In an unusual event, the Washington Post has called upon the FBI to quickly explain what happened in the Todashev killing.
Strange to say none of our local papers have any interest in doing this even though the events surrounding it arise out of the Marathon Terrorist Attack (MTA), involve a triple murder in an neighborhood adjacent to Boston, had two Massachusetts state troopers as witnesses and are otherwise of great local concern. Is it simply that our local media is incapable of finding anything wrong with the way the FBI operates. That seems to be the case. We should wonder why?
The Boston media does seem to have a much too close relationship with the FBI. Where are the local papers clamoring for an answer in the Mark Rossetti case that mirrored the Whitey Bulger situation. The FBI has been investigating for two years why in 2011 it was replicating what it did with Whitey Bulger after it said back around 2000 it had discontinued doing those things. No local media says that two years investigating what happened in your own offices is an outrageous slap in the face of the public.
The silence is very telling. But that response pales in comparison to the response to the MTA attack. The Boston Globe has been hammering away at the MTA since the day it happened providing much good coverage. It’s hoping to get a Pultizer Prize out of its hard work. But it has shown itself to be woefully deficient in one aspect of its story. It has not held the FBI’s feet to the fire to get the answers that are crucial for us to begin to understand what happened.
The Washington Post demands an accounting from the FBI for what happened in Orlando Florida where a young Chechen man was murdered. The Boston Globe sits silently and lets the FBI hide what happened both before the MTA and afterwards. It seems not to have a curiosity about the FBI’s actions. It lets the FBI walk away from any accountability. It should like the Washington Post demand some answers to the many questions about the FBI’s actions.
But there’s not one word of criticism nor demand for an answer. It’s as if the FBI was faultless in its operation and that there was no way it could have stopped the MTA nor any other way to identify the suspects other than broadcasting their faces to the world and sending them off into a panicky flight that ended in the death of a young police officer and the shutting down of a city, something never before done in America, with an order that people”shelter in” while police dressed as storm troopers descended upon neighborhoods demanding entry into private homes.
I’ve suggested the FBI should have told us about Todashev’s killing which happened in front of at least six police officers within hours of its happening. What is there to investigate? You’ve got all the police witnesses who can tell you what they saw, you’ve got a dead man with seven bullet holes in him, you have the gun or guns that fired those bullets. Tell us what happened – or what the police witnesses said had happened. You don’t need to send cover-up teams out of Washington,DC to tell us this story.
It really is outrageous that Todashev has been dead for ten days and not one local paper found it unusual the FBI is still trying to come up with a story. Even though the Washington Post finally finding the courage to speak out said: “The FBI said that it takes the incident “very seriously,” that it is reviewing the events internally with its “time-tested” procedures and that it is doing so “expeditiously.” But the curious circumstances and conflicting, anonymous explanations suggest that standard procedure might not be sufficient.”
The FBI’s time-tested procedure is to cover-up the facts; expeditiously means when people forget what happened. I credit the Washington post with having the courage to speak up, but it sort of wimps out at the end with the suggestion “that standard procedure might not be sufficient.” What is tragic it also buys into the idea that the homicide of a man in a room in front of at least six cops takes ten days to figure out what happened.
What has happened to basic honesty in America.? Will you ever believe what now comes out?
One final point – we may be told Todashev confessed to the Waltham triple homicides. When I wrote my book Don’t Embarrass The Family I recommended that all FBI interviews (or interrogations) be recorded. For all times the FBI’s allegation that Todashev’s confessed will be doubted because it had no recording. Had it only thrown off its corrupt policy not to record its interviews we’d have no doubt what happened.
oops, I forgot I could link it myself: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-30/opinions/39627241_1_samurai-sword-fbi-agents-tamerlan-tsarnaev
Have a good day, try to stay dry, my garden sure isn’t.
Pulitzer Schmulitzer, pay your $50 Pulitzer application fee and you can have this site considered for a Pulitzer too. Technically, you could even say that you received a Pulitzer Nomination, as there really isn’t a nomination process and anybody with a book, article, musical composition, etc can pay the fee and nominate their work. How much cash does that process generate? Well, Pulitzer does not disclose their actual number of applications, but consider that Pulitzer recently moved their application process to a computerized, online system to handle the number of applications. My guess is that it’s a cash cow. You can even apply every year. Many complaints with Pulitzer’s selection process have been lodged in the past. Write for the Times, Globe or Post, and your application starts many furlongs ahead. And don’t get me started on the Nobel Peace and Economic prizes, the latter is not even a true Nobel but a prize nominated and awarded by the Bank of Sweden.
I’m not big on badges, ribbons and awards doled out by opaque cabals and meant to bestow credence, trust and respect on a gullible public, all for a fee. Nobel has no fee, but Alfred Nobel’s Russian oil, TNT patents, and his Bofors military armament company make me question whatever slick marketing campaign his money can buy.
