Author Topic: A Troubling Poll (Read 5857 times)

Sandman · « **on:** September 17, 2001, 07:34:00 AM »

In the USA Today, they have a poll today, Poll Finds A United Nation.

One part troubles me:

"Support among almost three in five, 58%, for requiring all Arabs, including U.S. citizens, to undergo special and more intense security screening before boarding planes to help prevent terrorist attacks."

Maybe I'm reading to much into this, but my immediate thought was that 58% of the people who answered this poll are bigots. IMHO, there should be no separate rules for different races of U.S. citizens. We are in this together.

Zigrat · « **Reply #1 on:** September 17, 2001, 07:51:00 AM »

gotta agree with that, there should be no special rules for US CITIZEN arabs, they are americans just like us. But for foriegn nationals? Hell I am all for not letting em into the country even.

1776 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 17, 2001, 08:18:00 AM »

Zigrat, and Sandman_SBM, how kind hearted, compassionate and good of you to be inclusive. 58% are bigots, but not you!! 58% are evil, but not you. You are good to say you aren't a bigot. You stand tall above everyone else because you know who the bigots are.

Now, my question for you today is just where are you flying today?

Jochen · « **Reply #3 on:** September 17, 2001, 09:00:00 AM »

Yeah, leave 1776 and his bigotin business alone!

Mighty1 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 17, 2001, 10:32:00 AM »

Why shouldn't we try to be more careful?

If you have a group of people who seem to be the ones causing most of the problems then why not watch them closer?

Just because you are a U.S. citizen does not mean you don't have loyalties to another country/group. If they are of the same belief(religion and/or political)as a country or group that is out to destroy us then they should be treated the same as we would the country/group.

If this makes me a bigot then I'm one and proud of it.

1776 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 17, 2001, 10:44:00 AM »

There are those that cling to political correctness. They are hunkered in their bunkers lobbing PC grenades at those who are on the front lines of this new war. There is no excuse to not be on alert from this point. I believe it has been said,"Trust,but verify." Not unreasonable in these times

Sandman · « **Reply #6 on:** September 17, 2001, 10:54:00 AM »

I didn't say the searches were unnecessary.

If it's good enough for one person, it's good enough for all. To think otherwise is exactly the same line of reasoning that got us Manzanar. If you don't know what it is or can't remember, do a search for it... a proud moment in U.S. history.

U.S. citizens are just that, citizens. They enjoy the same rights as all of us, quaranteed. This has nothing to do with political correctness. This has everything to do with treating the people of this country fairly without regard to race, creed, or color.

[ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: Sandman_SBM ]

funkedup · « **Reply #7 on:** September 17, 2001, 10:57:00 AM »

No 1776, we are not clinging to PC. We are clinging to the Constitution.

1776 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 17, 2001, 11:01:00 AM »

Calling people polled "bigots" is pure PC.

Kieran · « **Reply #9 on:** September 17, 2001, 11:06:00 AM »

Across-the-board, sweeping improvements in travel security across the country in all venues, not excepting any ethnicity, race, or creed.

Muslims are not the only terrorists, you know.

[ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: Kieran ]

1776 · « **Reply #10 on:** September 17, 2001, 11:16:00 AM »

"This has everything to do with treating the people of this country fairly without regard to race, creed, or color." Quote by Sandman

Then retract your statement of characterization.

popeye · « **Reply #11 on:** September 17, 2001, 11:31:00 AM »

Well, I'm all in favor of protecting citizens' rights, but if someone is seen leaving the scene of a crime, it seems more reasonable to search based on a description of that person, than to just start arresting everyone in the area. No?

[ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: popeye ]

Sandman · « **Reply #12 on:** September 17, 2001, 11:32:00 AM »

Not a chance. I believe that anyone who thinks we should single out U.S. citizens because of their color or heritage is a bigot.

That's my opinion, and I'm stickin' to it.

[ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: Sandman_SBM ]

Snoopi · « **Reply #13 on:** September 17, 2001, 12:03:00 PM »

Bigots ? Racist ? Definitely.

Singling them out by their appearance ?

BEGIN EXTREME SARCASM:

Hmmm. OK how about we include young white males that used to be in the military. ?
If they look like Tim McVeigh then they MUST NOT BE TRUSTED !

Hey.. strip search all black people before they board flights, they are normally criminals too.

END SARCASM

As the song said " Sign said long haired freaky people, need not apply, so I tucked my hair up under my hat..."

Cmon...Simply search everyone the same.

Just implement the same rules as EL AL has for flight in Israel.

People need to make a choice.

Relative safety in the sky
OR no safety at all just because the alternative might inconvenience you.

EDIT: Singling out Arab-Americans will just increase anger and hatred.

OOOOHH... MAYBE THAT"S WHAT THE WHOLE POINT OF THE ATTACK WAS.....
Get the world to distrust ALL Arabs more, thereby making them hate the U.S. and becoming a good recruitment pool for terrorist groups.

[ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: Snoopi ]

AKDejaVu · « **Reply #14 on:** September 17, 2001, 12:32:00 PM »

I do believe 1776's main assertation is that when criticizing someone for labeling another individual, its best not to label them.

A blanket "Anyone who answered yes on the poll is a bigot" isn't much better than "Anyone that looks like an Arab deserves increased scrutiny at airports." Labels labels labels.

BTW... does the US/Mexican border patrol treat everyone equally regardless of skin color?

I guess some people just have to get huffy about things as if they mean something. The people being polled are not the people making the decisions. The people making the decisions are going to do what they think makes sense.

How about this: Two Intel litho engineers traveled to Israel to help a fab get its new state-of-the-art equipment up and running. Both men were dark skinned and were traveling together. El Al held them for 3 hours under questioning because they fit a profile. How many hijackings has El Al Airlines had again?

AKDejaVu