The Surest Way to Lose an Argument...

From MSNBC.com, and thanks to J. for pointing out this article...

"'It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,' Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.

"The 1-foot tall signs, which were lit up at night, resembled a circuit board, with protruding wires and batteries. Most depicted a boxy, cartoon character giving passersby the finger — a more obvious sight when darkness fell.

"The men did not speak or enter their own pleas, but they appeared amused and smiled as the prosecutor talked about the device found at Sullivan Station underneath Interstate 93, looking like it had C-4 explosive.

"'The appearance of this device and its location are crucial,' Grossman said. 'This device looks like a bomb.'

"Some in the gallery snickered."

No sh*t.

I mean, come ON, LOOK at that thing! It looks like a Lite-Brite with a battery pack at the bottom. And it is quite clearly depicting what appears to be a Tetris piece flipping someone off. If THAT was designed and intended to look like a bomb, then bomb design has gotten truly strange over the years.

And keep in mind, things were up for THREE WEEKS before anyone said anything, and only when the first one got blown up and media started getting all out-of-breath about the whole thing and panic started to set in were any more of them reported.

It has become readily apparent that the majority of folks who saw them took them for what they were: a silly sign. Fewer probably understood what they were promoting, since the Mooninites are not exactly household names, and the name of the show/movie were not on there anywhere.

But then someone got panicky and called the police, who now, after the subsequent media blitz, have to try and save face and explain why they took so seriously a sign with Err flipping them the bird. So instead of a silly misunderstanding, this has been spun into "a deliberate attempt to frighten the public in the name of publicity."

Bzzt. Nice try, guys.