Daily Archives: March 11, 2009

Right-Wing ‘Dirty Bomber’ Killed in Maine-Media Ignores

If you were reading the mainstream media, you would have missed this.

A Nazi-sympathizer and white supremacist, distraught over the election of Barack Obama, purchased ‘depleted uranium’ over the ‘net (!?).

According to the dispatch from ‘Raw Story’, trust-fund millionaire James Cummings had the resources to construct a ‘dirty bomb’ and had been in contact with white supremacist organizations:

“According to an FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center posted online by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts leaked documents, an investigation into the case revealed that radioactive materials were removed from Cummings’ home after his shooting death on Dec. 9,” reported the Bangor Daily News.

“Amber (Cummings) indicated James was very upset with Barack Obama being elected President,” reported the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center (PDF link). “She indicated James had been in contact with ‘white supremacist group(s).’ Amber also indicated James mixed chemicals in the kitchen sink at their residence and had mentioned ‘dirty bombs.'”

“Also found was literature on how to build ‘dirty bombs’ and information about cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60, radioactive materials,” said theBangor Daily. “The FBI report also stated there was evidence linking James Cummings to white supremacist groups. This would seem to confirm observations by local tradesmen who worked at the Cummings home that he was an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler and had a collection of Nazi memorabilia around the house, including a prominently displayed flag with swastika. Cummings claimed to have pieces of Hitler’s personal silverware and place settings, painter Mike Robbins said a few days after the shooting.”

He was killed by his wife before he could do further damage. In December. 

Will some of the media apologists who occasionally visit this site please explain to El Somnambulo why this story has been virtually ignored by the mainstream media, both print and electronic? Are white supremacists building ‘dirty bombs’ with the possible intent to kill the President not newsworthy? Is this such a commonplace occurrence that it is considered ‘dog-bites-man’? Would the media apply the same standard to, say ‘the shoe bomber’, anyone with an Islamic surname, or to a left-wing whacko engaged in this kind of behavior?

Simply put, can someone with any understanding of journalism please explain why this story has been ignored everywhere except in the local Bangor paper?

Is anybody with a functioning brain awake at editors’ desks across the country? Or has editing been contracted out to Swedish chimps as a cost-saving measure?

Thoughts from the Reality Check Town Hall March 9

This is the one in Wilmington held Monday night. There were perhaps 50 people in attendance and lots of politicians — Councilwoman Shabazz and Councilman Wright from the City; Representative Plant, Representative Johnson, Representative Keeley from the House and Senator Henry. No Senator Marshall, which was really strange. Governor Markell was late, so the pols and the students at the school did what they could to vamp until Jack arrived.

He gave his Powerpoint presentation (which you can see here) and here are a few points:

  1. After their next meeting (next week) , DEFAC will tell us that the budget shortfalls Governor Markell has been talking about will be even bigger.  This is not just a bigger budget hole, but also an indicator of just how fast the Delaware economy is slowing down.
  2. In comparison to our immediate neighbors, Delaware has the biggest shortfall (in percentage terms only).
  3. There is a committee of state employees and outside executives (working as volunteers) working on identifying waste and inefficiency in State Agencies.   Their work won’t come close to covering the shortfall.
  4. He will present his budget in 2 weeks to the Legislature.
  5. They are trying to be as compassionate and responsible in looking to make cuts.
  6. He hinted very strongly that sports betting is going to be part of the revenue package.
  7. He spent a long time talking about reducing the number of people behind bars, looking at the kind of offenders who could be better dealt with outside of the traditional prison system.  He talked about this not just as cost cutting, but also as better sense.  He did note that this is not going to happen by June 30.
  8. Another topic discussed was the consolidation of school districts.  He was really clear that there are many good financial reasons to do this, but also clear that this savings could be neutralized by the need to normalize teachers’ salaries across the districts after consolidation.

The final message — State Government will look very different on July 1.

He was honest and unequivocal about delivering this news and I was really struck by the massive amount of trust and respect this guy had in the room.  Afterwards, I spoke to a number of people who were plainly worried about what the cuts and increased revenues would mean to them, but who greatly respected the fact that he was willing to talk to us directly about difficult choices.  It was also interesting to note that the rest of the political crew in the room greatly suffered in comparison.  Which I’d agree with.

There was another meeting in Wilmington last night — were you at either of these meetings?  What were your impressions?