Inspector Clouseu said "It wouldn't be fair for police to profile Islamic Arab terrorists on the basis of of their religion or Middle Eastern appearance."
Posted on 07/22/2005 8:33:15 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that terrorists come "in all sizes and shapes and forms" and it wouldn't be fair for police to profile terrorism suspects on the basis of a Middle Eastern appearance.
Asked about the city's random stop and search policy, which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Thursday would forbid racial profiling, Bloomberg told WABC Radio host John Gambling: "I think if we've learned anything, it is, you can't predict what a terrorist looks like."
"You want to have restrictions [on police terrorism searches]," Bloomberg explained. "You want to have the police to have the burden of being very careful and never discriminating."
"If you think that everybody with blue eyes is a terrorist, you can't just stop everybody with blue eyes," he added. "Terrorists come in all sizes and shapes and forms."
When Gambling reminded that "a higher percentage of them come from a certain section of the world," Bloomberg acknowledged: "That is true."
"But John," the mayor shot back, "the essence of our freedom is that you are presumed innocent - you're innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence is the fundamental [value] of our society. And you just can't go and say everybody who has blue eyes - my example - is a terrorist just because most terrorists that you've caught have blue eyes."
Bloomberg acknowledged that his profiling ban would make it easier for terrorists to succeed in their next attack, but still insisted the practice was "unreasonable."
"It is just not a reasonable, not a rational - nothing that we want in our society," he maintained. "That does make it more difficult for the police - yes. But it's been more difficult for 235 years and we've kept the democracy and that's the challenge that we have to meet."
Wrapping up on the topic, Bloomberg caught himself profiling terrorists by sex - then quickly amended his comments, telling WABC:
"If you had no restrictions [on police searches]; number one, you'd give up all our freedoms; and number two, I don't know that you'd necessarily do any better at catching the bad guys - or that they are guys."
Hasn't there always been a "war on terrorism"? Isn't it just semantics now?
Common sense helps. White haired little old ladies in tennis shoes from Dubuque aren't doing this.
?
Kelly got annoyed and snapped at him and said something to the effect of "Guys like you would give guys like Jose Padillo and John Walker Lindths a free ride while harassing every non terrorist, you may think its safe to leave terrorists who don't fit the profile alone, but I don't".
My simple solution to this rather complex (albeit artificially) problem follows:
SEARCH EVERYONE! EVERYONE! PERIOD! Do we as a nation and a people deserve, or should we expect, any less?
Searching everyone solves the "discrimination" problem...the ACLU can find another tree to bark up, thank you!
When enough people have waited in lines for far too long, waiting to be searched, maybe, just maybe, they'll pick up a phone, or write a letter to their favorite politician and demand that we take more serious military action to fight. Of course this would include authorizing the use of nuclear devices!
Oh, and close the borders!
A great solution doesn't have to be complicated!
R3
John Walker and the DC sniper don't fit a profile - until you do some research and start looking for clues. Training give you new eyes.
Whenever your arguement is brought up, the libs will bring up Timothy McVeigh....
of course there is evidence that his actions had Middle Eastern influence also...
Michael Bloomberg = Ken Livingstone
"I think if we've learned anything, it is, you can't predict what a terrorist looks like."
Really? I wonder if he's a bettin' man?
I got $10 here that says the next suicide bomber to strike is a middle easterner...
It's obvious that this nitwit has never taken a statistics or probability course in his life.Perhaps not. The Mayor and his family are statistically unlikely to be in serious danger, regardless of the likely harm to an indeterminate number of still-nameless people in his city. Safety in numbers allows him to indulge in ridiculous PC exercises.
The truth is that closer to 99 out of a humdred terrorists fit the profile of a young swarthy man in his twenties or thirties.
John Walker is not a terrorist, btw. An unlawful combatant, maybe, still he fought as an irregular member of a militia.
Inspector Clouseu said "It wouldn't be fair for police to profile Islamic Arab terrorists on the basis of of their religion or Middle Eastern appearance."
THEY WILL DIE. WOMEN, CHILDREN, BABIES. without question this will result from such a surrender to Liberalism.
This is insanity. Are American really willing to DIE to preserve political correctness? This is the question.
"Vee are both professionals.....thiss iss personal..."
Oh, now I remember.
Liberals have way too many "feelings" and not nearly enough sense.
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