The Right Calls for More Racial Profiling
Despite the fact that the suspects in all known plots in the US and attached to US interests hail from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities, some on the right still cry for racial profililing.
As ThinkProgress reports today, radio host Mike Gallagher said,"There should be a separate line to scrutinize anybody with the name Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed." (Note: Those are some of the most common names in the world.)
But radio hosts are paid to incite people and get them worked up. What about those who are responsible for enacting laws and defending our Constitution? Just ask Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who said, "100 percent of the Islamic terrorists are Muslim, and that is our main enemy today. So why we should not be profiling people because of their religion?"
Now, never mind the dopey redundancy of "100 percent of the Islamic terrorists are Muslim," that's like saying 100% of Christian terrorists believe Jesus is our savior--no shit. The question is what percentage of the total Muslim population is represented by the number of known plotters? If you're trying to catch people doing bad things shouldn't you instead focus on patterns of behavior? Would racial profiling have snagged Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols (both white, American born), Jose Padilla (Hispanic, American born), or Richard Reid (English and Jamaican, English born)?
The goal is to stop terrorists, regardless of religious affiliation. Those bombs set by pro-life Christianists are just as deadly as those set by Islamofascists.
Comments
Sounds like they're calling for religious profiling, not racial profiling.
Posted by: Jake | December 30, 2009 10:20 AM
Of course, one of the reasons 9/11 happened is that the terrorists took the care to avoid fitting what our terrorist profiles were at the time. Any serious terrorists will just take the time to learn what our new profiles are and send somebody who doesn't fit.
Posted by: Jude | December 30, 2009 12:34 PM
I think you're right, Jake. What's funny is that religious profiling is an even more difficult (if not impossible) aspect to review.
TSA: Sir, are you a muslim?
Passenger: No, I am not.
TSA: Have a nice flight.
What could go wrong?
Posted by: Derek Phillips | December 30, 2009 1:06 PM
TSA: Do you have an ominous beard and a silly hat?
Passenger: You can see I clearly do not.
TSA: Did you recently shave and/or purchase regular clothes?
Passenger: Oh shit, busted!
Posted by: Jake | December 31, 2009 8:49 AM