Your Political Correctness or Your Life
If you have not watched every minute of the 9/11 hearings, you might have missed a frightening bit of insight into how political correctness affects our security. I learned about it from a National Review Online article by Michael Smerconish. (Link via the Ranting Prof.) Here is the passage that caught my attention:
Among [9/11 Commissioner John] Lehman’s questions [to Condoleezza Rice] was this: “Were you aware that it was the policy…to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that’s discriminatory?”
Rice replied: “No, I have to say that the kind of inside arrangements for the FAA are not really in my….” (Lehman quickly followed up: “Well, these are not so inside.”)
Watching the hearings on television with the rest of the nation, I wondered what in the world Secretary Lehman was talking about. This, I’d never heard before. Was he saying that the security of our airlines had been sacrificed by political correctness? A few days after the klieg lights had faded, I had the chance to ask him.
“We had testimony a couple of months ago from the past president of United, and current president of American Airlines that kind of shocked us all,” Lehman told me. “They said under oath that indeed the Department of Transportation continued to fine any airline that was caught having more than two people of the same ethnic persuasion in a secondary line for line for questioning, including and especially, two Arabs.”
Wait a minute. So if airline security had three suspicious Arab guys they had had to let one go because they’d reached a quota?
That was it, Lehman said, “because of this political correctness that became so entrenched in the 1990s, and continues in current administration. No one approves of racial profiling, that is not the issue. The fact is that Norwegian women are not, and 85-year-old women with aluminum walkers are not, the source of the terrorist threat. The fact is that our enemy is the violent Islamic extremism and the overwhelming number of people that one need to worry about are young Arab males, and to ask them a couple of extra questions seems to me to be common sense, yet if an airline does that in numbers that are more than proportionate to their number in particular line, then they get fined and that is why you see so many blue haired old ladies and people that are clearly not of Middle Eastern extraction being hauled out in such numbers because otherwise they get fined.”
I pointed out in a recent post that the Department of Transportation had settled lawsuits with Continental, American, and United concerning alleged discrimination against Arabs. I pointed out that such lawsuits would clearly have a chilling effect on common-sense security enforcement.
Still, not knowing what the alleged discrimination really was, I was content to express my misgivings without coming down too hard on the Department of Transportation. After all, there could have been some real discrimination, I thought.
I should have guessed that “discrimination” could be established by something like questioning more than two Arabs on a single flight.
Do I really need to remind people that each of the Sept. 11 flights had more than two Arab terrorists?
Good Lord.
Thansk for highlighting that.
Somehow or other, it just doesn’t make headlines.
Scary, as are the implications.
Comment by The Commissar — 4/15/2004 @ 8:51 pm
Disturbing PC idiocy
Patterico notes a disturbing level of dangerous political correctness may be threatening people’s lives, even as we speak. “They said under oath that indeed the Department of Transportation continued to fine any airline that was caught having more than…
Trackback by Tao of Dowingba — 4/15/2004 @ 10:00 pm
You have got to be shitting me
Does the PC god demand human sacrifice? Looks like it when it comes to flight safety.
Trackback by Bit Random — 4/16/2004 @ 12:19 am
You have got to be shitting me
Does the PC god demand human sacrifice? Looks like it when it comes to flight safety.
Trackback by Bit Random — 4/16/2004 @ 12:20 am
A Recipe for Disaster
As inconvenient a fact as it might be for the Blame Bush Commission to face, Clinton-era political correctness is what really set the stage for 9/11.  It all began with the politics of appeasement…  terrorists like Yasser Arafat were coddled,…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 4/17/2004 @ 8:07 pm
A Recipe for Disaster
As inconvenient a fact as it might be for the Blame Bush Commission to face, Clinton-era political correctness is what really set the stage for 9/11.  It all began with the politics of appeasement…  terrorists like Yasser Arafat were coddled,…
Trackback by The Axis of Weasels — 4/17/2004 @ 8:09 pm
Submitted for Your Approval
First off…  any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here.  Die spambots, die!  And now…  here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher’s Council for this week’s vote. Council links:Credibil…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 4/20/2004 @ 8:56 pm
It’s going on all over the country in one form or another…
Two Arab men sue police officers, citing ethnic intimidation
A few of these and you have cops less inclined to stop Arabs. I’ve watched, am still watching the de-balling of Cincinnati police over racial profiling.
Comment by zee — 4/20/2004 @ 10:46 pm
The Council Has Spoken!
