Bush?
A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, apparently because of her political views, police said.
According to WTAE’s news exchange partners the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Ashley Todd, of College Station, Texas, was using an ATM at Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street in Bloomfield just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday when a man approached her and put a knife to her throat.
Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the robber took $60 from Todd, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim’s car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter “B” into her face, Richard said.
It’s getting ugly.
Update: As I said, it’s getting ugly.
(Police) say (Ashley Todd) admitted that she made the whole thing up and that it snowballed out of control.
Todd told investigators today that she “just wanted to tell the truth” – adding that she was neither robbed, nor attacked.
“She indicated that she has prior mental problems and that she does not remember how the backward letter B got on her face,” Pittsburgh Police Spokeswoman Diane Richard told reporters today.
Hard as it may seem to believe, no one’s got a lock on the loon market.
Meanwhile, the vice president of Rethuglican “news” “outlet” Faux News opines that the self-mutilation and fabrications of a disturbed 20-year old spells the end of John McCain’s presidential aspirations.
So, I guess it’s over. Everybody can go home and await their tax cuts.
Update 2: Meanwhile, real news organs turn their attentions to far weightier issues concerning the republic.
Stories like this are why we reluctantly have not put a McCain/Palin sign in our yard [and why we don't have one on our car]. Before Nov. 4 comes around, there are going to be many more stories like these. Unfortunately, we don’t have concealed carry permits, so we can’t protect ourselves from thugs except on our home ground, and I wonder if we would be allowed to do so unless the thugs invaded our house. But we have gotten more .410 shotgun shells for our Taurus The Judge revolver. As Lex points out, if a thug breaks into your house, no police officer can get there in time to protect you … only to avenge your murder.
I never thought ten years ago that the threats would come to this.
Marianne
As much as I would rather not have to say it, this doesn’t pass my “smell test” yet. No evidence other than her statement, at least not so far . Conflicting reports abound.
MM, I’ve never put any political sign in my yard -until yesterday when I put the first one up for McCain/Palin (course, I also picked up extras at the GOP HQ figuring it might disappear).
I have a friend in Michigan who has had 3 McCain/Palin signs disappear from her yard. She keeps gettin’ more & puttin’ them back up, though.
Sounds a mite far-fetched to me, but I will never underestimate the malfeasance of the American whacko.
Re: signs in yards- Been going on for years. I remember seeing the torn remnants lining the streets after each Halloween. Or, you could protect your signs with 24/7 surveillance, like this guy: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/obama-sign-cctv-1
Because only
rich, I meanpoor… er, umm … greedy Dems would steal from a Pub? Stranger and stranger. Or as a Mexican kid I once knew would say … loco in the cabeza.The town association here doesn’t allow political yard signs of any kind, which is ok with me. I had a “W” sticker on my car but that’s the last political sticker I’ll ever use.
Ditto for anything military-related. Our cars have in-state plates and the only thing distinguishing them as belonging to a military member is the post decals (which I’d like to not have to use. For a while I was using a temp pass that was supposed to be good for a year but they changed the policy and took it away. Now I’m stuck with the sticker).
Around here, that gets your car broken in to 10x faster…
I dunno. My first impression is that “B” is for bu77sh!t. I’m no doctor, I don’t play one on television, but that wound looks pretty superficial for someone else to do it. And backwards?
Hehe…I convinced my wife to hold off on a sign until a single Obama sign went up in the woods across the road on a neighbor’s property couple wks ago – then we and the neighbors to the north bracketed “Obama” nicely w/ McCain/Palin signs in an area 90% McCain anyway(Tx Hill Country). Nice young couple w/ 2 young children put up the “O” sign – I can’t figure out why anyone w/ children would endorse Mr Eugenics, but hey, there’s no accounting for taste.
I think that ‘Occam’s Razor’ would apply here.
It doesn’t pass the smell test. Shades of Tawana Brawley (from the ’80s) and the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case.
This is my personal opinion, but it’s based on my law enforcement background; I think it’s a hoax/scam of some sort.
I may sound harsh here, but I think something else happened (domestic violence was the first thing to immediately pop into my head) and this is the end result of trying to explain it away. I think the “B” is self inflicted and that the story went viral and got away from her. Now she’s in over her head. I’ve seen different, yet similar, stunts for the same reason.
I may very well be wrong, but this is my gut reaction.
~Paul
aka V5
HF6,
It got so bad in northern VA that they give flag/general officers a little placard with the stickers and such that can be stowed in the glovebox when not entering the base. Here in SoCal we still have the cars driving around with a windscreen full of military stickers but, it’s not San Francisco.
My deepest regrets. The picture speaks volumes to me and I do mean volumes.
regards,
Curtis
You just got to love this one, forensics or deconstruction?.. Does it really matter?
Unless Lex is a Steeler’s or Giants fan, the odds that he would be mucking around WATEV/4 are relatively small. Yet there it was as the primary link, when the real story was reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The latter newspaper is owned by Richard Mellon Scaife, well known super conservative “greaser”, whose money funded the “Arkansas Project” which lead to the impeachment proceedings against Clinton, as well as other “projects”.
