The following "piece of garbage" arrived in my inbox this morning for the umpteenth time. It tries to make the case for racial profiling. I have shortened it by deleting numbers 3-6, 8-10, and a bunch of others:
"Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual events from history. They actually happened! Do you remember?
1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter
d. Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
Nope, ....I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
Come on people wake up!!! Keep this going. Pass it on to everyone in your address book. Our Country and our troops need our support!!!"
Of course these people are suggesting racial profiling, and I hate the idea. It is not the right thing to do.
At the onset of the Second World War we incarcerated all of the West Coast Japanese in one of the most horrid events in our history. It was not difficult to do because they all looked Japanese and we were afraid of them.
Irish Catholic teenagers tried to hurt me because I looked Jewish, and of course was complicit in the death of Christ.
As a society we have discriminated against African Americans almost at all times. Because of their skin color it was easy to determine who they were.
I could go on, but I think that I have made my point. I expect that throughout history, we, and others, have been able to find scapegoats and hunt them down.
Here is MY simple American point of view. We have a Constitution, and for the most part we have always paid attention to it. Sadly we do not pay attention to it all of the time.
Is it expedient for the NSA to spy on Americans without a court order?
Is it expedient for the Government to spy on all of its citizens?
Is it expedient for the government to "racially profile" while protecting us?
To me, the unconstitutional threats from the government's possible methods of protecting me are far more dangerous than the threats themselves. It is often the easiest course to do things that are unconstitutional.
Who needs warrants?
Who needs a free and unencumbered press?
Who needs demonstrations against the war?
Why not force Moslems either those entering or those living in the United States to wear a prominent "M" on their clothing in order to eliminate confusion?
It is always easier to govern by fear then by law. If you want conformation of that, and you ever run into Adolph Hitler, ask him!
Norman Horowitz