Right-wing media rushed to politicize reports of an attempted shoe bomb attack

Right-wing blogs seized on initial reports of an attempted shoe bombing on a domestic flight over Denver -- reports which later turned out to be inaccurate -- as an opportunity to politicize what they believed to be an attempted terrorist attack.

Right-wing blogs attack Muslims, Obama following unconfirmed reports of an attack

Atlas Shrugs: “Islamic terror” attack by “jihadi” “on the day that Obama said jihad and Islamic terrorism does not exist.” In an April 7 post on Atlas Shrugs entitled, “Muslim Tries to Light a Bomb on DC to Denver Aircraft,” Pamela Geller wrote, “NBC is reporting that a muslim passenger attempted to light an explosive device on board an aircraft from Washington to Denver, sources tell NBC News -- this on the day that Obama said jihad and Islamic terrorism does not exist (neither does his birth certificate)." The NBC report to which she linked -- a “breaking news” Twitter feed -- said only that “a passenger attempted to light an explosive device on board an aircraft from Washington to Denver, sources tell NBC News.” The post made no mention of the passenger's religion. Geller called the passenger "[t]he jihadi committing this act of Islamic terror." Before Geller updated her post to reflect new information, she wrote: “Fighter jets were scrambled to bring the plane down. G-d only knows what would have happened if the the air marshals on board hadn't tackled him...”

Erickson suggested Obama's policies at fault for “attempted bombing” before saying we should “get some answers” prior to “throwing blame.” In an April 7 Red State post, titled, “Attempted Bombing over Denver?” CNN political contributor Erick Erickson wrote: “Today the White House leaked that it was ditching the phrase 'radical Islam' from government language. Though details are still sketchy, early reports are that an Islamic radical attempted to blow up a United Airlines flight from Reagan National Airport to Denver tonight with a shoe bomb.” The ABC News article to which Erickson linked made no mention of the passenger's religious affiliation. Erickson admitted that “news is changing rapidly and by the time you read this, Pete Williams at NBC is reporting it may have been something else.” Despite this, Erickson repeatedly described the Qatari diplomat who sparked the incident, Mohammed al Modadi, as “the bomber” and said:

So we have now had two bombers make it through airport security and on to planes under Barack Obama's Department of Homeland Security -- a Department of Homeland Security that has been tweaking Bush administration era policies to make us safer.

On top of these, we've had the recruiting office shootings and the Ft. Hood terrorist attack and the White House still wants to bring the GTMO detainees to Illinois.

All of that talk about making our enemies like us and forgiving us in the post-Bush era isn't really working out for us, is it?

Following this, Erickson added: “Now, all that said, before we start throwing blame, let's get some answers.”

Power Line: “It fits a pattern: The guy's first name was Mohammed.” In an April 7 post on Power Line entitled, “Shoe Bomber, Redux?” John Hinderaker wrote that a “diplomat from a moderate Muslim country tries to blow up an airliner? The Obama administration would have us believe that this has nothing to do with ideology, and that there is no pattern here. SCOTT [Johnson] adds: It fits a pattern: The guy's first name was Mohammed.”

Malkin: “Taking bets on the amount of time before al Modadi has his Miranda rights read to him.” In an April 7 post, Michelle Malkin linked to a previous post regarding the Obama administration's decision to remove religious language from a national security document and wrote: “Never fear. We've got the Whitewasher-in-Chief to paint all our troubles away. Taking bets on the amount of time before al Modadi has his Miranda rights read to him.” Malkin added: “Jihadi motto: If at first they don't succeed, light, light again." After reporting that “NBC's Pete Williams is now suggesting it was a 'misunderstanding,' ” Malkin wrote, “I'm reminded of how the early reports on the Christmas Day bomber downplayed the incident and initially referred to it as 'firecrackers' going off."