Can we put a kibosh of the fake bomb canard ?

[jberryhill]

2. I don't know why people think there is a difference, at least in terms of legal consequences, anyway

I don't think the guy was smart enough to know how to build a bomb and, with a doctorate in electrical engineering and a lifetime of tinkering experience, I can see some obvious problems with the photographs and x-rays that have been published. I am also entitled to think for myself and don't need to follow the directives of persons with neither my particular educational or experience background.

But, that said, why do people have an emotional attachment to the notion of whether they were functional or not? It's not as if it makes a single IOTA of difference in terms of what the guy can and will be charged with, nor does it make an IOTA of difference in terms of the intended effect of mailing these things to people for the purpose of causing apprehension and fear.

These "dictates of what people are allowed to believe" are tiresome on a discussion forum.