Jim Geraghty has taken flight for "The Last Frontier," whither go National Review's shining stars. But fear not. The "Jolt" abides, with Buckley Fellow Ian Tuttle at the helm for the next few days. I can't promise Jim's insight, but I can promise fewer Jack Fowler-style puns. So, all in all, you're welcome. Terror in Chattanooga? Alas, this month's mass shooting . . . A gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire at two military facilities Thursday in Tennessee, killing four Marines and wounding two other service members and a police officer, officials told CBS News. The shooter also was killed. Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the shooting suspect was identified as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. According to a U.S. law enforcement source, Abdulazeez was born in Kuwait and came to the United States in 1996. It's unclear if and when he became an American citizen. A U.S. official told CBS News that Abdulazeez was not on law enforcement radar concerning possible terror links or aspirations. The FBI was not aware of him as being any kind of threat. The FBI investigation is open, but given what we know so far, all signs point in one direction: Mr. Abdulazeez maintained a blog where he posted about Islam, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks international terrorist groups. A July 13 post stated that "life is short and bitter" and that Muslims should not let "the opportunity to submit to Allah . . . pass you by." Photographs posted on family Facebook pages show the once-clean-cut student recently grew a beard. A Hamilton County jail booking report posted on Chattanoogan.com shows that he was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence, a first offense. In the last two or three months, Mr. Abdulazeez had begun showing up rather regularly at Friday Prayer at the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, a large mosque and cultural center, said Dr. Azhar S. Sheikh, a founding member of the center's board. Dr. Sheikh said that he showed no signs of extremism. Assuming this is an act of Islamic terrorism, the obvious question is whether Abdulazeez was in contact with, or influenced by, likeminded elements. According to NBC affiliate WBIR, "The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center said there has been no credible claim of responsibility so far for anyone who might have influenced the gunman." Setting aside the question of "self-radicalization," if Abdulazeez took it upon himself to execute this attack, it would closely resemble events in Ottawa in October. As Charles Krauthammer commented then: What I think has happened, with the tremendous ideological appeal of ISIS . . . it's now getting these individuals already in Western societies to act on their own. . . . It looks as if the appeal of ISIS is such that they can now spark these attacks without lifting a finger, without organizing what, for example, al-Qaeda in Yemen does: Create a bomb, send somebody on a plane. And that's the new face of terror." No positive social-media messaging from the White House is going to halt that train. Finally, to supplement the tragedy of this event, add some tragic irony: Abdulazeez's high school yearbook ad: 
Justice in Wisconsin—Maybe If you haven't already, make sure to read NR's David French on yesterday's Wisconsin Supreme Court decision re: those horrifying John Doe raids (which David broke in NR-Dead Tree back in May). To call it a travesty of justice is a compliment to travesties everywhere. But don't let me tell you. Here's the ruling: Our lengthy discussion of these three cases can be distilled into a few simple, but important, points. It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a "perfect storm" of wrongs that was visited upon the innocent Unnamed Movants and those who dared to associate with them. It is fortunate, indeed, for every other citizen of this great State who is interested in the protection of fundamental liberties that the special prosecutor chose as his targets innocent citizens who had both the will and the means to fight the unlimited resources of an unjust prosecution. Further, these brave individuals played a crucial role in presenting this court with an opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or capricious governmental prosecution. Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation. Mic: dropped. But, as David rightly notes: The abuse has been stopped, but this victory — important as it is — will be hollow indeed if there is no accountability. For the raid victims and their families, justice is still long-delayed. If prosecutors do not face any real consequences for their actions, then justice — ultimately — will be denied. Hillary Clinton, (Wannabe) Space Cadet In a wide-ranging New Hampshire town-hall conversation that included musings on black holes ("Why is it there? What is in it? What does it mean for us?"), Hillary Clinton recounted: "When I was a little girl, I guess I was a teenager by then . . . 14, I think, and the space program was getting started, and I wanted to be an astronaut, and I wrote to NASA," she recounted. "And I said, 'What do I have to do to be prepared to be an astronaut?' And they wrote back and said, 'Thank you very much, but we're not taking girls,'" she remembered. Look, I know politicians tell stories. Barack Obama and the uncle who liberated Asuchwitz, Cory Booker and T-Bone -- dressing things up is the politician's way. But Hillary is reaching for Joe Biden-levels of hilarity with these tales. No one believes that "Joey Biden" smashed that bully's head into the counter. "That's just Uncle Joe telling tales again! Golly, what a jokester!" Hillary does not have Biden's doltish loveableness, but she has his love of fabulism. The problem: Even though people know that Clinton is lying -- about her e-mails, for instance -- they still peddle those stories as true, and attack anyone who questions them. That's a dangerous combination of self- and popular deception. Still, Clinton's lies have their upside -- on Twitter. ADDENDUM: Um . . . is this a widespread problem? | 
Comments
Post a Comment