First off…  any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here.  Die spambots, die!  And now…  the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are Your Political Correctness or Your Life by Pa…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 4/22/2004 @ 6:58 pm
CQ: Watcher’s Council Nomination
It’s that time of the week again — and the Watchers’ Council has made their selections for the best posts around the blogosphere. Captain’s Quarters received a nomination in the non-council category for my post on Bob Woodward’s refutation of…
Trackback by Captain's Quarters — 4/22/2004 @ 7:29 pm
THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN.
Indeed it has, and two worthy blog entries have risen above the rest of the competition: Patterico’s Pontifications takes the council entry this week, with Your Political Correctness or your Life, while Captains Quarters wins the non-council spot with …
Trackback by The SmarterCop — 4/23/2004 @ 5:12 am
Watcher’s Council
The results are in. Congratulations to Patterico for the winning Council entry, “Your Political Correctness or Your Life,” and to Captain Ed for the winning non-Council entry, “Woodward Says No Secret Oil Deal, Suggests Kerry Learn to Read.”…
Trackback by damnum absque injuria — 4/23/2004 @ 7:03 am
The Council Has Spoken
The Watcher’s Council has met and voted on the posts of the week: Winning Council Entry: Your Political Correctness or Your Life Patterico’s Pontifications Winning Non-Council Entry: Woodward Says No Secret Oil Deal, Suggests Kerry Learn to Read Captai…
Trackback by King of Fools — 4/23/2004 @ 8:29 am
The Coalition of the Willing
As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what we consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around…  though I don’t actually vote unless there happens…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 4/23/2004 @ 7:36 pm
Watcher Winners
Patterico’s Pontifications takes this week’s Watcher’s Council vote with Your Political Correctness or Your Life. Captain’s Quarters took the non-council member category with Woodward Says No Secret Oil Deal, Suggests Kerry Learn to Read.The votes were…
Trackback by AlphaPatriot — 4/25/2004 @ 12:28 am
The Weasel Watchers
While the Weasels desperately attempt to justify their candidate and his positions, the Watcher’s…
Trackback by Spicedsass — 4/29/2004 @ 5:51 am
The Council Has Spoken ! ! [and I missed it]
I’ve been a baaaad, baaaaad girl. I completely missed that I’d completely missed reportage of the Watcher’s Council Winners for the week of 4.22. Here is my make-up post and my most sincere apologies to the Watcher, my fellow Council…
Trackback by e-Claire — 5/3/2004 @ 5:30 pm
i personally think that if an arab male complains about scrutiny at any airline checkpoint he shouild be pulled out of line for a m inimim of six hours and have the shit beat out of him, but that is just me
Comment by gene hauber — 6/6/2004 @ 3:11 pm
Yes, that is just you.
Comment by Patterico — 6/7/2004 @ 12:47 am
I think Gene “Racist Shit- is -my -middle- name Hauber should have the shit beaten out of him, don ^t we all agree ?
Comment by Harriet Leeck — 6/9/2004 @ 11:38 am
I think Gene “Racist Shit- is -my -middle- name Hauber should have the shit beaten out of him, don ^t we all agree ?
Comment by Harriet Leeck — 6/9/2004 @ 11:38 am
I think Gene “Racist Shit- is -my -middle- name Hauber should have the shit beaten out of him, don ^t we all agree ?
Comment by Harriet Leeck — 6/9/2004 @ 11:38 am
I think Gene “Racist Shit- is -my -middle- name Hauber should have the shit beaten out of him, don ^t we all agree ?
Comment by Harriet Leeck — 6/9/2004 @ 11:38 am
I think Gene “Racist Shit- is -my -middle- name Hauber should have the shit beaten out of him, don ^t we all agree ?
Comment by Harriet Leeck — 6/9/2004 @ 11:39 am
Uh, Harriet, we got the point after the first FIVE times you repeated the same idiotic message. And yes, while Gene may be despicably racist for uttering something like that, at the same time we shouldn’t be too pleased with the other extreme that Patterico cites, i.e. the tendency to disallow questioning of Arab suspects by law enforcement even when that questioning may be reasonable. Let’s just avoid both extremes and follow common sense here, i.e. leave people alone when they’re not a threat but collect as much info as possible when suspicion is warranted.
Comment by Rocco — 6/11/2004 @ 11:38 am
Terrorist Nabbed in the Twin Cities
Some jihadi freak was arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after being subjected to a random search… it turns out that this guy had a suicide note which was rather specific about when and where he planned on killing himse…
Trackback by Watcher of Weasels — 7/14/2004 @ 11:40 pm
Terrorist Nabbed in the Twin Cities
Some jihadi freak was arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after being subjected to a random search… it turns out that this guy had a suicide note which was rather specific about when and where he planned on killing himse…
Trackback by The Axis of Weasels — 7/14/2004 @ 11:43 pm