Blowing Up the Sears Tower for Fun and Profit

Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard Gregorie said in his opening statement in the trial of seven homeless men in Miami that they had planned attacks to trigger chaos which would allow them to take over the country and eventually the world. This case proves that it's impossible to satirize the Bush Administration. I know because a book I co-authored, The Ultimate Counterterrorist Home Companion, attempts to spoof the war on terror, but contains nothing as outlandish as the government's unfolding case.

The seven homeless defendants in this affair were loosely associated with a mentally unbalanced man who, according to the Los Angeles Times, "paraded around Liberty City in flowing robes and a head wrap, carrying a shepherd's staff. He called himself a sheik, and preached against drugs and domestic violence at a corner park on Sundays and, with the other six defendants, formed a Miami chapter of the Moorish Science Temple, a sect that blends Christianity, Islam and Judaism and claims autonomy from the U.S. government."

Building on this solid foundation, Mr. Gregorie outlined the planned attacks which included poisoning salt shakers in restaurants, blowing up the Sears Tower, and flooding secret tunnels which the sheik claimed knowledge of, which could be flooded from "Lake Toronto." Fortunately, these plans were stopped in the nick of time by the FBI. Most of the plans, as well as weapons and other equipment were provided by the informants, who were paid more than $100,000 for their work and expenses. The defendants themselves provided a little marijuana.

The good news here is that if the FBI, the Justice Department and DHS can find nobody more threatening to our Republic than this bunch, we can relax a little. Like maybe it's time to turn the color-coded Fear Alert System down to yellow. At least until the next election.

Comments

[skwan91607]

Tales of American leader waging a war by talking to his god, the head man to protect Americans feeling the coming of terrorist attack, and now the threat from 7 homeless unfortunates who were dressing up as terrorists by law enforcement informant put Americans in the terrorist wonderland after 9/11 tragedy. Americans like those mice in a lab for experimental purpose, being kicking around and inducing for some nonsenses - imminent threat from such bomb not even existed, spreading democracy by bombing the country, millions of civilians displayed, and securing oil contracts. In high secrecy using hired guns to work on combat field and paid by tax money is questionable even with a presidential order. There is a mess in Iraq. There is a mess in Washunton too.

[SamThornton]

Pinky: Gee, Brain, what are we going to do tonight?

Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!

[Purple Girl]

This administration should be considered like Irans - a joke. However Bushcos danger is far greater and has caused more death, destruction and heartach then Mr. whatshisname can only dream of. Did these guys only go to half their psych 101 class- or did they pay someone to take it for them.Such blatantly pathetic redundancy- Lame Duck, more like brain dead. If you continually barage people with things to fear, their tolerance goes up and their concern goes down. Should av attended some classes boys (Behavior Modification- over satiated by the stimuli- inverted response. Thats why we are all starting to see clearer the last few years-hindsight has become 20/20.

[1will]

So these guys planned to blow up the Sears Tower and kill innocent citizens. They met with what they believed was an Al Qaeda terrorist and pledged their support for their war on the US. Yeah, it sounds just like a joke all right.
When Hillary is in office in 2009 you guys will fall all over yourself in praise when the FBI picks up more losers like this. It will look like Osama was caught.
Before the USS Cole was attacked in Sudan there was another US Crusier in port. The same terrorists that blew a hole in the side of the USS Cole and killed 17 sailors attempted to attack this Cruiser. The problem was their boat sank in the surf because it was severely overloaded with explosives. On first glance this seems like a Keystone Cops version of terrorism. After their success with The Cole it no longer seems funny.
These 7 guys in Florida seem funny at first glance but I wonder how many dead Americans it takes before they're no longer a joke.
Timothy McVeigh was just a disgruntled ex vet before he mixed up that fertilizer and diesel fuel.
If you have the will and the hate to kill innocent men, women and children the money, training and weapons are secondary. You will find the means to obtain them. Although they were not terrorists Muhammed and Malvo were also homeless and broke yet they managed quite the killing spree.

[dogman44]

There is no such thing as an ex vet. A vet or veteran as they are called, is an ex soldier. It's like saying your parents are your ex mother and ex father.

[1will]

Good point. Thanks for catching that.

