AZ: Searching for the REAL killer(s)!
January 12th, 2011




So President Obama seems to have honed in on how the executive branch is supposed to respond to local crises–which is great! His answer: Dispatch FBI Director Robert Mueller to Arizona and force him to stand around as a prop and then . . . wait for it . . . have the FBI set up a dedicated task force on the case involving “hundreds of FBI agents.”

That’s right–we need to tie down “hundreds of FBI agents” in an investigation where the bad guy is already caught, he almost certainly worked alone, was part of no network or larger conspiracy, and is, if not legally guilty, then certainly responsible for having committed the crimes.

For a little perspective, the FBI–which is charged with being America’s main counter-terrorism force–has just 13,000 agents. So if only 200 agents are fanned out across Arizona trying to figure out what in the world happened, then 1.5 percent of our counter-terrorism capability is being tied down by a single spree crime.

Guess we don’t have to worry about jihadis anymore!

Look, the killing spree in Arizona is really, really terrible. At least as terrible as the Omar Thornton spree murders last August and the Nidal Hassan spree killing in 2009. Each case was terrible in its own way. (Though only Hassan’s had actual ideological causes.) But the world is often a cruel and dangerous place. Prince George’s County–a suburb of DC–has had 11 murders so far in 2011. We’re not sending the feds to canvas PG County to determine exactly what’s going on.



  1. Galley Friend A.W. January 12, 2011 at 10:56 am

    I look forward to Matthew Yglesias’s book, “If They Did It,” a fictional account of four ways that the Right would have caused Loughner’s killing spree, had it actually caused Lougher’s killing spree. (SPOILER ALERT: They didn’t actually cause it.)

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  3. Tweets that mention AZ: Searching for the REAL killer(s)! — Jonathan Last Online -- Topsy.com January 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dan McLaughlin and Kyle connors. Kyle connors said: http://j.mp/f2Pxv5 if this is true, what a stupid waste of resources […]

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  5. buster January 12, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    I’m only reading that book if it includes a chapter explaining how our gun control laws failed when armed citizens in the vicinity of the shooting didn’t accidentally hurt anyone, even though they could have.

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  7. firefirefire January 12, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Maybe they could help OJ find the real killer of his wife while they’re at it?

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  9. mbs January 12, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    How else will they prove that Loughner at some point heard a right wing statement made by someone on the right, that undoubtedly caused him to do what he did?

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  12. JIMV January 12, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    The reason is simple…politics trumps sense always. If they admitted they had the guy, then they would have to give up on the canard that is was a conservative caused scheme…

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  14. fredCPA January 12, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    the sherrif already solved rthis! need 2 agents. one to wasilla. and one to some beach compound in palm beach. case closed. wait, no, where is beck? they need an agent for him. maybe 2, he’s kinda chunky. oh crap, hold on, dont we have to arrest all 10 million tea partiers too?? crap. this hunting down home grown terrorist thing is sooo hard. got that one taken care: bushes fault.

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  16. ed January 12, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    The thousands of agents are to threaten and intimidate teh Arizona populace.

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  18. Rich January 12, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    3 words. Federal Judge Dead. I’ve got no problems with the FBI looking into this.

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  20. e. skyhawk January 13, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    Yup. Federal judge killed, a republican. Also two killings of two government representatives of two branches of government. Obama Better send the best to sort this thing out!

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  22. joated January 12, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    Rich,
    From his own rantings (letter, emails, etc.) the Federal Judge was NOT the target anymore than the 9 year old little girl or any of the other four who have died. Giffords was the target the others were collateral damage. No further “investigation” is needed that a group of two or three agents couldn’t handle.

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  24. Rich January 12, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    Point taken about the magnitude of the response. Call me paranoid, but the death of a conservative judge in a district that’s going to be going through a boatload of contentious cases in the upcoming years smells funny. Hundreds of FBI agents funny….bah I’ve been watching too much Pelican Brief.

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  26. mbecker908 January 12, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    Gee, maybe they could round up an illegal alien or two while they’re here.

