Retired Lt. General Tom McInerney appeared on Fox News to offer his own proposal for making air travel safer: strip search all Muslim men between 18 and 28. That’s right, strip search every Muslim male at the airport.
Here is how the General explained how we need to “be very serious and harsh about the profiling:” “If you are an 18 to 28-year-old Muslim man then you should be strip searched. And if we don’t do that, there’s a very high probability we’re going to lose an airliner.”
I think that the General has the right thought but the wrong conclusion. What does every airline bomber have in common? Clothes. No clothes means by definition no shoe bombs, no underwear bombs, no explosive vests. People could appear naked at security points and be given those paper gowns used by hospitals.
Of course, Osama Bin Laden could still fly without stripping as would Richard Reid. It would delay things for such athletes as Ramzee Robinson (Cleveland Browns), Abdul Raheeda Hodge (Cincinnati Bengals), Usama Young (Saints), Husain Ibn Muhammed Abdullah (Minnesota Vikings), Kareem Brown (Jets), and others. Congressman Keith Maurice Ellison and Elias A. Zerhouni (Director of the NIH) made it over the line and can keep their clothes on.
Swarthmore mom–
My sister began teaching in 1964. In those days in many places, pregnant women were required to leave the classroom once they started “to show”–even if they were married! In addition, male teachers were often moved up the ladder to administrative positions just because of their gender. It didn’t matter if they were incompetent nincompoops.
I attended a state college in my area from 1964-68. Female students were not allowed to wear pants to class. After all…we were going to be teachers. We had to set a good example for our profession. I remember one year when we had a terrible cold spell in New England. The college adminstration gave us females a dispensation–and allowed us to wear pants for a few days.
Ha!
FFLeo:
I really think Jill meant to single you out as “sexy'” not “sexist.” 😀
To all:
Like many here, I get a little sensitive when my opinions are challenged by what I regard as with a less than civil retort. After some times goes by, I realize than no one here really means the barb as insult but usually it’s posited just to add a little passion to the mix or to make the dialog interesting. Sometimes it could be deemed insulting, but my experience with the regulars is that it is quickly regretted and an apology, of sorts, ensues. All in all, it’s very much like most relationships with some “downs” but more “ups.” I see no need for anyone to pack up their marbles and go home since the sentiments of a few posters don’t represent the sentiments of all. I have criticized Jill in the past for being, in my opinion, a “one note” poster, but it is a pretty and thoughtful note and her voice needs to be heard. In my foray around the blawg-o-sphere, I’ve come across many forms of discourse. I think ours is the best, being the most civil, and the most enlightening — and apparently so do many other silent but important viewers. I can see no reason to dismantle that over petty jealousies and hurt feelings which ultimately do damage to us all by denying interesting points of view. I don’t necessarily need everyone to kiss and make up, but making up seems the adult thing to do if we all can admit at least some modicum of culpability. Do we really need to bother JT with sandbox disputes that we are infinitely capable of resolving amicably ourselves? What say the antagonists?
Folks,
We are all friends/blawg family here who often disagree. Let us not denigrate Professor Turley’s blawg with too much personal dissent.
Jill singled me out as a sexist, I simply disagree, and I do not hold that against her whatsoever. Jill is an important component of this site and as I have stated several times before, I prefer that we have more of the feminine perspective here than less.
bdaman Do you realize that in the fifties and early sixties the only person of color in the office building ran the elevator and the women were for the most part secretaries? I have been watching “Madmen” every night. I forgot how bad things were.
Swathmore mom, then you better tell boss hog to lay off her.
My argument was that if you are an African American things are better now.
Oh yea, they are so much better, just look at the unemployment for Blacks vs White. Look at the educational system, look at the school voucher program the president endorsed. Things are definitely better.
I do not want Jill to leave because this blog needs some strong committed intelligent females.
I have written directly to Jill to encourage her to stay. She is a valued regular on this blog and it would be the poorer for her absence. I hope that she will reconsider the decision and stick with our community.
Jill,
As Mike said, your act has grown tiresome here. Enjoy being a professional “victim” elsewhere if you so desire. It will reduce the signal to noise ratio here. Maybe elsewhere they’ll appreciate your psychic ability to tell what others are feeling and thinking in regards to your feelings of persecution. I was satisfied with your half-assed “apology” until you kept chewing on the issue. I accept that people are flawed in different ways.
So as long as we are “setting the record straight”, I’ve still only been angry here twice.
I’ve never been angry at you – disappointed sure and I’ve said as much explicitly – but by the same token I’m not going to take any shit off of you either just because of your sex. If your feelings are hurt by people responding to your charges of sexism (which you do whip out at the drop of a hat and in these instances have been ridiculous), that’s exactly your problem and not the defenders of said accusations problem. When you attack, people will strike back or run away. Human nature. You chose to attack. You chose poorly to attack people who don’t run. Now you choose to leave.
Bye.
