Given the tragic killing of 12 soldiers at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon, I have suspended my humorous “Top 10 news of the weird” this week. In its place I have culled some actual radio and newspaper observations about the Fort Hood killings.

10 – “This the first case of arab terrorism on US soil since 9/11” (BA's observation - Major Nidal Hassan is a US citizen, and was born in america)

9 – “12 were killed, and 30 were injured. Major Hassan was armed with 2 handguns” (42 casualties with 2 handguns? At best, a handgun carries 15 rounds in its clip. He’d have to reload at some point, if this lone gunman explanation has any credibility)

8 – “Major Hassan was a devout muslim, and felt he could not go to war against other muslims” (evidently his non-violent principles were insufficiently developed to deter him from shooting 42 unarmed people at random)

7 – “He had been acting strangely. It was easy to tell when he was getting upset. He’d turn red in the face and lose control” (He’s a psychiatrist – was he exempt from psychiatric assessment because of his job?)

6 – “Major Hassan was unhappy that President Obama didn't end the war in Iraq” (Disagreement with the political decisions of our president has never been a valid excuse for murder)

5 – “The toll of dead and injured was so high because soldiers on base are not normally armed, unless taking part in a training exercise” (In what circumstances would psychiatrists and medical doctors carry a loaded weapon? Wouldn’t the sight of him roaming around the base with non-military handguns have raised some immediate questions of its own?)

4 – “It is ironic that Nidal Hassan is a graduate of Virginia Tech” (I don’t think “ironic” is the correct term here. Neither is “suspicious” or “pattern”.)

3 – “The Council on American Islamic Relations called the attack cowardly, and condemned it in the strongest terms possible”

2 – “Major Hassan’s family issued a public statement mourning the loss of life and putting the victims and relatives in their prayers”

1 – “The White House has so far had no official comment (as of 715 AM drive time radio)” (is there some kind of debate taking among White House advisors on the need for an announcement? Or are they waiting for overnight poll results before deciding which side to take?)

(Full disclosure – BA is secular, and works in a diverse environment which includes of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and probably other faiths. Our hearts go out to the victims and families this morning)

funnier than usual. i nominate this post to be preserved for posterity.

Good post, sad showing all the lies we will now be fed from the MSM.

I was impressed by how hard the press tried to get things right and resist speculation . . . and yet still managed to get things wrong to a greater or lesser extent. I am not being sarcastic here. When dealing with the tight-lipped military during an emergency situation it's probably easier to try and squeeze water out of a rock as coax useful information out of them.

It was my reaction, however, that I found most interesting. I was willing to be proved wrong but assumed that the situation was terrorist in nature once the media outlets began insisting that there was more than one shooter and that the second or even third one was located widely apart. Once it turned out -- many hours later -- that the second and third shooters hadn't been shooters at all then the whole thing shrunk back to the lone madman gunman scenario again and I relaxed. A mere madman is far preferable to the idea that a huge military post could so easily be infiltrated and attacked by three gunmen.

After 911 I now assume the worst and yet I wait for confirmation.

Well done.

Terrible tragedy. Can't quite come to terms with it all.

ba: Also side note: Congratulations on your blue check,editor's pick for your recent post on "Green Fray"

~LAM

The first mistake the press made was quoting Kay Bailey Huthcinson as if she knew what she was talking about. Declaring the shooter dead.

The MSM are trying so hard to be first,they drag in people who know less than they do.Once something is said,it becomes fact with the MSM. I went to bed last night thinkint he killer was dead. Woke up this morning to find that was not true.

unless she had official word, she couched things along the lines of, "This is not official, but I have heard that . . . "

The media got similar quotes from several other important people and they all said things along the lines of "This is not official, but I have heard that . . . " The media then [at least all that I followed] passed this along with the SAME disclaimer. The problem is that when one has heard the same thing from many different sources one tends to filter out the obligatory disclaimer and accept possibilities as facts.

That's human nature and there's not much that any of us can do about it. Like you, I did not learn the real facts until relatively late.

Re your #1, did you miss the President's comment yesterday or don't you consider him an appropriate white house spokesperson?

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+5!