Hoax terrorist blames the FDIC and... whom?

So apparently a slew of threatening letters - including some mysterious white powder - were sent to banks, the NY Times, and federal offices. The letter express anger about the credit crisis and/or its handling, and say the powder will kill those who breathe it in.

But here's the kicker. The letters also say:

"Thank (name redacted) and the FDIC for your demise."



Name redacted! Name blackened out in the photo! None of the articles I looked at even suggested who could be named, but the Washington Post's version of the AP article writes:

"A U.S. official said the name is a person who may have played a role in the nation's financial crisis, but not a government official."

Not a government official? Is it Axl Rose? Lou Dobbs? Jim Cramer? JOE THE PLUMMER? I'm really at a loss.

If they mean the person is not currently a government official, it could be Alan Greenspan, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or any other from a host of past officials.

Curious. I want to know what non-official is apparently inspiring a multi-state terror (hoax?) campaign.

General Colin Powell: So what if Obama was a Muslim?

The most interesting part of Gen. Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama was when Powell discussed the "accusations" that Obama is a Muslim. Powell said what few have had the guts to say: So what if Obama was a Muslim? Is there anything wrong with that? Do we not have freedom of religion?

It is unfortunate that Obama has had to deal with smear campaigns suggesting he is a Muslim and/or and Arab, but it is almost as bad that Obama doesn't feel comfortable saying, "No, I am not. But it should not be a problem if I was. There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim or an Arab."

As far as I know, Obama has not said this. Of course there are many people in America who think there is something wrong with being a Muslim or an Arab. Perhaps this is in part why Obama has made no such defense.

Similarly, when a woman famously told McCain that Obama was an Arab, Mccain responded, "No, he is a good man." As if the two are opposites! Cannot a person be an Arab and a good man?

Powell, though, gets high marks for defending freedom of religion in the United States. Hats off, General.

Additionally, Powell brought up Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, a U.S. citizen and soldier who died fighting in Iraq. He, as one might guess from his name, was a Muslim. He might be the first U.S. military Muslim fatality in Iraq (not including non-military translators, aides, etc.). Some might suggest that a Muslim U.S. soldier is a rare thing, and this is somewhat true.

However, when one realizes that Muslims make up about half a percent of the U.S. population (source), even one U.S. Muslim soldier death is substantial.

Poland gets the kielbasa from the U.S. with visa-waiver denial

Citizens from six former Communist countries no longer need visas to visit the United States, President Bush announced Friday. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are on the list. South Korea is on there, too.

What about Poland? The Washington Times has the story. There's also a decent case for Bulgaria, a huge Bush and U.S.-in-general supporter, although the state still grapples with corruption. Both Poland and Bulgaria have contributed substantially to the war in Iraq, and probably expected some extra points in their column for that. But Poland's continued economic success and democratic institutions (with some exceptions, of course) make the snub a bit of a surprise. Bush did say Poland, Bulgaria, and a few other EU countries might make the cut in the near future.

Additionally, Taiwan is unhappy it didn't make the cut this time, though that one is less of a surprise.

McCain or Obama: Who supports veterans more?

This is old news to some, but the Disabled American Veterans give John McCain a 20% rating and Barack Obama an 89% rating, where 100% is perfect.

The AFL-CIO, via Right Democrat blog, has a somewhat extensive post on the candidates' support for veterans programs, and the related levels of support from certain veterans' groups.

Of course lots of military folks support McCain, and of course his service was honorable. And his son is a Marine; Semper. But his actions in Congress have been less than generous to his fellow veterans. The Republicans simply have never supported veterans after their service as much as Democrats have. This is related to the whole free-markets-solve-it-all approach, of course.

McCain has been a "maverick" (if I may use the grossly overused term) in some senses, but surprisingly not in parting company with the GOP to fully support our veterans.

Update, Oct. 13:

Coincidentally, the Washington Times has this article on the subject today. It cites a group called "Veterans for Freedom" that gives McCain an A-, but Obama and Biden Fs. VFF has about 30,000 members.

But then the article also points out that the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America give Obama and Biden each a B but McCain a D. IAVA has about 95,000 members.