'Amateur' Hour

Someone (Buddhists? Wiccans? Seventh Day Adventists? Tea Partyers? Tim McVeigh Militia-types?) has parked a car bomb in New York's Times Square. Don't worry, though. It was one of those homemade devices, and so "amateurish" that it was easily defused.

Update: Here's how "amateurish" it was (from the NY Post):

Bomb Squad members then searched the SUV, which bore Connecticut license plates that were actually registered to a Ford F-150, and found two gasoline cans, three propane tanks, electrical wires, black powder, consumer grade fireworks and two clocks, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

"I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire," Kelly said.

Good thing no "professionals" were involved. The results might have been catastrophic.

Update: Great news! The NYT is reporting that federal officials are pretty sure this wasn't an act of "terrorism" :

The White House said President Obama had been briefed on the episode and had pledged federal assistance in the investigation.

A federal official said that domestic security officials had been informed that the event did not appear to be a terrorist threat. The official referred all requests for additional information to New York City police.

Quel relief! (Of course, these are the same officials who didn't want to rush to judgement when a chap wearing fundamentalist Islamic garb screamed "Allahu Akbar" while opening fire at an American military base.)

Update: Is there a South Park connection?

Update: The latest is that there is more than an outside chance that it may indeed be terrorism, but the city's mayor is baffled as to who could possibly be behind it:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that officials are treating the incident as a potential terrorist attack. The mayor said earlier Sunday, "We have no idea who did this or why" but said it's not surprising the city is a frequent target of terrorism.

Update: Oops! Did JaNap mess up and forget to use official ObamaAdmin lingo for a "terrorist attack"--i.e. a "man-caused disaster"?

Update: Further to the above update, here's JaNap quote from last year:

I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

Yes, nuance and subtlety are most appreciated, except, of course, when car-bombers, who aren't attuned to such subtleties, bring "the politics of fear" to Times Square on a Saturday night. I'm reminded of that quote by George S. Kaufman, a once-famous wit of a bygone era. Kaufman, who'd enjoyed great success on the Great White Way, both with and sans frequent writing partner Moss Hart, noted re the risks of mounting a comedy on Broadway that: "Satire is what closes on Saturday night." Barring the unexpected, the quip might be updated as follows: "Jihad is what closes (Times Square) on Saturday night."