Pilot channels Juan Williams, refuses to fly Muslims

I missed it... My bad

 

If the pilot doesn't catch some shit for this, it's tantamount to not allowing anyone who looks like a Muslim to fly on a plane in the U.S. How can anyone be OK with this?

 

Dools, I think that's and oversimplification of what's happened here.

 

Hey we're ok with Obama trashing the 5th amendment, why shouldn't we be ok with this.

 

Uh, how do we know he didn't follow established security procedures?

 

I love that while calling him a racist, you use a pejorative term.

Way to claim the moral high ground.

 

Well, my smell test says if there was some clear reason to suspect these Muslims going to a conference on tolerance were suspicious beyond them merely being Muslim, Delta would be churning out releases laying out why it should be absolved. The lack of a concrete response indicates something hinky, and a desire to control the damage.

Besides which, the Muslims were allowed to leave on another flight. If they were true suspects, and not symbolic assassins to the pilot without cause, then that wouldn't have happened.

 

Gotta love a good Chicken Little thread.

 

Enough of the pithy quips; how about an actual opinion.

 

This thread hasn't been at all predictable.

 

My opinion is that the feeling of safety is a worthy goal, but not as important as the feeling of moral superiority generated by political correctness.

Or, the knee-jerk reactions of "The pilot's racist!" and "Muslims may never fly again!" are ridiculous coming from people who supposedly dabble in facts for a living.

AQB is right. We're likely going to find out a few more details in the near future.

Until then, I'll limit my grandiose proclamations and happily return to my pithy party.

 

Here's one for ya, Boom. One of the organizers of the conference the guys pulled off the plane were headed to, on Osama's death:

At the conference, one of the organizers called the incident “surprising.” Dr. Eltayeb Abuelyaman said participants in the conference are disappointed something like this would happen so long after 9/11. “There should be a reason for anything like this to happen,” he said, “and we have yet to find a reason.” The Imams don’t believe the discrimination had anything to do with the death of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

“He got what he deserved,” said Abuelyaman, “so that’s end of story.”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/08/2282005/conference-on-fear-of-islam-reacts.html

And here are just a few more examples. Five minutes on teh Google:

Syed Mumtaz Ali, President of the Canadian Society of Muslims:
"We condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Canadians in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts."

57 leaders of North American Islamic organizations, 77 intellectuals, and dozens of concerned citizens:
"As American Muslims and scholars of Islam, we wish to restate our conviction that peace and justice constitute the basic principles of the Muslim faith. We wish again to state unequivocally that neither the al-Qaeda organization nor Usama bin Laden represents Islam or reflects Muslim beliefs and practice. Rather, groups like al-Qaeda have misused and abused Islam in order to fit their own radical and indeed anti-Islamic agenda. Usama bin Laden and al-Qaeda's actions are criminal, misguided and counter to the true teachings of Islam."

Islamic Society of North America:
"The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) condemns in the strongest terms the recent acts of terrorism in Glasgow, London and Yemen. We reaffirm our long-standing, unqualified condemnation of all acts of terrorism and all acts of violence committed against the innocent, and our denunciation of religious extremism and particularly the use of Islam to justify terrorism in any of its forms. We sympathize with the victims of these senseless attacks and offer our heart-felt condolences to the families who have lost their dear ones."