So the news is full to the brim with breathless reporting about pipe bombs sent to the offices of a whole bunch of Democrats. The FBI is obviously all over this.
Occams Razor applies here as it usually does when trying to determine who is responsible. If a bomb is sent to a political person, it is most likely that it was sent by a political opponent. But it is always instructive to ask “who benefits from this?” Consider:
1: These bombs were *never* going to get to who they were addressed to. It’s not like George Soros or Pres. Obama open their own mail. They have minions for that.
2: These bombs do not look like practical explosive devices. Instead they look quite theatrical.
3: There are important national elections coming up in just a few weeks.
It seems probable that these bombs were *meant* to be intercepted and photographed and made into a major news story. Who does that benefit? It certainly does not benefit the political opponents of the targets of the bombs. What seems very likely to result from this is some measure of sympathy for the targets as well as ginning up enthusiasm among their voters.
If the bombs were sent by a Crazy Person, or by a Right Wing Extremist, expect them to be discovered by the FBI in short order, as this incident was amateurish and poorly thought out… not the product of a truly devious mind. if, on the other hand, this was a false flag operation, then chances are much better that those behind it *are* pretty clever, and likely capable of going undiscovered (but if they are discovered, it’ll be a scandal of truly epic proportions). In either event, expect a whole lot of political hay to be made from this conveniently timed terrorist act.
Further thinking:
A possibility exists that the sender is neither an Evil Right Winger nor a Devious Left Winger. What this event will do is sow further dissension between the left and right in the US. Who would benefit from that? Perhaps these devices should be examined for polonium or novichok…