Armed rebellion, airliner bombs and double agents

They say they want a revolution. Everyone must admit that this really is going too far: A GOP newsletter published out of Virginia calls for armed revolution if Obama is re-elected. 

The ultimate task for the people is to remain vigilant and aware  ~ that the government, their government is out of control, and this moment, this opportunity, must not be forsaken, must not escape us, for we shall not have any coarse but armed revolution should we fail with the power of the vote in November ~ This Republic cannot survive for 4 more years underneath this political socialist ideologue.

Previously, I've argued that Romney would benefit politically if he issued a forceful denunciation of this evil rhetoric. If he devoted a major speech to this topic, the mainstream media would applaud his statesmanship, while the nutball media would probably shut up like a chastened child.

But never mind tactical concerns. If Romney cares about decency at all, he must castigate the madmen in his party.

About the airline bomber: Yes, I know that the guy was a double agent. As soon as I can formulate a narrative that makes sense, I'll let you know. Right now, there are too many questions.

We don't even know who was running this guy. Most sources point to Saudi intelligence, but Fox News said (before the double agent thing was revealed) that CIA agents scooped up Mr. DoubleAgent before he got on board the plane.

More importantly: If, as claimed, this same infiltrator arranged a drone airstrike against Fahd al Quso (a senior Al Qaeda operative in Yemen), why didn't the agent ask for a similar strike against the super-clever bomb-maker who developed those new and improved explosive underpants?

At this time, the most interesting discussion can be found -- where else? --  over on emptywheel's site.

News stories have not asked about the obvious parallels to the first underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who set himself on fire in mid-flight in December of 2009. I wrote about him at length, here and here and here. There were plenty of indications that he, too, was an agent of some sort. By way of review, here are seven of those indicators:

1. Someone videotaped the entire flight. The guy with the camcorder seemed to know what was going to happen -- although, obviously, he did not expect to be blown to smithereens. If Mr. Camcorder was uninvolved with Farouk, we would have seen the video.

2. A well-dressed accomplice helped Farouk get onto the flight.

3. Farouk's name did not appear on the "no fly" list, even though his own father (a wealthy Nigerian official) warned the American embassy about his son.

4. No-one has explained his source of money.

5. Although Farouk reportedly had been estranged from his father for quite some time, he was spotted at his Dad's retirement party shortly before the infamous flight.

6. The bomb did not have a required detonator.

7. The CIA stopped the State Department from revoking Farouk's visa.

There are, of course, two massive problems with any Farouk-the-spook theory: He really did set his crotch on fire, and he pleaded guilty.

I suppose the guilty plea could be a ruse. Perhaps he's not really serving a life sentence; perhaps, with his mission accomplished, he has assumed another identity. But that scenario seems rather too "Hollywood" for me.

Well, as long as we're playing with Hollywoodish scenarios: Do you think Criss Angel could come up with a way for someone to light his underwear on fire painlessly? (And is there any way to ask him that question without sounding like a total perv?)

Incidentally, Kurt Haskell -- who was on the 2009 flight and who, along with his wife Lori, provided details about the many oddities surrounding that case -- is running for Congress. You should read the more recent entries on the Haskells' blog. Lori has some rather revealing things to say about the treatment they received in court when Farouk was sentenced.

So much for the old crotch-bomber. As for crotch-bomber 2.0...

Jeez, I dunno. Got any theories? At this point, I'd even give a hearing to wacky speculation. Well, semi-wacky. While you ponder, consider this:

...of 22 major plans for terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11, fully 14 were developed in sting operations organised by US intelligence, mostly being carried out by people just as incompetent as Abdulmutallab, even more isolated, and utterly removed from posing any genuine danger to civilians.

One last note: It was just announced that a Russian jet went missing near Jakarta, while two Southwest airline flights were cancelled due to bomb scares. Ominous. A pattern...?