If I had been a journalist reporting on that story I probably would have made a reference to the geographic proximity of San Bernardino and the killings there, if it had occurred to me. But I really doubt it would have. My mind isn't wired to look for that type of connection, and I probably would have missed it.

When I hear about a big news event in Manhattan, I don't immediately bring up a mental map and try to draw connections to it with other events or locations I'm familiar with in that city. OTOH, if its in my home town, or a place I'm intimately familiar with, I certainly do exactly that. When I hear a sinkhole opens up in North Tampa, I try to visualize that area, what it looked like when I lived there, what the geology and land use and settlement patterns were, and so on.

I know enough about Southern California to know those two places are just a few miles apart, but when I first read the story, that fact did not immediately pop into my mind because the mental tag "Muslim" was attached to what were essentially two totally unconnected incidents. And I'm not surprised it didn't occur to the reporter either, unless he or she actually lived in the area. This is why I reacted to the fact that you seemed to see it as some sort of deliberate obfuscation or misdirection by the media, motivated by some sinister political reason. From my point of view, it seemed like you were desperately clutching at straws, trying to find proof of how the (Liberal) media tries to mold and shape the news to fit its world view. (Although I personally feel CNN, unlike MSNBC or FOX, is very unbiased and fair).

Terrorism can occur anywhere, and internet activity is global, world-wide, and instantaneous. Although the close geographical proximity of these two places MAY have played a role in the fact that one may have inspired the other, that fact did not immediately pop into my mind the way it seemed to have yours. I was surprised it even occurred to you.

I'm inclined to think your political opinions made you hypersensitive to that connection, while it simply failed to register at all with me.

Comment?