Terrorists are practicing....

[ATL2CDG]

...when americans go abroad we are instructed to do as the locals do.....as much as possible...

Right. When I dated a girl in France, I spoke French, took the Metro, sipped coffee in a café, didn't make eye contact with strangers when walking down the street, b!tched about everything and chugged the best d@mn wine in the world at the dinner table. However, the French have been doing this (aside from the Metro, of course), essentially as a nation, for 1000 years. The French Republic is composed of mostly French, with the same ethnic, religious and social history. While French does have some immigration, many from formerly colonies, these people are able to integrate because of a relatively unified structure of the "French identity."

In America, the story is quite different. We are a nation of immigrants. In the ~500 years since the American continents were first explored and colonized by Western European nations, people of every color, religion, culture and society have come to our shores to help build this nation. When one says, "Act like an American!" you asking him to have a multiple personality disorder. From Chinatown to Charlestown, from Little Mexico to the Montana Rodeo, there is such a widespread and uniform mix of cultures, languages and races, that expecting an immigrant to conform to some idea of a "model American" is impossible. The sooner people realize that José, Abu, Mohammed and Nembeke are not going to turn into NASCAR-watching, Bud-drinking, cigarette smoking, SUV-driving reflections of Middle Americana the better off we'll all be.

 

[TonyC]

Even though I now support the FFDO program, I have to say this: Having a gun in the flight deck in a mid-flight bomb detenation isn't going to help anyone one bit.


If you, a presumed native-born English speaker, can't even speak English "appropreatly" [sic], how do you expect a non-national to do so? The fact remains that the United States does not have a federally-supported national langauge and as such, you're going to have a melting pot of English, Spanish, Farsi, a hundred other languages. Sorry; 'tis reality.

There's a huge difference between speaking the language, and writing the language. rvsm410 was making a valid point, which although might be clearer were the spelling and grammar perfect, is nonetheless discernable by an honest, open-minded reader.

If the 9/11 hijackings had been performed by 19 Portuguese men, we would tend to be suspicious of Portuguese-speaking men. We'd tend to be suspicious of Brazilians who speak Portuguese. Most people would not be able to discern the differences between Portuguese and Spanish, so we'd also tend to be suspicious of Spaniards, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans. Does that mean that all of the above would be potential terrorists? NO. It means that if I'm a Puerto Rican and I don't want people around me to become terribly suspicious, I don't hang around the Lav and speak Spanish to my Puerto Rican buddies. It just makes good old common sense. If I want to make the people around me comfortable, if I want to fit in to the great Amercian melting pot, I do what I can to make everyone else feel comfortable. I speak English. If I'm in my living room with my Puerto Rican family, speaking Spanish makes nobody uncomfortable. When I'm boarding an airliner bound for a metropolis, it makes LOTS of people uncomfortable.


BTW, it's detonation.

 

[Snakum]

As is commonly known 'round these parts, I tend to get a weed up my arse when it comes to blatant, crude racism on the part of the supposedly educated professionals who frequent this message board, and further, while I was all for going into Afghanistan, I believe we should have stayed there and finished the job rather than rushing into Iraq. In my opinion, going into Iraq was a bone-head move and we are paying for it.

However ... in today's climate, and in recognition of the new kinds of danger the citizens of this country now face, I will never, ever, for the life of me, understand why little old white ladies are patted down while young, Middle Eastern males are allowed to board aircraft with a cheery "Have a nice flight." To me, this is the most illogical nonsense yet perpetrated in response to 9/11. The so-called 'security' provided by the gangster wannabes, pasty-faced overweight nerds, welfare moms, and unemployed housewives I see manning the TSA checkpoints in RDU/GSO/CLT is a joke which will leave only our enemies laughing after we suffer yet another attack here in America. If it wasn't so frightening ... it would be laughable. The absolute height of knee-jerk stupidity.

Much like the situation in Israel, I may not agree with the policies that got us into this mess, but since we're in the mess anyway, let's not let the PC public-opinioned, ACLU-loving, Kumbaya-singing, hairy under-armed crybabies allow a repeat of the tragedy in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. How about this rule at airport check-ins:

(large sign at the intrance to the screening areas) "If you are a male or female of Middle-eastern descent between the ages of 1 and 100, or if you are married to, or traveling with, a person who meets this criteria, please be prepared to have your person, and all your baggage searched thoroughly. And if you don't like it ... don't come back."

Enough is enough!

Minh

 

[ATL2CDG]

... freedom and justice for all...
...all Americans...
...all white Americans...
...all white Americans who speak English...
...all white Americans who speak English and own property...
...all white Americans who speak English, own property and are Protestant Christians...

That sounds about right... Glad to see we're moving in the "right" direction.

Anybody seen my swastika armband and flag?

 

[Snakum]

I can understand your point, I really can. I respect, and can sympathize with, your opinion, and you know I'm not a racist. I've lived the majority of my life with ethnic minorities in various temples and retreat centers. It's just that the practical realities of our current situation require that we are a little more vigilant with respect to the obvious profile of a potential terrorist, in my humble opinion.

Course ... I could be wrong.

Minh

 

[ATL2CDG]

I would rather be detained for jaywalking than have a Middle Easterner detained for the color of his skin or the length of his beard.

But that's just me. I believe in universal human rights, not marginalized American rights.

And of course, I could be wrong, too.

 

[CitationLover]

I would rather be detained for jaywalking than have a Middle Easterner detained for the color of his skin or the length of his beard.

But that's just me. I believe in universal human rights, not marginalized American rights.

And of course, I could be wrong, too.

since when do human rights involve not being searched at an airport? cmon....has the aclu got us screwed up this much?

 

[Swede]

ARGH! We're not talking about a Gulag for anyone who is swarthy, simply identifying who is more likely than others to kill us. 100% of the 9/11 terrorists were middle-Eastern males. A bit of a trend... statistically significant. Statistics mean something. We don't target retirees for AIDS education, we target young adults and IV drug users, because statistically they are the ones who will likely get aids.

I don't think a bit of extra scrutiny on 20-something M.E. men will shred the constitution!

 

[ATL2CDG]

since when do human rights involve not being searched at an airport? cmon....has the aclu got us screwed up this much?

It's called due process. Initiating a search of an individual based solely on their race or religious is incredulous. Yes, 19 Muslims of Middle Eastern origin attacked our nation. However, there are MILLIONS of people meeting the same 'profile' that have never done a thing to hurt Americans or American interests. I would say odds favor that a random selection of Middle Eastern Muslims will yield more innocence than guilt.

How would you feel if you were pulled over and your vehicle searched by a local law enforcement authority based SOLELY on the fact that your automobile windows are tinted? I mean, we ALL know that criminals love tinted windows to conceal their devious activities while on the road. As such, ALL cars with tinted windows are suspects. I would imagine you'd be up in arms, suing every level of jurisdiction that you could. What makes the profiling of you as a suspect any less criminal than the other covered in this thread?

 

[FN FAL]

I would rather be detained for jaywalking than have a Middle Easterner detained for the color of his skin or the length of his beard.

I would rather you both be detained.