Thanks for the heads-up on the WAPO Editorial demanding a full accounting from FBI. You might want to add a link to it. I had to google a bit to find it, but that’s ok. And I’m not saying that this site does not deserve a Pulitzer or some other such silly award, just that I wouldn’t respect it any more or any less if it had one or not. Methinks I already respect this site more than the Globe, even with all it’s Pulitzers ribbons and badges. Perhaps the Globe should receive a Yellow Badge of Courage? The other night I saw that Pulitzer-winning Rezendes guy from the Globe on TV shilling for the FBI and its handling of Orlando. That’s why they had him on, so that they could introduce him as a Pulitzer winner to convey trust and respect and then he could go on to dupe the public. Sad state of affairs is American journalism in my opinion. It would make our fathers cry, our Founding Fathers.
It’s its not it’s above. Please send my Pulitzer posthaste now. 🙂
Actually, it looks like Pulitzer does disclose some of their application numbers, but limits a total accounting to “More than 2,500 entries are submitted each year to the Pulitzer Prize competition and only 21 prizes are awarded.” But they do disclose total entries for journalism apparently: “In the 14 Journalism categories, 1,081 entries were submitted this year (32 fewer than last year).”
However, I recall reading somewhere that all entries are not considered official entries, whatever that means, and I haven’t the time nor inclination to track it down right now.
The awards were just awarded on May 30th, so we should be hearing about the fabulous winners soon. Oh boy, I can’t wait.
Mark:
Did you ever realize that none of the Founding Fathers received a Pulitzer Prize? I’m not a fan of the Nobel Prize for Peace since if it were on the level it would now give it to George Bush for his action since everything that Obama has done which merited him the prize even before he did it was done earlier by George. (Is that where the expression “by George!” comes from?)
I really find myself coming from the Groucho Marx school of philosophy as being one of those individuals who would not join a club or group that would have me as a member. I try to stay mindful of Thomas Gray’s lines:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
All the prizes, Pultizer, Nobel, Booker, or what have you, even the Academy Awards, are based on the views of a limited few who have built in prejudices. If you wrote an American classic biography about Richard Nixon which concluded he was one of our best president’s you’d have no chance for a Pultizer. What you need first of all is to play to the tune of the folks who pay (or award) you; they want to hear back a reaffirmation of what they believe is true. If you do, then you have a chance. If perchance you win, you can go around the rest of your life and opine on any subject at all, whether you know something about it or not, and expect heads to nod in agreement with even your most vacuous utterings, as you point out about Rezendes.
The Globe has a long time ago forgotten that a free press is to be a check on government and not part of government. Some have written to me alleging there is a Boston Globe/judicial type group that gets together to schmooze. How then can you expect objective journalism from parties who try to align their interests? How do you expect the Globe repeaters who rely on leaks from the federal prosecutors to tell an objective story? One of the failings of our society is the increasing close friendships between those in power and the media in DC.
It isn’t Eisenhower’s military/industrial/university combine that we have to guard against; it is the government/press/industrialist and bankers combine that gives us the news modified by the schmooze. As far as I can see, the one arena left for full and free discussion is the Internet.
I was just talking to a judge and he tells me he’s not internet savvy. I’m friendly with a congressman who doesn’t know how to turn a computer on. These are all old folk and they depend on the newspapers and nightly news to keep them informed.
We are now seeing a new generation coming upon us. We will no longer going be subject to “all the news that we figure you can handle.” Those who control our ideas will find this unpleasant. They are at the point where the learned few found themselves when they realized Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg invented mechanical moving type, the printing press, in the wonderful city of Strasbourg. That changed everything as the Internet is now doing. We are no longer captive.
Dojo:
Thanks for the referral. You forgot to put the word “Ace” in front of my name. I’d be happy to be called “Ace Crime Reporter Matt Connolly.” Something in the back of my mind tells me there was an ace crime reporter in the comic books of my youth; I secretly always wanted to be like him. So maybe I am realizing my dream. Thanks again. 🙂
Ha!
My mentor at “The Portland Free Press” was the late Ace Hayes. He ment the world to me.
I did, however, not realize at first that you had written a satire piece on the FBI report.
It came back and bit me. I should have realized it.
I have a more recent article that says Rep. Keating went to Russia and found that Todashev was also on a watch list.
Since you’re a big guy in the area, I hope you can follow up.
You have my e-mail,
thanks
DR:
Yeah, Keating came back from Russia (he was unable to afford to travel to the FBI for the same information) and said the FBI was well informed about Tamerlan. Then the guy in charge of the Congressional group said he heard nothing that convinced him the FBI did anything wrong. We’ve still not heard from the FBI. I don’t understand how our Congress people have to go to Russia to find something right under their noses.
I like the cognomen “Ace Crime Reporter.” I’ve decided I’m going to write under that heading a series of short books on what’s going on in all these areas. Stay tuned and free feel to write, comment and criticize. Is the ice still on the lakes in Maine?
Actually, that was Portland Oregon in the ’80’s-90’s. I’m further North now.
Thanks, I’ll check in
DR:
I didn’t think there was anything further north than that.
I was surprised to see that Washington Post editorial. They usually applaud anything to do with “national security.” Anyway, good for them. The NYT is still happily transcribing everything it gets from the FBI.
Boston:
Yes, most newspapers are very happy being repeaters.