Posted on 07/25/2004 11:30:37 AM PDT by Joe Hadenuf
Does Air Force One have nameless, anonymous, or mysterious Mid Easterners on board while cruising at 30,000 feet? Can you imagine the utter shock and concern of the President, his family and the Secret Service if a number of suspicious, mysterious Mid Easterners started to board Air Force One?
We all know this would never happen as the Secret Service and Homeland Security would never allow this to occur, as the safety and security of the President and his family are a priority and paramount.
My point is, why are the rest of the flying public subjected to this on a daily basis? We have all heard the endless warnings, frightening stories, and nightmare scenarios. We have even been told by the Director of Homeland Security, "We will be hit and hit hard". Yet strange, mysterious Mid Easterners, that have only been in our country a day or two, are on board our flights as I write this.
Imagine boarding a flight with you wife and kids and seeing multiple, suspicious Mid Easterners boarding the aircraft. Imagine your thoughts and concern on a long flight. In my opinion, this is completely unacceptable.
Imagine, if it happens again, and four or five or more flights are brought down killing many hundreds or thousands?
Then what? Will our government continue to carry on business as usual? At what point will the safety of the rest of Americans be a priority and a paramount concern?
I can't help but notice that you responded to my calling you a racist, but completely ignored the big logical holes I blew into your specious AF1 comparison. I wonder why that is? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.
You have no logic.
My example of AF-1 was an obvious analogy of how dignitaries, celebrites and the political elite don't have to take chances, while having no problem exposing the rest of us to danger.
And security breach's do occur. People that have entered our country illegally have actually gained access to the White House and have even been photographed with the Vice President of the United States. Security compromises do happen in secured areas, however, they are kept to an absolute minimum for the rich, the elite and politicians.
My point was they take few chances, and are protected by rings of security, while they have no problem exposing our own families and loved ones to real danger.
You mean a rhetorical device which you hope will give your otherwise purely superficial (read pigment) threat assessment some semblence of cover.
Joe, no one wants terrorists in the sky. Well, no one but the terrorists themselves. However, that doesn't give you license to instantly assume that everyone with olive skin and a funny accent is a bad guy.
This is taking on all the trappings of an ignorant clerk at a gas station who informed me that my beard, which is 6-8" long wasn't very patriotic, and that if I were a good American I'd shave. We need deeper thinkers than this Joe.
There is much more to this story than skin pigment.
Huh?
You get this in Texas? You guys still living in the 60s there? You're a stay at home biker Dad? Hehe..
It seems you and others in your area need to get out more.
Frankly, airplane crews are furious that nothing seems to have been done to prevent Muslims from carrying out dry runs, 'test' flights. If I were a pilot, I'd be ticked off, but good.
I couldn't agree more. Their stress levels have to be at all time highs, as they listen to reports from the Director of Homeland Security say we will more than likely be hit, and hit hard.
Just last week, a flight with about 100 people on board heading eastbound from LA was discovered that about 20 percent of the passengers were in our country illegally. Plain and simple, this is not acceptable.
Well, I'm going to have to assume that you have something personal against me, since you're getting personal. If you've got a comment to make about my personal life, stand up on your hind legs and say it, don't allude to it like you're afraid to say it. Spit it out man.
I'll agree with your argument only if you guarantee me first on, first off flight status. I'll also support you if you guarantee me limo pickup as soon as I depart the plane.
Last but not least, I will also support your rant if you can give me one damn good reason why I should vote for you in November John.........
So would I.But,even on FR we seem to have a small cadre of people who are quite vehement in saying this is mostly,if not purely,baloney.More recently the "baloney" posters are hanging their hat on bigotry and racism.But,previously it was just-don't be chicken$hit.That didn't really run off any of us that are concerned.So,given our culture,even supposed good conservatives,on FR a long time,try the race card.I wouldn't be comfortable with ANY person violating what are known far and wide as the rules of behavior for airline flight.No one should be.
My question-is this,particularly here on FR, just PC run amok,or is there a more nefarious reason for people trying to bat down our concern about this?Pardon me in this day and age if I am suspicious of EVERYONE.
Maybe the next long flight you take your family take will be filled with those that look like Yasir Arafat and smell like camp fires.
Get back to me then, and tell me all about how unconcerned you were.
I'd call you a fool, but it seems others have beaten me to it.
Last Tuesday, I went to Denver International Airport to pick up my wife and daughter. There was a valid reason for me to meet them at the gate so I went to the ticket counter to get a gate pass for my 10 year old son and myself. This automatically requires a secondary screening at the security checkpoint. We go through the metal detector and while they are checking me out with the wand my son is sitting in a chair nearby. After being checked out, I say to my son, "OK, your next.". The screener at this point says to me that they don't wand down kids under twelve. I am still trying to figure out the logic in this.
If you want to know why some people charge racism, you might look to phrases like this. I haven't been on any flights with folks who smell like camp fires (except maybe boy scouts), and I doubt that the 9/11 hijackers smelled that way. Which gets us to our policy toward ANYBODY that "looks like yasir arafat" (strting with wayne newton or Danny thomas).
as I indicated back at #86, we can dissect the ACTIONS here, and try to sort it out, and maybe the ultimate facts will bear out some reason for concern -- but you really have been posting a lot of awfully casual remarks that sure look like "if they're swarthy, keep 'em off my airplane."
The penalty for thinking and talking like Joe is being looked down upon by the PC crowd (or possibly violating some rules or laws the PC crowd got enacted).The penalty for not taking this seriously is death.
Let me change this just for you, so as not to offend.
May the next long flight you take your family on be filled with those that look like Yasir Arafat and smell like old spice.
Enjoy your flight!
No, but check the hell out of'em. Hey, thats what El Al does.
If I had bee on that "Terror in the sky" flight I would have recruited all the men around me and basically closed the restrooms. I wold have arranged for a bunch of us to cut in line in front of these guys.
Sorry, we didn't start this fight, but we can at least recognize enemies. If a few feelings get bruised -- tough. If I was flying on a Middle Eastern flight I am sure I would be discriminated against. I understand you dont dare say you are American when visiting places like Egypt.
Until there are massive demonstrations of those of Middle Eastern descent who are decrying the acts against the US and loudly giving up their mongrel religion, then they have brought this upon themselves and I, for one, won't trust them and DO hold them culpable for 9/11 and everything before and adter that.
Actually, I read this article a while ago and it would have bothered me but I would have done something about it. I AM proactive in such things. The first thing I would have done is check what was in the bathroom after the first guy came out with the empty Mcdonalds bag. I would have been the next person in the bathroom after every single one of them and would have searched it. I would have made eye contact with them as I left the bathroom. I would have let them know that I was watching them. I would have been overt in my interest in them.
If they were what everyone feared, I would have been one of their first targets - gladly.
If they refused to respect what the flight attendants did, I would have LOUDLY asked the flight attendant if they needed some help as I stared down the "problem" passenger.
These guys are cowards and if they think they are going to be hard pressed to succeed, they will back off and try another flight.
No, I dont think it is funny, but I do think Air force one is a different situation completely.
Obviously you don't talk with your friends or lay awake at night thinking of ways to do it like they do.
Just because you can't figure out how to do something doesn't mean it can't be done.
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