Riding on the wave of fear
JC
So, imagine you’re a congressional candidate…think. think. think. What’s really gonna spice up your campaign?…think, dammit! Oh, YES! That’s it! Make racial profiling your cause and then make commercials about it. Great way to go. Ok, Mark Flanagan’s a (R), but still.
While the former state representative has received national coverage from Fox News Channel and extensive response from conservative blogs, the Muslim-American community and fellow candidates have attacked his proposal as bigoted, ineffective and counterproductive.
The advertisement, which will run on Bay News 9 and other cable channels, begins with images of both towers on fire, then shows pictures of Republican candidates Vern Buchanan and Tramm Hudson. Flanagan is presented as the candidate focusing on serious issues, while Buchanan and Hudson attack each other on personal matters. The ad also shows the mug shots of all of the Sept. 11 hijackers. At the ad’s end, one of the smoldering towers is shown crumbling to the ground.
“We’re at war, and if we’re going to win, we are going to have to abandon all political correctness,” Flanagan said Thursday. “This is a public policy initiative that makes sense based on history and common sense.”
Yes! F— political correctness! Get those metal detectors ready, and add on more detainee rooms to all airports. This is the way to go! Luckily, there seems to be significant opposition to this (including Muslim-American activists and his fellow candidates), and people seem to see through his trashy tactics. But the mere fact that this strategy is even being employed as part of a campaign is depressing. Target a specific ethnic group to play into people’s fears, thus boosting your own career. They don’t call politics dirty for nothin’, I guess. :| (I’m trying to be less idealistic and naive…I promise! :))
S wrote:
Jen, you are crazy. I love it!
Funny how no one profiled white women when that crackhead-looking Runaway Bride mentioned a white woman and hispanic man as her captors. Neither were white men profiled after Tim McVeigh served his bomb tricks in O City, or any of the other white men with and without “middle eastern” garb who have attempted to attack US landmarks. We rarely even hear of those cases, but they happen more frequently than they do with this so-called “Muslim” race. Until high school, the only Muslims I had ever seen were black. This “Muslim” profiling is a joke. More white people are converting by the day and are expected to group in large numbers abroad. How will they profile Muslims then?
Posted 14 Sep 2006 at 9:26 am ¶
gatamala wrote:
I tell ya what S,
After the suicide bomber born as Becky Amanda Whittington blows herself and a school of kids to bits, I want to see if racial profiling still works. The day that Molly gets slammed to the pavement w/ a rifle to her head & a boot in her spine, I will feel that things haven’t gotten a bit more equal.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D
Posted 14 Sep 2006 at 10:25 am ¶
gatamala wrote:
I meant “have”
Posted 14 Sep 2006 at 10:25 am ¶
IkoIko wrote:
Few key items to add to this story:
(a) This particular primary fight was being waged by five Republicans for the seat of… Rep. Katherine Harris (yep, our favorite vote counter) in the 13th Congressional District in Florida.
(b) Flanagan was one of three Republican candidates running for elected office to come out for “racial profiling” immediately after the foiled British bombing plot this past summer, without mentioning exactly what that meant or how they’d go about doing it. The same lack of conscience or consciousness was truly reflected in the commercial.
(c) How did it play come primary time? Of the three candidates:
– Flanagan lost his primary bid, coming in fourth with 22 percentage points behind the winner and main target of his commercial at issue. Problem is, the commercial didn’t necessarily increase the negative vote against him, because the race was really only a two-person race two begin with, and a pretty vicious one to boot, largely turning on issues of wealth and ethics.
– Paul Nelson of the Wisconsin 3rd District– (in)famously quoted on WIXK Radio in New Richmond for saying “Racial profiling is one way that we can cut down on security risks… It’s time to stop being politically correct here and be serious and tough on the war on terror. [and when prompted how he would identify a Muslim male, responded]… Well, you know, if he comes in wearing a turban and his name is Mohammed, that’s a good start.” Handpicked by the party and therefore unopposed in a primary, he will face Rep. Ron Kind (D) in November.
– New York gubernatorial candidate John Faso (also the Conservative Party candidate– two different things) said back in August: “political correctness shouldn’t stand in the way of America’s security… Looking for Muslims for participation in Muslim jihad is not playing the odds. It is following an ironclad tautology.” He’ll meet the Democratic challenger New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for the state’s top spot in November.
Posted 14 Sep 2006 at 1:23 pm ¶
Tariq Nelson wrote:
S:
Good point. This “Muslim race” thing seems to be getting more prominent
Posted 14 Sep 2006 at 1:47 pm ¶
Adrianna wrote:
Very sad. I know a lot of young muslim men and women form a culture united club in college, and many feel the pressure that comes from being muslim in the US these day. We try to foster talk between the foreign students and the American students, but they were not interested.
Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 12:54 am ¶
Tariq Nelson wrote:
Adrianna:
Who is not interested. The foreign students or the Americans?
If the foreign ones, then this is not surprising at all as in this environment they feel it is best to keep a very low profile.
I’m of the opinion that it is better to keep a relative high profile and get to know people and let them know that you are not what is being portrayed on TV
Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 8:24 pm ¶