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Breaking: Fort Hood Gunman Alive, in Custody

November 5, 2009 By Jeff 1 Comment

From Fox News:

A military doctor who reportedly feared an impending war deployment is in custody as the sole suspect in a shooting rampage at the Army’s Fort Hood that left 12 dead and 31 wounded, an Army official said Thursday night.

The news that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was alive and in stable condition, came as a sudden reversal of early reports that the gunman was among the dead.

Two other soldiers who were taken into custody as possible suspects were released Lt. Gen. Bob Cone told reporters Thursday evening.

A female first responder who shot at Hasan who was previously thought to be dead, was also alive.

The Fox News report goes on to say that Hasan first came to the attention of Federal Officials were apparently still trying to determine if he was the author of those posts and an official investigation had not been opened.

According the Washington Post Hasan was a devout Muslim who attended service regularly:

Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and was “very devout,” according to Faizul Khan, a former imam at the center. Khan said Hasan attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues.

Khan also said Hasan applied to an annual matrimonial seminar that matches Muslims looking for spouses. “I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions,” Khan said.

“We never got into details of worldly affairs or politics,” the former imam said of his conversations with Hasan. “Mostly religious questions. But there was nothing extremist in his questions. He never showed any frustration. . . . He never showed any . . . wish for vengeance on anybody.”

I’m not going to speculate on Hasan’s possible motives for a variety of reasons… Suffices to say I’m not buying the media’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder spin. At first blush the circumstantial evidence appears to in very disturbing direction, and it raises a number of questions that need to be answered, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to start jumping to conclusions about Hasan’s motives based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Lets give investigators time do their jobs, I’m sure they’re have answers to all our questions in do course.

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Breaking: 12 Dead, 31 Wounded in Shooting at Fort Hood

November 5, 2009 By Jeff 1 Comment

From Reuters:

Twelve people were killed and at least 31 were wounded when a soldier went on a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood U.S. Army base at Fort Hood Texas on Thursday, base commander Lieutenant-General Bob Cone said.

Cone told reporters at the base that the gunman was killed in the attack at the facility, the biggest military base in the world and a prime point of deployment for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two other soldiers were apprehended as suspects.

Cone said the shooting took place at a “Soldier Readiness Facility” where soldiers preparing for overseas deployment were getting last-minute medical checkups. The shooting took place at about 1:30 p.m. CST.

“The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. We since then have apprehended two additional soldiers that are suspects. There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter,” Cone said .

ABC News is reporting the shooter has been identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a convert to Islam:

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.

The gunman reportedly used two handguns.

Update (6:15 p.m.): CBS News is reporting that Maj. Hasan, 39, was a a licensed psychiatrist from Silver Spring, Md. He was apparently scheduled to deploy to Iraq and was upset about it.

Update (6:50 p.m.): The Austin American-Statesman is reporting that the two suspects arrested shortly after the shooting have apparently been  released. The Statesman also points to an AP report questioning what Hasan’s religion was or whether he was a convert.

Update ( 7:30 p.m.): The guys over at This ain’t Hell have some how gotten their hands on a copy of Hasan’s ORB… Contrary to media reports he’s never been deployed overseas. I guess that blows the PTSD theory out of the water…

Additional updates here…

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This and That: Dodd Trails, Obama Falls, Boxer Struggles, Perry Ready for Showdown

July 25, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

It’s Saturday, the weather is gorgeous and I have a date with a grill and some steaks so rather than spend my afternoon in front of the computer I thought put together a political blotter of sorts.

First up, Chris Dodd trails likely Republican challenger Rob Simmons by 9 points in the latest the latest Quinnipiac poll:

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a likely Republican challenger 48 – 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, but he is inching up in his job approval to a negative 42 – 52 percent approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

The matchup compares to a 45 – 39 percent Simmons lead in a May 27 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

In this latest survey, Simmons leads 87 – 7 percent among Republicans and 56 – 27 percent among independent voters, while Sen. Dodd takes Democrats 74 – 16 percent. The incumbent has gained among Democrats, but lost independent support since May 27.

Dodd’s negative 42 – 52 percent approval compares to 38 – 53 percent May 27 and this was up from a negative 33 – 58 percent April 2.

Second, the latest Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll show Pres. Obama’s poll numbers have slipped again:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9. (see trends).

The number who Strongly Disapprove of the President has increased slightly following the prime time press conference on Wednesday night. That figure—39%–is now at the highest level yet recorded. As a result, the overall Approval Index has fallen to the lowest level yet recorded for this President.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next few days as the full impact of his last prime time press conference starts to show up in the polls.

Third, Polling shows California Senator Barbara Boxer has narrow 4 point lead over likely Republican challenger Carly Fiorina:

Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in an early look at California’s 2010 race for the U.S. Senate.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that Boxer attracts 45% of the statewide vote while Fiorina, her best-known possible Republican challenger, earns 41%. Seven percent (7%) say they’d vote for some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

In March, Boxer led Fiorina by nine, 47% to 38%.

Any incumbent who polls below 50% early in a campaign is considered potentially vulnerable. However, a Democrat running in a heavily Democratic state like California is often able to overcome weak poll numbers.

As Rasmussen notes the conventional wisdom says any incumbent who falls below 50% this early is potentially vulnerable but that Democrats running in heavily Democratic state like California should be to overcome weak poll numbers…  I’m not convince the conventional wisdom applies in California these days. California is an economic basket case, the voters there are frustrated by high taxes, high unemployment, hugh deficits… If Sen Boxer is perceived as being part of California’s economic problems she’s vulnerable regardless of how Democratic California leans.

Lastly, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking the States’ 10th Amendment rights to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be “disastrous” for Texas:

Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be “disastrous” for Texas.

Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas’ WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as “Obama Care.” But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a “number” of states might resist the federal health mandate.

“I think you’ll hear states and governors standing up and saying ‘no’ to this type of encroachment on the states with their healthcare,” Perry said. “So my hope is that we never have to have that stand-up. But I’m certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats.”

I suspect Gov. Perry is right, Texas won’t be the only State to challenge ObamaCare. A number of states have already passed “sovereignty resolutions” asserting their 10th amendment rights.

That’s it for now, have great weekend folks.

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