DJ, I have no problems with more security procedures. I think that we need them and that we should have them. However, we don't. Anyone who has flown in the past few years can attest to that. I was flying home from Florida last year, standing patiently in the security line. All of a sudden, someone (I can't remember if it was an airport or flight company employee) came through with a huge crowd of people and pushed them through to the front of the line. They had just gotten off a cruise and the boat was late, so they were pushing them through to make their flight. Do you think that these folks were given a full security check? Not a chance.
Until we apply a standard set of security measures for EVERYONE, I agree that we won't be safe. However, I believe that you can't pick and choose when and where to use them.
For the most part, we totally agree. I simply think that we have reached an impasse where we simply cannot ignore the fact that the vast majority of terrorists attempting to attack our country are Muslims of Arab descent. And our brains are preconditioned to discriminate and profile - certainly it would be worthwhile to at least consider it for airport security.
After all, it is a factor in plenty of other things - college admissions, jobs, housing, etc. - which is essentially a form of reverse discrimination through affirmative action.
Btw, are you saying that you agree that we should have put Japanese-Americans in camps during World War II?? These were American citizens, business owners, many of them born here in the US. How could that be right for a country to imprison their own citizens simply because of their ethnic heritage? And why only Japanese-Americans from CA?? Because they were more recognizable than the German-American or Italian-American citizens?? I think that the internment of the Japanese-Americans was a blot on our history, and in Korematsu v. US, the Supreme Court agreed.
Was it right? No.
But I don't crucify Roosevelt for his decision. His goal was the preservation and safety of the citizens of the United States from an enemy that was perceived to be attacking us from both outside and within.
A blot on our history? Debatable. Certainly I am sympathetic to the Japanese-Americans for what happened to them. But again, I am not going to sit here and lambaste Roosevelt for what was considered to be a legitimate security measure during the 1940's, unlike many of my colleagues.
