Leave Conclusion Jumping To The Pros

Do not jump to conclusions. That’s the predictable advice that the mainstream news media dispenses after any terrorist attack. Translation: Don’t assume that this is yet another in a long line of hateful, cowardly attacks against innocent, unsuspecting civilians committed by Islamic extremists.

But, while they were telling us not to rush to politically incorrect judgments, the news media themselves and much of the left had the Boston Marathon bombing solved almost immediately. Within minutes, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews pointed his finger at conservatives. So did NBC’s Luke Russert. Obama’s political adviser, David Axelrod, had it nailed too. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer saw things the same way.

They all cited the calendar. It was April 15th.

The left’s preeminent philosopher, Michael Moore, found the solution was as simple as adding 2 plus 2. Not only was it Tax Day, but the final mile of the Boston Marathon was dedicated to the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut massacre. What right winger could resist that?

Marc Ambinder, an editor for The Atlantic, GQ and TheWeek.com blamed America’s gun culture.

In other words, like ABC’s Brian Ross, who blamed the Tea Party for the Aurora, Colorado movie theater mass murder and The New York Times, which blamed Gabby Giffords’ shooting on conservatives, the mainstream media leap at every opportunity to smear those they disagree with.

I was being interviewed on an entirely different matter by a public television reporter on Wednesday April 17th, two days after the bombing, when CNN erroneously reported that the Boston Marathon bombers had been captured. That ever vigilant and unbiased taxpayer subsidized journalist assured me that the suspect was undoubtedly a right wing extremist. His evidence was the date of the bombing. April 15th.

As it turns out, aside from the coincidence of Tax Day, April is well known among the leftist cognoscenti as the month that brings right wing terrorists out of their caves to commit violence. As terrorism expert Dina Temple-Ralston confidently explained on National Public Radio’s signature news magazine, All Things Considered, "April is a big month for anti-government, and right wing, individuals. There's the Columbine anniversary. There's Hitler's birthday. There's the Oklahoma City bombing. There's the assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.”

How does Columbine High School fall into conservatism’s column? And wasn’t the slaughter of the Branch Davidians Bill Clinton’s doing? Hitler’s view of racial preferences differs from the Democrats’ primarily in the choice of beneficiaries and victims.

April’s a good month for leftist terrorism too. April 22nd happens to be Vladimir Lenin’s birthday, a man responsible for 20 million murders and a hero of the left. Is it coincidence that April 22nd is also Earth Day? Ecoterrorism is our most common terrorism. A week ago, potheads celebrated their favorite intoxicant. At a rally in Denver, two potheads were shot. That exceeds all the shootings at all Tea Party rallies combined by two.

I didn’t waste breath explaining to the public television reporter that we could just as easily anoint April as the month that liberal Democrat presidents incinerate peaceful women and children by the score, as the Clinton Administration did at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, one year prior to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Salon Magazine’s David Sirota openly hoped that, when the bombers were found, that they would be white, American males. CNN’s Christianne Amanpour said the same thing, just in fewer words.

Well guess what? The assumption they all warned against turned out to be the truth.

And now the mainstream media are scratching their heads, stroking their goatees and wondering what could possibly have motivated these men? Suddenly, the MSM that was so eager to blame right wingers is exercising remarkable restraint regarding the bombers’ motives.

Here’s some help. According to an aunt, a few years ago the older brother’s devotion to Islam took an extreme turn. He was suddenly praying five times daily. Two years ago, he traveled to his homeland of Chechnya for six months. His personal web page salutes both Chechen independence and Islamic extremism.

But the news media that was so certain of motives before the suspects were identified now professes innocence of what could have caused these angels to go wrong.

So the media only jump to conclusions when the paucity of data permits them to make uninformed decisions. But now, when they have mountains of data at their disposal, they play dumb.