[LiamR]

This case reminds me of that old movie "The Mouse That Roared," only in reverse. Instead of an insignificant little country attacking an oblivious United States, it's the U.S. that has become the mouse, squeaking and scurrying across the floor at the bare notion that a ragtag group of potheads would even consider messing with our salt shakers.

How much are we paying these Homeland Security guys to clog our court system with such nonsense? And what an embarassment that in this advanced nation we are not helping these poor guys, giving them incentive to be productive Americans, rather than scapegoating them for our general shortcomings at home and overseas.

[AndreaSue]

WolfLarsen: well-written and right on!Unfortunately, there will always be someone (if not several someones) who will interpret clear, concise, logical thinking as cowardice. As for those homeless crazies, I once knew a guy like that who hung out in front of McDonalds and screamed that the Jews had poisoned the Whopper. So one day I went up to him and said "The Whopper is Burger King; this is McDonalds." And he replied: "That's what they WANT you to think!" So, I forget my point, but I rest my case.

[Cranbot]

Well I'm surprised the gov't is actually following through on this. Usually we hear about the arrests of the #2 man in Iraq or the ones who were going to blow up the fuel pipeline at JFK but never any follow up.
I'm sure these are all manufactured scare tactics and with the modern American's attention deficit they know we will never follow up.

[WolfLarsen]

Here's the deal. Terrorism is here to stay. Eventually there will be another attack and maybe far worse than 9/11. If we lived under the most oppressive police state on Earth we would be no safer. We just wouldn't have much of a country worth saving. Destroying what makes us great for security is not a plan, it is suicide.

You control terrorism by showing the world how different you are from them, not your similarities. You win hearts and minds by treating the people caught in the crossfire with the same regard you reserve for your fellow countrymen. You do not invade countries for resources and wrap it in the mantle of terrorism. You do not turn war into a profit making machine for American corporations. The only people who are fooled are conservative voters. The rest of the rational citizens of the world can see through the lies.

You exhaust all avenues of diplomacy before considering military intervention and then you make every effort to get the rest of the world on board. You don't go it alone. You don't become the renegade of the world sweeping up whoever you want and detaining and torturing them at will. You don't hire mercenaries to police the country you occupy and you take the profiteering out of the equation.

Now I know there will be those that say if we do that it will be harder to go to war with who we please and not as profitable, to that I would respond.....duh. Checks and balances are there for a reason. If they get in the way of corporate warfare than they are achieving their intended result.

Either you want to do something effective about terrorism or you don't care how many terrorists you create and are only concerned about corporate imperialism. These are dark days. We have been hijacked by zealots in the business of using our military as an ad hoc arm of American corporations. This is not the country our founding fathers envisioned.

[WolfLarsen]

They don't hate us for our freedoms. They hate us for our imperialism and manipulation of their governments and societies for the profit of American corporations. Al Qaeda was formed because of our occupation of Saudia Arabia after the Gulf War. It had nothing to do with our freedom of the press or speech and everything to do with protecting the interests of American corporations.

Bush paints this like some struggle for freedom when in reality it is a struggle for corporate control of foreign resources. Protecting the corporate bottom line takes precedence over protecting our security. They will say ensuring a steady flow of oil is beneficial to our security but not when it is at the expense of our perceived moral standing in the world. Not when it is a naked display of greed. Not when it creates terrorists and the very climate that brought about 9/11. Not when it violates every thing our freedoms stand for.

When it is nothing more than armed robbery.

Would we stand for another country invading us? Setting up a government of their choosing while using an occupying army of dissimilar religious beliefs to institute order with the barrel of a gun? Is there a single American that would stand for such treatment? Didn't think so. But we expect everyone else in the world to live under and deal with conditions we would fight to the death to drive from our shores.

When we do it, we call it heroism and patriotism. When others do it, we call it terrorism.

[desmirl]

Take over the world, huh? Seven guys, none of whom could get his act together enough to have a place to live, were going to take over the world. The guys in the FBI, the Justice Department, and Homeland Security are just as nuts, but at least they have jobs.

[dogman44]

So some guy dresses funny and calls himself a sheik. shrub talks funny and calls himself a decider. We breed insanity here like sheep in New Zealand. So lay down your money and buy a costume. You can pretend to be anything you like. And if you're rich enough you will never
have to pay the dues for the image you project.