Exactly how the carved “B” on the young lady’s check relates to President Bush, as Lex implies, is unclear. Ron state that it doesn’t pass his smell test while to Humble1390 the story sounds a bit far fetched. Consider the following:
(1) Although the attack took place at an ATM machine, it was not video-taped by the security cameras. There is no information as to whether the security cameras actually captured the withdrawal of cash, or the facial condition of the victim during withdrawal.
(2) The victim refused to go the Hospital, indicating that she would go tomorrow. Strange behavior for somebody that had been disfigured, and even stranger behavior by the police who faced with felony assault, let the “victim”, (an out of town resident) go “home”. Bare minimum for future criminal prosecution is a physician report and documentation of injury.
(3) Others have pointed out that the ”B” is scribed backwards on the check implying a self inflicted wound using a mirror. I would prefer to focus on the fact that neither the newspaper or TV photo can be enlarged.
(4) Although Ms. Todd declined to comment to the Tribune-Review, they did manage to get a straight on (mug shot) of the victim. No insight into how the Trib got word of this incident, or managed to capture a photograph of this unfortunate women.
(5) How the Drudge Report stumbled on this gem, and how exactly Lex, who assuredly is neither a Steeler or Giant fan, stumbled on this story I will leave to investigator reporters greater perseverance than I have…
Having not only caught cooking duties, but KP, the old rum sodden brain seeks respite. We all look forward to the next couple of days, when this story will either flower into a real October surprise, or just another Scaife “project”.
Sigh, V5 said it better, and was more concise than I was…
Will the Giants beat the Steeler’s this comming Sunday? Maybe Scott has some friends that might enlighten us, until that happens, only the Shadow knows!
…And even if the woman was attacked by someone suffering from BDS, does it follow that any significant proportion of liberals would do the same?
Most of the stories I’ve seen seem to involve anarchist-revolutionary-wannabees who use anarchism, socialism, or progressivism as a cloak for violence and thuggery.
But enough about Ayers…. {rimshot}
Honestly, I think the pukes who wave signs like “we support troops who frag their officers” are li’l she-dog punks in need of some wall-to-wall counseling. Even most of the Code Pink cadre are more daffy than menacing….
Update by Our Paul:
Formidable, a round of applause to Lex for his nose for news. Before shutting down for the night, I checked in on Memorandum.com for a quick picker-upper. This story has gone mega viral!!!
And to think, we are all part of it!!!
Fans of Albert Camus, who made is bones exploring absurdity, are rolling on the floor, to weak with laughter to raise their glasses in a toast!!!
Heard this one on the radio, about 5pm CST. If it’s in the hourly news report it went viral long before Lex reported on it. With most of the regulars sending Lex note of things that might pique his fancy to post about, this isn’t terribly suprising.
That’s an awfully superficial scar to have been cut into a twitching, squirming victim. Who had a friend along. By a robber so obsessed with rage that after getting his $60 he decided to stick around for a bit and start carving on somebody. In a well-lit area. Public, even. By an ATM machine, which tend to be in areas people frequent. Areas with cameras.
Nope, doesn’t pass my smell test either. We don’t yet know what the cameras show. I’m kind of wondering, once the truth is known, how widespread that bit of information will be?
– Max
0130 hrs. est.
Just checked in with a couple of sights, like MM and Ace. Seems the police are wanting the “victim” to take a polygraph.
Which, in police lingo and/or thinking means, “we don’t believe a word you’re saying.”
~Paul
Seems the police are wanting the “victim” to take a polygraph.
Note to Durham police and Duke faculty: this is how it’s done.
Neat photo of a hand painted sign has been making the rounds on email.
“ON 10-3 OBAMA SUPPORTERS VANDALIZED-TRESSPASSED AND STOLE MY PALIN-McCAIN SIGN VIOLATING MY 1st AMMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH
DO IT AGAIN & AND YOU WILL FIND OUT WHAT THE 2nd AMMENDMENT IS ALL ABOUT!!!”
Yeah, I saw it on MAJ Z’s site.
Police are not releasing the results, but she did take a polygraph.
http://kdka.com/local/attack.McCain.Bloomfield.2.847628.html
Her story fails the smell test. She made it up.
http://kdka.com/local/attack.McCain.Bloomfield.2.847628.html
By the way I live in Pittsburgh and wouldn’t like to be in Eli’s shoes come Sunday. A few gentlemen dressed in black and gold will convey their greetings while sitting on his chest.
Yep, thought so … while I’m reserving judgement for more substantial information, the preliminary report looks like she confessed to a hoax.
I just had a gut feeling about this one… and there’s a lot of gut to feel. *laughing*
Paul
Yeah- “B” is for B.S.
Didn’t pass the smell test even on the first read through. I wonder where she got that shiner though?
b2
OBTW OP,
Boy, you sure are making a great case for me to change my philosophy, (rugged individualist), political leaning (conservative), “attitude” (military lifer aviator) and even religion (anti-abortion Catholic) to come over to your “highly peruasive argument” about one crazy woman in Western Pennsylvania in order to cast my all important, legitimately earned as a Veteran, vote for one skinny Barrack Hussein Obama!
