MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Despite the attempt to create a sense of televised urgency with Michael Bloomberg starring as the savior of the public from an "imminent terrorist attack" by NYC resident Jose Pimental, this past Sunday's NYC news event -- co-starring the NYPD commissoner -- was another failed attempt to shore up the multi-billionaire mayor's plummeting image.

Bloomberg -- who wore a golf course orange sweater and khakis no doubt to emphasize that the "foiled" terrorist plot was so significant that he had just rushed from the links to "reassure" the public that his adroitness and tenacity as a "protector" of public safety extended beyond thousands of arrests of peaceful non-violent protestors, millions of dollars of taxpayer money spent on using the NYPD as a thuggish security force for the 1%, and smashing Liberty Park to smithereens like a tin horn dictator on a rampage -- even wantonly permitting the destruction of the OWS library in a "1984" like gesture of contempt.

The only problem for Bloomberg was that the FBI -- and by implication the Department of Homeland Security -- pepper sprayed the notion that Pimental was any imminent threat to anybody.   It is rather unusual for the FBI to actively take down a government official through the media over "terrorism," but in this case the Associated Press reported that the FBI thought Pimental was not worthy of arrest. In fact, terrorism charges almost always come through federal apprehension, which was a tip off that something was amiss in that Pimental was seized by the NYPD and charged by a New York City district attorney.

CBS News featured an Associated Press article entitled: "FBI declined to pursue NYC bomb plot."

The article states it simply in its first paragraph: "U.S. authorities declined to pursue a case against an 'al Qaeda sympathizer' accused of plotting to bomb police stations and post offices in the New York area because they believed he was mentally unstable and incapable of pulling it off, two law enforcement officials said Monday."

Furthermore, "The FBI concluded that Pimentel 'didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own.' That the FBI did not believe Pimental an imminent threat to safety or even worth arresting went unmentioned in the Sunday Bloomberg conference.

No doubt seeing his image as respected "Mr. Third Way" deteriorating into something akin to a Manuel Noriega wannabee as a protector of the banks and the 1%, Bloomberg was champing at the bit for a little redemption.

Like almost every figure in authority who has unleashed the police on non-violent protesters, including most recently Chancellor Katehi at UC Davis, Bloomberg has repeatedly used the argument that he is commandeering the NYPD to "protect people." Meanwhile, thousands are arrested and hundreds injured -- including police who get injuries trying to beat up or lift up protesters.

The only people Bloomberg and his status quo colleagues are trying to protect are their positions of authority and privilege.

In the end, charges will be dropped against Pimental or he will be found not guilty. That's because the FBI just tossed cold water over the PR stunt. This is just Bloomberg trying to use Bush-style fear to stop his reputation from eroding further.

Unfortunately for Bloomberg, the feds don't want any part of it. The FBI doesn't like its reputation as an anti-terrorist watchdog slighted for political purposes.

So it just pepper sprayed Bloomberg with a heavy dose of hard knuckle reality.