# Times Square fucknuts-wannabe bomber **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 3, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158 "2010-05-03T15:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/21 "2010-05-04T14:44:30Z")
From the initial suspect report of a forty-something white guy with access to propane tanks, I half-expected the bomber to be [this guy](http://images.buddytv.com/articles/king-of-the-hill/images/hank-hill-1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/22 "2010-05-04T15:12:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What a shock: the guy couldn’t pull off the getaway either. The news article I read stated that the guy was pulled off the airplane, after the airplane was forced to _return_ to the gate. So this numbnuts was probably doing a little victory dance in his seat, thinking he was home free. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/23 "2010-05-04T15:16:11Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I don’t think there’s any chance whatsoever that it was Al Qaeda. They would’ve used something that actually had the potential to explode. The “crotch bomber” and the “shoe bomber” weren’t any more successful either. Lots of smoke and fizzle, but no plane shattering ka-boom. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that AQ is made up entirely of J. Bond quality folks. These suicide bombers are disposable, and there is probably no point in investing 20 years of training into them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/24 "2010-05-04T15:36:48Z")
Yeah, you can be an elite terrorist trained by al Qaeda for years in some secret camp, or you can be some guy with Islamist ideas who contacted a few al Qaeda operatives on the internet. Al Qaeda isn’t like the Navy Seals or Army Rangers. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/25 "2010-05-04T15:38:18Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The news article I read stated that the guy was pulled off the airplane, after the airplane was forced to _return_ to the gate. > > So this numbnuts was probably doing a little victory dance in his seat, thinking he was home free. And when the cops came on booard, he probably peed his pants. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/26 "2010-05-04T15:42:38Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The news article I read stated that the guy was pulled off the airplane, after the airplane was forced to _return_ to the gate. > > So this numbnuts was probably doing a little victory dance in his seat, thinking he was home free. Sometimes you don’t need to say anything more than “haw-haw!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/27 "2010-05-04T16:02:51Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And when the cops came on booard, he probably peed his pants. Which, in turn, made the explosives hidden in his shorts ineffective. ---
**Author:** ![darkgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@darkgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darkgoddess)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/28 "2010-05-04T16:23:36Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The news article I read stated that the guy was pulled off the airplane, after the airplane was forced to _return_ to the gate. > > So this numbnuts was probably doing a little victory dance in his seat, thinking he was home free. He thought he got away with it, just like Carlo Rizzi (Connie’s husband) in The Godfather. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/29 "2010-05-04T16:43:45Z")
I’m liking how the media seems to be taking more jabs at the wannabe terrorists lately. MSNBC insists on calling that guy who was heading for Detroit the underwear bomber and other networks are quoting bomb experts about this incident, calling it amateur hour and one expert saying his kids could build a better bomb. LOL ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/30 "2010-05-04T16:58:14Z")
Somebody may have read Dean Ing’s _Soft Targets_. One of the plot points in the novel is that if we deny terrorists any sort of serious media coverage, we deny them most of their power. So a cabal of broadcasters start refering to terrorists as clowns and making fun of them instead of granting them publicity. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/31 "2010-05-04T20:15:47Z")
I never understood why the punishment for something like this would be greater his plan had it worked. I understand “eye for an eye”, but I don’t see things that way. I look at the punishment for these types of things, and try to ignore my anger and lust for vengeance, and just focus on the act and what disciplinarian measures should be taken for that act itself. I guess I wonder how much revenge and hate play a part in the outcome of this man’s life, and others like him. And if that doesn’t make us kind of what we’re fighting against. Not sure I believe in the death penalty, (I once did, but too many innocent people were said to have died… and I never really ‘blame’ people for who they are). But I believe in people who simply aren’t able to be rehabilitated, or able to conform to a lawful society, (it may be more humane to get a death sentence than get a life sentence). If he was going to face death if the bomb went off, I would actually like to see the same standard applied even though it didn’t. How has his initial intent changed? If there is a South Park connection, then this is something we should all be thinking about. I don’t want to credit South Park for potentially putting innocent people in harms way, but for people to go to such extremes over a silly cartoon here in the States would be an eye-opener. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/32 "2010-05-04T20:20:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [Article.](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/nyregion/05bomb.html?hp) \*"Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Mr. Holder said Mr. Shahzad had been talking to investigators and had provided “useful information.” \* Gives a new twist on the meaning of “useful idiot”. I wonder if people in Pakistan will take to the streets to protest this arrest, like they did when a Pakistani woman was convicted in New York of an [attempt to murder U.S. security personnel in Afghanistan](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124110766). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/33 "2010-05-04T20:47:45Z")
Dude’s being charged for using a weapon of mass destruction. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/34 "2010-05-04T20:55:44Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Dude’s being charged for using a weapon of mass destruction. WTF? Well, we can’t very well let people go around destroying mass. That would violate the Law of Conservation of Mass!! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/35 "2010-05-04T21:13:25Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I never understood why the punishment for something like this would be greater his plan had it worked. Because it gives people a reason to reconsider if they’ve set a plot in motion but not completed it. I’m not sure it really applies to this moron. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/36 "2010-05-04T21:49:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Because it gives people a reason to reconsider if they’ve set a plot in motion but not completed it. I’m not sure it really applies to this moron. But wouldn’t it prevent people from considering doing it at all. I’m not talking about making an example out of him either. I just don’t see the difference between trying to blow people up and doing it… As far criminal’s concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/37 "2010-05-04T21:59:09Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > But wouldn’t it prevent people from considering doing it at all. I’m not talking about making an example out of him either. I just don’t see the difference between trying to blow people up and doing it… As far criminal’s concerned. If you try and fail, there’s no difference in your intent, I agree. If you try but stop, that would be different. But that’s not what he did, so I guess it’s a different subject. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/38 "2010-05-04T22:13:08Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I never understood why the punishment for something like this would be greater his plan had it worked. (snip) Well, it’s like Sideshow Bob says, “Attempted murder? Now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry?” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/39 "2010-05-05T01:25:51Z")
I just saw a story on MSNBC that says the guy left his house keys in the car’s ignition. Maybe Hollywood has rasied all or expectations of terrorists too high. Where are the masterminds with their dozens of nurderous henchmen? Where are the dozens of automatic weapons, the computer/remote control dead man switches, the sophisticated binary weapons that can take out the heart of a major city? This guy is foiled by a newspaper vendor and a cop on a horse – I don’t even think he had to get off the horse. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158/40 "2010-05-05T02:59:52Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > The ones in London made their getaway in a fucking rickshaw. > > Al Qaeda is a franchise, sometimes an affiliation, sometimes just an idea or a namecheck. There’s no guarantee of devastating impact, and nor is an Al Qaeda cell always likely to be a sinister grouping of highly trained spooks. I’m reminded of the important work the documentary _Monkey Dust_ did with respect to [Al Qaeda cells like that](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhxQT1d1AvE) (youtube clip). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-square-fucknuts-wannabe-bomber/538158.md?page=3)