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  28. PhilipJames January 12, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    You know why they have 150 agents on this… there is a desperate attempt by the Adminstration to try to find any little tiny link to anything to do with Sarah Palin, the Tea Party or the Conservative movement. Since most sane people already know who did it and that he is a totally wacko person with no ties whatsoever to the right or Sarah, we don’t count. It is the hate filled liberals who need a scapegoat so they can attack the right and it appears this guy is closer to them than anyone. So, it is dig dig dig to try to find that link.
    What is scary is the realization, based on the reaction of the liberals and biased liberal media over nothing, of what happens if one day a person who is a right winger goes nuts and does something stupid? Can you imagine the vitriol the media and the left will be screaming? Does that mean that camps will be set up and conservatives rounded up?

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  30. East Bay Jay January 12, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    There’s lots of investigating to be done. Someone has to scour the town to see if anybody knows anything about FNC ever being on in the murderer’s house. Someone has to question the parents to see if the murderer has watched FNC. Someone has to plant Palin’s facebook page as a Favorite on his computer. Someone has to fix a Glenn Beck bumpersticker to his bed stand.

    Police work is hard people. The supporting crime scene isn’t going to just create itself!

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  32. jabberjawsoflife January 12, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    I heard the Tea Party killed a census taker.

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  34. Yo January 12, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    Yep. And that one turned out to be a suicide.

    Of course, Sarah Palin and made him do it.

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  36. Libertyship46 January 12, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Is this an example, to use Obama’s happy little phrase, where the police “Acted Stupidly?” I guess not, especially when we already know who the killer is and why he did it. How about a few more FBI agents being used to stop Muslim-based groups here in the United States from sending money out of the country to fund overseas terrorist groups, like Hamas and Hezbollah? No, I guess that would make too much sense these days.

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  38. Klug January 12, 2011 at 5:32 pm

    Is it about making sure Sure SURE there isn’t a conspiracy? Or guaranteeing a conviction by bringing a super air-tight case?

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  40. Brendan January 12, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    Given the obvious bias of the Sherriff, it’s going to be rather tricky to guarantee such a thing if he has any involvement in the case other than being a talking head.

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  42. e. skyhawk January 13, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    He doesn’t have any involvement in the case. Haven’t you ever seen x-files? When feds take over, they run the case, hence all the agents… especially in this case, easily the most heinous crime of the year if not the decade to come.

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  44. Kevin M January 12, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    The Left has so much invested in this being a Tea Party crime that they have to be really, really sure it isn’t before they give up hope.

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  46. DonM January 12, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    It will be hard to make sure the case is air tight, considering competent counsel will use the insanity defense, and the Sheriff has already mouthed off about how the perp is mentally unstable.

    Don’t stand between Sheriff Dupnik and a microphone… you might get trampled.

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  48. DocSmith January 12, 2011 at 6:18 pm

    It’s all part of the Federal Security Theatre. By putting on this show of force, bravado and omnipotence, you realize that you are still safe. nothing to see here, citizen. Move along and no questions, please.

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  50. Kat January 12, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    It’s not like they have anything better to do, like investigate voter intimidation in Philadelphia, or anything. Besides, it’s warmer in AZ.

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  52. Ludicd January 12, 2011 at 11:16 pm

    I agree with Kat. Investigating those 2 black panther wannabes in Philly is far more important than investigating a shooting spree that killed a Federal judge and almost killed a member of congress!

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  54. jgreene January 12, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    Typical Obama Administration response – all show nonsense.

    The Doofus AG has a major lawsuit on his hands against Arizona’s Lawful Attempt to help enforce the Federal Immigration Law that he has failed to enforce.

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  56. richard40 January 12, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    I agree that hundreds of agents seeems pretty extreme here, since they already caught the perpetrator, and generally know why he did it, because he was a nut. Since a fed judge was among those killed, a small team of maybe 5 would be reasonable, but this is gross overkill

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  58. Gene January 12, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    Isn’t it interesting that we can send 200 FBI agents to Arizona after one horrible incident in Tucson, but when people of the border region and law inforcement officers for years on end are being killed by the illegal drug and people smuggling, our brave and all-wise administration can’t seem to lift a finger?

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  60. bandit January 13, 2011 at 10:24 am

    The FBI is there because Loughrer isn’t cooperating…with backing up Deputy Fife’s lies

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  62. Warlord January 13, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    The agents are there, to prevent the potential for a right wing or
    heavens forbid, a Tea Party backlash against the mentally challenged
    of Arizona.

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  64. Jason O. January 15, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    32 Comments? Holy Shit…Oh yeah, it was an instalanche!!

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