Jill The anon nurse had posted previously that things were much worse now than have been. My argument was that if you are an African American things are better now. The anon nurse had also indicated we were becoming a slave state. We have already been a country of slaveowners. We have interned people of Japanese descent. I wish that you would not leave this blog. You are too interesting.
Here is the originals post from which all the hatred arose:
swarthmore mom,
I feel your posts are often condescending towards people who have a different opinion than you do. When you wrote: “anon nurse We have always had harassment in this country. It is obvious you are not a member of minority group or you would not think this is something new. This is not the McCarthy era politically either.” I thought it was unnecessary to put in the part about being a member of minority group.
While I agree with you that we have always had harassment in this country, I’m not certain why that would make harassment t occurring either in the past or the present, acceptable. As to minority groups, one big one under direct attack by our govt. is the Muslim population, of which you are not a member. It therefore might be easier for you to ignore what happens to the Muslim population, if we are to follow your argument’s logic in your post to anon nurse. I submit to you that you may truly be unaware of the level of govt. intrusion on all our lives, especially those who are minorities picked up by ICE and Muslims who loose their civil liberties in ways that those of us who are native born, non-Muslims seldom encounter. I might further add that if you joined a counter-recruitment group, and were really active in it, you might find this govt. to be quite intrusive, even as a native born, non-Muslim person. Those of us who have lived different experiences with this govt. are not in la-la land, we are seeing the really ugly, bare face of the govt. It is why we cannot excuse the loss of our civil liberties and refuse to stay silent.
Buddha, Mike. S., and A.Y.,
Even if you believe what I did was wrong, the level of hatred and cruelty in your attacks on me has been astounding. If you wanted to make things better, you should have tried to help resolve things by being rational, clam, decent and direct. What you did instead was just go ballistic. It is exactly like playground bullies who pick on a person who is different. It is also errierly reminiscent of religious authorities who ask people to recant a truthful statement that conflicts with their authority. Basically I didn’t recant the truth and you all went after me for that.
I also tie this directly into the topic of the tread itself. Our govt. has learned how to manipulate our population. Our population, including the three of you, have a lot of rage which is based in our collective life circumstances of brutalization. Instead of channeling that rage into it’s proper course or proper perspective, the rage is taken as an excuse to perform the worst possible actions against those whom one considers different and who will not conform to your will. It is why liberals so readily and viciously attack conservatives, why conservatives vicously attack the left, why so many in our population agree to torture. It is why this govt. will win against everything decent and good in our society. Anger needs to be proportional and properly directed and take place in a context of good will, without the desire to harm others. That is the opposite of what happened here.
I will leave this blog. To set the record straight I will go back and post the original thing I said to S.M. so that others may judge if that statement in any way deserved the hatefulness that you brought to it.
To the many kind and extraordinary people I have met while here, I’d like to say how much fun you were and how much I’ve learned from all of you.
wuite well = suited well
I think my position is clearly attenuated.
Yo Professor,
Please see the comment of Jill Directed at swartzmore mom. Then when she is called on it she claims attack. Sir, with all due respect I did not attack her, nor do I intend to do so.
I believe that she owes a whole lot of folks here an apology for attacking them. I will let them speak for themselves.
However, when she was confronted she played the role of Scarlett O’Hare wuite well. Vivian Leigh would have been so proud and Now I take my cue from Clark Gable and think what Rhett Butler might have said.
How about you post your marginally retarded way and I’ll post complete thoughts? That’s the usual pattern, bdapettroll.
This thread has gotten out of control. Even if the early comments were not intended to be directed at Jill, the use of personal attacks produces both direct and collateral injuries. This site struggles to maintain a strict civility rule. While newcomers may not be familiar with it, our regulars do. I love the passion and the witticisms. Just lets avoid the personal stuff. If someone attacks you personally, let me know by email. I cannot monitor the comments during the day and I was in litigation yesterday. I appreciate the help on this.
Nature is a funny thing and has a way of over correcting.
You know, like some women with naturally big breast have a flat backside. People that are smart sometimes just don’t have a lick of common sense.
You know what they say about a man with big feet?
He’s got big shoes.
PSSST you can always copy half of your waiting in moderation and break it up to post your comment. Then you can put a little side note in case the post gets reposted. I thought you was a computer expert. I’m not, but thats really not hard to figure out boss
Again, let me give you Carlin’s perspective, it’s a little lengthy, but it’s on the topic of profiling:
“I really haven’t seen this many people in one place since they took the group photographs of all the criminals and law-breakers in the congress and senate. 225 different people in the Ronald Reagan administration alone have either quit, been fired, been arrested, indicted, or convicted of either breaking the law or violating the Ethics Code…
These were the Law and Order people! These are the people who are against street crime! They want to put street criminals in jail to make life safer for the business criminals! Yeah! They’re against street crime, provided that street isn’t Wall Street…
And the Supreme Court decided about a year ago that it’s all right to put people in jail now if we just think (!) they’re going to commit a crime. It’s called preventive detention. All you’ve got to do now is just think they’re going to commit a crime. Well if we’d known this seven or eight years ago we could have put a bunch of these Republican motherfuckers directly into prison!!”