I thought the United States was "The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave."
From the airlines' banning of harmless liquids (my wife had to throw her dangerously swanky designer lip gloss away before boarding a red-eye in Detroit this morning) and the jetisoning of passengers from planes because of their skin color or t-shirts, to FBI investigations of US scientists, teachers and peace groups, the US is fast becoming "The Land of the Meek and The Home of the Scared!"
The FEAR FACTORY has become a profitable venture. Americans are SCARED $H!TLESS!!
It is true that the "terrorists" and those who propagate that terror (the Bush Regime, Homeland Insecurity, the mainstream media) are winning.
Here is another racist/terrorist profiling story, another example of an innocent person victimized by cowards who scream with fear every time they see someone who looks different from them.
"An Iraqi architect says he was not allowed to board a Jet Blue flight at JFK because of the Arabic inscription on his t-shirt."
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The real trouble is that we are afraid of our own damn government.
And yet, even the people who claim to be scared just keep on blabbering their criticisms as loudly and prolifically as ever, bellying (spell?) their proclaimed fear.
The guy who got blocked from the plane has far more freedom here in the US than in any Arabic nation (other than Iraq). The reason Arabs are running into this trouble in the US is that other Arabs are loudly and regularly issuing terror threats against domestic US civillian targets, and occassionally conducting operations. That, I believe, is the real problem.
Meanwhile, the US Arab population continues to climb, and the supposedly "SCARED SHITLESS!" leftist critics gain in number, volume, and intensity.
However, I do agree with Nadir that 99% of the Homeland Security measures at the airport constitute simultaneously a waste of time as well as a victory for the terrorists (whom I regard as the Islamic Crusaders against civilization).
It's charactoristic that Nadir's description of this shocking display of xenophobia omitted what they guy had on his T-shirt. It wasn't merely Arabic; no honkey passengers (perhaps some were even black or "hispanic"!) objected to a t-shirt that merely contained any Arabic. In this case, the guy's T-shirt stated in English: We Will Not Be Silent. (Or was it, "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT!"). The Arabic writing repeated this phrase, but none of those who got scared would have known this.
Isn't this quit a bit different than some non-Arabic passengers freaing out at the sight of a fellow passenger who appeared Arabic and wore a Tshirt with Arabic writing? Why did Nadir omit the English declaration, "We will not be silent"?
My own view: I would not be scared. I probably would keep an eye on the guy as a fellow passenger. But I would imagine that a real terrorist would be trying to fit in, not wearing a provokative Tshirt. And that declaration might represent a challange to the Islamic Crusaders: we will not keep quite our oppoistion to your retarded jihad. I probably would have asked the guy what his statement meant, a completely sensable reaction to a person with a Tshirt proclaiming his intention to... SPEAK! (?).
People irritated by skittishness like that exhibitted by those passengers should, I believe, focus their attention on defeating the Islamic Crusade Against Civilization (ICAC).
"The guy who got blocked from the plane has far more freedom here in the US than in any Arabic nation (other than Iraq). The reason Arabs are running into this trouble in the US is that other Arabs are loudly and regularly issuing terror threats against domestic US civillian targets, and occassionally conducting operations. That, I believe, is the real problem."
This is a red herring and is pointless to this debate. You're comparing apples and oranges. We're talking about the erosion of US civil liberties and a climate of fear that didn't exist five years ago.
A political statement on a t-shirt should not be grounds for expulsion from an airplane. Paul, Mr. Anti-PC, of all people should be defending this passenger's right to free speech, not defending the bigots who attacked him.
Is political speech now forbiden in the land of the free? If I am allowed to protest, why can't an Iraqi architect? I thought this was America?
The English statement simply told the people what the Arabic said. It is the man's skin tone and the Arabic writing which identified him as an Arab that made the passengers afraid.
Nadir: There is no evidence to suggest that if the man's T-shirt lacked the english declaration that the other passengers would have been scared. Only with the english delcaration did any passengers have reason for fear... in combination with the man's Arabic feature and the Arabic writing.
Those passengers are not bigots; they are reacting to very real threats from a very particular segment of the population: not blacks, east Asians, mestizos, but Arabs. If the Utah survivalists represented a massive, active movement similar to that of the current Islam Crusade, I am certain that a similar reaction would result from white men wearing the same slogan.
