There aren’t enough unsubstantiated rumors in American media for the Right Wing Blogosphere Unison Bigots’ Chorus, so now they’re turning to British tabloids like The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror for their hit of xenophobia juice: Boston Bombers: FBI Hunting 12-Strong Terrorist “Sleeper Cell” Linked to Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - Mirror Online.

Unnamed sources.

British tabloid, otherwise dedicated to celebrity gossip.

Perhaps not something you should bet the farm on, especially after all the fake stories that have been floating about, wouldn’t you think?

But that’s the key word: “think.” That’s not something right wing blogs specialize in. It used to be; I have a vague memory of something called “fact-checking” they used to consider important. Or maybe I’m just imagining that, looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, because if they ever did give one solitary shit about credibility outside their own echo chamber, there’s no evidence of it any more.

Look at ‘em go!

It’s entirely possible that there is a connection between the Tsarnaev brothers and a terrorist group. The older brother spent time in Russia recently, and according to credible reports had become more radicalized in recent days, so there could very well be connections we don’t know about yet.

But if there’s a “sleeper cell” with 12 members being hunted by the FBI, which sounds amazingly like an episode of 24, I’m going to need a slightly better source than the freaking Daily Mirror. And it speaks volumes that these idiots fall for and enthusiastically push every fear-mongering bullshit story that comes out, regardless of source.