The Globe reports: “Islam might have had secondary role in Boston attacks”

Roger Simon comments regarding the Marathon bombers:

[W]e have the worst possible president to deal with the situation. And even after an event as heinous as Boston, he is supported by a media desperate to preserve his narrative at all costs. It’s already started. On Saturday the Boston Globe published an article titled — I kid you not — “Islam might have had secondary role in Boston attacks.” (Don’t look for what might have the primary role. You won’t find it.) That stupefying essay is a harbinger of what’s to come as soon as the atmosphere dies down, perhaps as soon as next week.

The Globe story is by Lisa Wangsness. It is a classic of its kind. Here it is one more time: “Islam might have had secondary role in Boston attacks.”

It’s all so complex, of course. As Wangsness puts it, “family, neighbors, friends, and social media sources painted a complex picture of the brothers’ religiosity.”

Wangsness goes so far as to identify a Boston mosque the Tsarnaevs didn’t attend: “Neither suspect has been to Yusuf Mosque, nor would any such individuals be welcome here,” said Imam Ibrahim ­Rahim, leader of the mosque in Brighton. “Our hearts and prayers remain with the victims, the wounded, and their families.”

Well, did they attend a mosque? What mosque did they attend? What do worshipers at the mosque remember about them? Wangsness doesn’t go there.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Tsarnaevs attended services at the Islamic Center of Boston mosque in Cambridge near their apartment. The Times had no difficulty in finding members who recalled them:

At the Cambridge mosque near where the bombing suspects lived, two worshipers who showed up for Saturday’s prayer service recalled seeing both men.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was thrown out of the mosque — the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center — about three months ago, after he stood up and shouted at the imam during a Friday prayer service, they said. The imam had held up slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as an example of a man to emulate, recalled one worshiper who would give his name only as Muhammad.

Enraged, Tamerlan stood up and began shouting, Muhammad said.

“You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!” Muhammad recalled Tamerlan shouting, shocking others in attendance.

“He’s crazy to me,” Muhammad said. “He had an anger inside.… I can’t explain what was in his mind.”

Tamerlan was then kicked out of the prayer service for his outburst, Muhammad recalled. “You can’t do that,” Muhammad said of shouting at the imam.

Still, Tamerlan returned to Friday prayer services and had no further outbursts, Muhammad said.

It’s all so complex.

The headline on Wangsness’s story inspired James Taranto to write a series of #BostonGlobeHeadlines on Twitter. He helpfully provided the template — “Cause Might Have Played Secondary Role in Effect” (Generic) — and then got down to business:

“Booze Might Have Had Secondary Role in Hangover” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Gravity Might Have Had Secondary Role in Fall” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Fault Might Have Had Secondary Role in Quake” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Might Have a Secondary Role in Lung Cancer” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Brando Might Have Had Secondary Role in ‘The Godfather'” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Bomb Might Have Played Secondary Role in Japan’s Defeat” #BostonGlobeHeadline

“Communism Might Have Played Secondary Role in Ukrainian Famine” #BostonGlobeHeadlines (no Pulitzer that year!)

“Anti-Semitism Might Have Played Secondary Role in Pogrom” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Slavery Might Have Played Secondary Role in Civil War” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Ignorance Might Have Played Secondary Role in @ToddAkin Defeat” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Racism Might Have Played Secondary Role in Cross-Burning” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

“Abortion Might Have Played Secondary Role in #Gosnell Case”–@BostonGlobe headline IF THEY WERE COVERING THE GOSNELL CASE

Hey, I’ve got one of my own: “Multicultural claptrap might have had secondary role in Wangsness’s story.” #BostonGlobeHeadlines

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