Those passengers did not demand that the guy get arrested or fired from his job. They merely declared that they would not fly on a plane with an Arab man wearing a t-shirt with both Arabic and that english declaration. These people are afraid of Arabs with political slogans on their T-shirts for a logical reason that does not constitute racism or bigotry.
This remains a nation where Arabs can live and express themselves freely... though not without causing fear amoung other Americans due to the barage of Arabs throughout the world who have declared a holy islamic war on the US, targetting air travel.
I am confident that if a honkey tried to board a plane with a T-shirt that read, "Mohammad's mom was a whore", that fellow passengers would complain, and airline personell would require the ofay to change shirts in order to board the plane.
PS: The honkey with the "Mohammad's Mom is a Whore" T-shirt might actually not get banned from the plane... if he first gets murdered by a retarded muslim.
"they are reacting to very real threats from a very particular segment of the population:"
What real threat?? The guy was wearing a t-shirt!!!
Why are you so afraid?? Are you going to stop going to work with the Persians and Iraqis who work at your job? Are you now boycotting Dearborn because someone could run into the street with a bomb on their chest at any moment?
At some point you SCARED $H!TLESS Americans are going to have to get on with your lives. You can't be afraid of everyone who looks different from you or practices a different religion.
The African embassy bombings may have been carried out by Africans. Why wouldn't those passengers be afraid of Blacks?
Columbia has lots of terrorism and kidnappings. Why wouldn't those passengers be afraid of Latinos?
The FEAR FACTORY is at work gentlemen, and you are its victims.
"I am confident that if a honkey tried to board a plane with a T-shirt that read, "Mohammad's mom was a whore", that fellow passengers would complain, and airline personell would require the ofay to change shirts in order to board the plane."
I doubt it. Try it. That statement is merely ignorant, intollerant and perhaps racist. You might be considered an idiot, but not a terrorist. That person stays on the plane with reasonable people sneering at his ignorant ass.
=======Nadir
What real threat?? The guy was wearing a t-shirt!!!
===============
The people weren't frightened because Arab Muslims have been wearing T-shirts on airplanes. They are frightened because Arab Muslims have been targetting airplanes for terror attacks. The ambiguous message on the Tshirt reminded them of these actions, and they were scared that the person who wore it might be expressing support for those terrorists, and thus might be one himself. They did not advocate imprisoning him for wearing a Tshirt, but they were frightened to fly with him.
Of all the interactions occuring in the US involving Arabs and non-Arabs, the incident in this article illustrates just how rare it is that any non-Arab becomes frightened. That is why this made news.
Your point about the African bombing and Colombia help make my case that racism is defeated in America, and bolster my claim that Americans in general are very tolerant.
Your assessment of my statement that "Mohammad's mom is a racist" further indicates that you do not understand the definition of "racism." And I disagree that if somebody complained about such a Tshirt that airline personel would not intervene. While the IRA actively practiced terrorism I fully expect that similar Tshirts worn by passengers in Britain by a guy with an Irish accent would cause a similar situation.
If people in Colombia, or black Africans, start organizing into groups devoted to attacking the US and issuing regular threats against US civillians, I would expect similar fear from US air travelers. Same for if the IRA starts attacking the US. Americans in general are not racist, but they are humans and are afraid of regular threats and attacks.
I believe that the source of these incidents is not western xenophobia, racism, or confessionalism. Rather, it is the actions of muslims attacking civilization and threatening such. People who want to act against fear of islam should act against not those who become afraid, but against those engaging in this islamic-based terror. Have muslims who oppose terror and who support civilization made a loud and visable show of support for this? The collective impression is that there is only one loud and active group of muslims: those supporting terror against civilization. A muslim wearing a "We Will Not be Silent" (was ther an exclamation point?) could hardly be confused for one of those many angry muslims on TV demanding freedom and peace, and defying the beheaders and terroists, since such images never appear.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2006/09/05/qc-hasidicprayeronplane.html
Here a honkey jew gets the same treatment. If the Islamic Crusaders would stop their war against civilization, these hysterical episodes would stop, and people would calm down.
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