—————————–
Are you kidding me you specious pinhead? NOT. Every Navy ready room has one Dork and you’re it! Is that ad hominem?..Personally I don’t care because I don’t speak Latin. Recommend you display “lithium-based glee” on November 5th Doctor!
Exhales w’raspberry’.
b2
Sigh, Jim Collins (com #20) beat me to the punch on reporting the news, but the guys who gets my applause are those who called it a hoax early in the game…
I have always had the highest admiration for the gentlemen that earn their daily bread while “dressed in black and gold”, and thus look forward to this Sunday’s scrum against the boys dressed in blue. As the contest is being played in Pittsburgh, the League will assuredly equip the zebra crew with special lace handkerchiefs, which they can throw to the ground with gusto, in spite of Mr. Collins confreres hissing and booing, for sitting on poor Eli’s chest, after he has thrown yet another aerial six pointer will be consider by all rational sentient beings as (gasp), oh no, not again, a dastardly personal foul…
B2, BZ!
An extra special Our Paul addendum, for while I was pressing the magic submit button on my com #24, BabBob was exercising his spleen in com #23.
What can I possibly say, other than hang my head and confess that yes, indeed, I am a Dork (def. informal a dull, slow-witted, or socially inept person. vulgar: slang the penis).
On the other hand, I do have a modest problem with specious pinhead. Specious is an adjective, to wit:
It strikes me that as stated, the primary word (pinhead) is being weakened in b2’s construction. A more telling construction would have forced a trip to the confessional box, where I would have to confess to some sort of sin, for even a Dorky Pinhead, the least of all of God’s creatures, must have some worth in His (metaphorical) eyes.
Jim Collins, I guess I shouldn’t tell you I used to live on the wrong side of your state, in that city situated around Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
Being a ’49ers fan myself (who keep letting me down, dang it) I don’t care too much one way or the other about the men in Black and Gold, but will hope they can win against the New Jersey Giants for your sake.
Now my son, being an Eagles fan, might think otherwise….
Oh, and my other favorite team? Whoever’s beating Dallas.
Sorry to continue the threadjack. The liar with the B is definitely getting her 15 minutes of fame (or infamy.)
Yup, as others have said, this one looked bad from the beginning, and the letter being backward on her cheek makes it look self inflicted. Also, the letter is drawn well, without any side scrapes or scratches. If she was struggling, and he was holding her down with one hand and drawing with the other, it would not have turned out so well.
Plus, if it was a robbery, he’s going to get the money and get away. He’s not hanging around to beat and maim someone for their political views. Too risky.
This one going to come out as a hoax. Just like the Muslim student in Chicago that claimed she had been attacked last week.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1227857,elmhurst-muslim-student-made-up-story-101708.article
Op,
Your momma you say, not my metaphorical!
Seriously though, enjoy that nitrous oxide high while it lasts!
B2
I do believe I have done you wrong, BigBob. I have no interest in challenging your “philosophy, (rugged individualist), political leaning (conservative), “attitude” (military lifer aviator) and even religion (anti-abortion Catholic)”.
My interests lie somewhere else, and I have voiced them previously. In a blog that it is rooted in the Navy, and whose participants are overwhelmingly Center Right, it is imperative that during this political season that any given thread have a voice that speaks to the Center Left, for the simple reason that the Universe of the Navy, or any branch of the Armed Forces, is not densely ideologically conservative.
What has been lost in the fire storm that this young women created was the obvious question: “Why did the Center Right blogosphere add a massive amount of fuel to what obviously was a story with overt racial overtones?” Surprisingly, it was the gentle Lady of the Poison Pen, Michelle Malkin, who advised caution and restraint in examining the events emanating from Pittsburgh.
It is the back story we should keep in mind, but will probably not grace the type of news cycle we live in today. This young women was physically abused, the why, or the where, we shall never know. Her story, superficially racist, was probably an attempt to draw sympathy from her peer group, and to deflect attention from the circumstances of the assault. Now she is trapped in the legal system, which unfortunately has never been sensitive to the mental health needs of its “clients”. As this story is thrown into the dust bin of this election, very few will recognize it as a personal tragedy that has embraced the circle of her family and friends. Let us hope she finds peace, and is able slip back into her life with the minimum of psychic damage…
I will give away my age, and revert to Latin: ”Dona nobis pacem”. Nowhere does that phrase ring with more force then when paired with Wilfred Owen’s poetry in Benjamin’s Britton’s Mass in Time of War. Maybe that should be on our metaphorical turntable on the long evening of November 4th…
It’s Bad not Big, OP ..well maybe…
Ever let the air out of a balloon and hear the noise? When you go off like that that’s all all I hear….ssssssst. I’ll take my pontificating from the Pontiff!
Are you calling me “densely” OP? That’s OK. I’d say we’re about 90% “densely”. IOW, you’re in Indian Country, pard.
BTW, I know some Latin too, about as much as Gus McCrae in “Lonesome Dove”.
b2