The PI Was Still Wrong
May 7th 2008Bull MooseFerry Tales & Life in the Enlightened Blue Archipelago
The suspicious ferry riders have been found and cleared. I’m sure the Seattle PI feels vindicated in not running their picture. They shouldn’t. They should feel like they dodged a bullet.
I’m writing this on the ferry, and there are about 1000 people on board with me right now. The ferries on the routes we meet up with on the way into Seattle have even more people on them. The Seattle PI decided that it was OK to gamble with our safety because running pictures of olive skinned people in connection with the word “suspicious” made them feel funny in their politically correct pants.
Never mind that 25 of the last 27 people to commit horrific terrorist attacks inside the borders of the United States happened to have olive skin, if they look middle eastern, they must be given a greater benefit of the doubt, right? And spare me any politically correct lectures. From my my college roommate of Pakistani decent to my Iraqi and Iranian first bosses to my wife’s Iranian uncle, I am well aware that Middle Eastern does not equal terrorist. But that does not translate into someone should never be called a suspicious person if they have olive skin.
I’m not sure where the Seattle PI got the idea that one has to be convicted of a crime before their picture can be shown in the paper, especially if the FBI wants to talk to them. Especially when they were acting weird enough to get the attention of a ferry crew that is used to all kinds of weird behavior, and see many more than two dark skinned people a year.
And what horrible fate befell these men when they talked to the FBI? They checked out their story and cleared them. What a horrible fate! The men were here on business and had never seen a car ferry before. Fine. No one’s rights were violated, no one was whisked off to Gitmo in the middle of the night. You couldn’t have helped out with that Seattle PI? You’d rather play your idiotic political correctness games with the safety of thousands on a what has been established to be a possible terrorist target? Jerks.
No Comments »
