queda, and get trained in terrorism.

Makes you feel almost nostalgic for the days of Dylan & Kliebold doesn't it?

PS- aus revoirs les blues.