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Today (well, today in California :) is Take Back the Blog! day (thank you, Span, for the heads-up), in which we techychickies assert our right to a harassment/threat-free presence on teh Intarwebs. Consider it asserted, my vast readership of I've been rolling around Maison de Fatass for most of the day, ruminating on what I might write to contribute. Since I recently had a good rant on the subject already, another seems a bit like overkill.
So I thought I might go a little different route today, although still very much in keeping with the theme of women's right to safety.
Virginia Tech, 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing are big ticket events in the annals of US-focused terrorism. Each has resulted in high domestic and international media saturation, immediate government response (or at least an infestation of policy wonks on our Sunday morning chitty chat shows), and a huge spike in public and private debate about how we can or should make ourselves safer from future attacks.
Curiously, in the decade prior to 9/11 - years in which the first attempted attack on the World Trade Centers, the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine High School murders occured - the majority of terrorist attacks were waged by anti-abortion activists.
So it's more than a bit chilling to read about the attempted bombing of the Austin Women's Health Center (and a bit mystifying as to why the reporter thought it necessary to print the clinic's entire address in the report?). In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling earlier this week on late term abortions, I've got an unusual sense of unease. We're in an election cycle and the conservatives are having a hard time finding a rallying point. Is this the tack the rightwing's fitting to use to energize the faithful?
According to the Austin Statesman: "A terrorism task force, led by Assistant Police Chief David Carter...and Ralph Diaz of the FBI...is investigating the bomb that was left at the clinic. The two spoke at a news conference Thursday." Earlier today, 27 year old Paul Ross Evans, a parolee, was arrested and charged with violating federal laws banning the manufacture of explosives, and interfering with access to an abortion clinic.
Excellent. It's good to see our Homeland Security dollars at work for something that actually threatens Americans, for a change. But where is our onliest prez on the matter? Recall that he is the former gubner of Texas. Where, for all that, is the media? When the story first broke, it was picked up by all the usual suspects (Reuters, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, etc). News of the arrest?
I found that in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Why the silence? Is it because, as the FOX network opined during its live coverage of the original story, it's seen as "no big deal?" Or that wall to wall coverage of, for example, the Karbala bombing is more in keeping the current administration's agenda, while the rapid demise in visibility of the clinic's brush with terrorism is...well, that's sort of in keeping with the current administration's agenda as well, isn't it?
I think it's worth keeping an eye on this case as it unfolds...assuming it isn't buried under a sea of Middle Eastern carnage, MySpace's belated entry into China, or the discovery of prehistoric camel bones at a Wal-Mart site.
Excellent. It's good to see our Homeland Security dollars at work for something that actually threatens Americans, for a change. But where is our onliest prez on the matter? Recall that he is the former gubner of Texas. Where, for all that, is the media? When the story first broke, it was picked up by all the usual suspects (Reuters, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, etc). News of the arrest?
I found that in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Why the silence? Is it because, as the FOX network opined during its live coverage of the original story, it's seen as "no big deal?" Or that wall to wall coverage of, for example, the Karbala bombing is more in keeping the current administration's agenda, while the rapid demise in visibility of the clinic's brush with terrorism is...well, that's sort of in keeping with the current administration's agenda as well, isn't it?
I think it's worth keeping an eye on this case as it unfolds...assuming it isn't buried under a sea of Middle Eastern carnage, MySpace's belated entry into China, or the discovery of prehistoric camel bones at a Wal-Mart site.
Yes, dear?