Seattle PI: Robert Jamieson's Republic of Stupidity

 
It's official: Seattle residents live in a republic of stupidity, otherwise known as the circulation area of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. First, the paper refused to honor the FBI's request to publish photos of two suspicious ferry passengers. Then, columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. -- who must be the toast of the town -- hammered the Feds on Tuesday for "inflaming fears" over the mysterious Seattle pair.

IT'S OFFICIAL: We live in a republic of fear... Photos, which spread across the city and state last week, showed two Middle Eastern-looking men accused of seeming suspicious on state ferries... A ferry crew member (who took the photos) and the FBI (which released them) didn't lose sleep over the guilt or innocence of the men in the snapshots... And why should they? The authorities had fear as an ally. They blithely enlisted a fearful public to do their bidding -- to be dutiful patriots and report them. The two men in question could have been innocents on vacation. Or they could have been mistaken for another pair of dark-complexioned guys seen wandering ferries...

It's obvious that Robert sorely needs some background on this case. So I dashed off a quick note and gave him some data he probably overlooked, what with how difficult Google is to use and all.

Robert, How many Muslim-Americans do you think take the ferries? Two? And both were unfairly targeted by the FBI? This pair was identified on six different runs, they repeatedly attempted to gain access to secure areas, took pictures of bulkheads and other elements of the structure and employees, and -- in general -- acted like terrorists who were preparing for an attack. And, let me guess, you'd be the first person to pillory the Feds had a ferry gone up in a fiery explosion and killed scores of innocents. Brilliant work, Robert, I'm sure the Pulitzer committee will be calling momentarily. Counter-terrorism Blog: FBI and Department of Homeland Security sources tell me they're concerned about a strange incident in Washington state they fear may indicate terrorists are casing ferries for attacks. The FBI's Seattle division this week made the extremely rare move -- with full approval of the bureau's counterterrorism division in D.C. -- of releasing photos of two men who allegedly have been spotted on up to six different ferry runs... The pair, who have not yet been identified or apprehended for questioning, tried to access restricted areas on the ferries, which haul 26 million people a year [and] that the suspects were "taking photographs of doors not seabirds..." ...sources say that the suspicious actions of the men... is disquieting because of the present heightened threat this summer and the unresolved question of who the men are and why they were trying to photograph the ferries' inner workings and procedures. The case has risen to the top of daily intel briefings in recent days, including at the FBI field office in New York, a source said...

Is it true that the only living creatures dumber than left-wing op-ed hacks like Jamieson and Maureen Dowd are moonbats like Michael Moore and Sean Penn? It's a close call, to be sure, but with this pathetic excretion, Jamieson's going for Hollywood-class stupidity.