THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 221, October 20, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
NO-FLY LISTS, ILLEGAL ALIENS, & THE RAVAGES
OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
By Tom DeWeese
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT'S STRICT POLITICALLY CORRECT COUNTERTERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY POLICY:
POLICY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO ENSURING AMERICA'S INTERNAL SECURITY &, AT THE SAME TIME, PROTECTING OUR
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS & LIBERTIES -- THE DESTRUCTIVE IMPACT OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IMPOSED BY POLITICIANS
WHO LACK THE WILL TO ENFORCE OUR LAWS & DEFEND OUR NATION & ITS INTERESTS & VALUES
FULL STORY:
Americans should not feel too secure with the U.S. government’s anti-terror policies, because the targeted ones aren’t necessarily
the terrorists. The government’s policies are based on the idea that it’s easier to put a net over an entire nation of law-abiding
citizens than to take appropriate actions to catch the bad guys.
Maryland Special Education teacher Kathryn Harrington was flying home from vacation a few weeks ago when Tampa, Florida,
airport security confiscated her bookmark as a potential weapon. It was an 8.5 inch leather strip with small lead weights at each end.
Police said it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. So the 52-year-old teacher was
handcuffed, put into a police car, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Though later released, she could have faced a
possible criminal trial and a $10,000 fine.
The government’s no-fly list is the latest scheme to abuse trusting Americans. A growing number of news reports are detailing the
absurd extremes government is willing to put U.S. citizens through in the name of fighting terrorism. Senator Ted Kennedy and
singer Cat Stevens aside, there are more than 300,000 names on the no-fly list. Yet, according to comments by some members of the
U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, incredibly, the no-fly list doesn’t contain the names of all terrorists, just the names of
those known to be threats to aviation. If you’re a truck-bomber, apparently your name’s not on the list.
If you are unfortunate enough to have one of those names similar to the few terrorist names that are actually on the no-fly list, then
your travel plans become a nightmare of government agents, security guards, and strip searches. Meanwhile, the actual terrorists
change their names, use false ID, and walk past you and your tormentors to board the plane.
The government has chosen to target you rather than focus on the bad guys, because using effective police methods isn’t politically
correct. Some pressure group might get upset. It’s much less painful for the government to focus on helpless individuals who have
no voice. In fact, the government wants to deliberately show force to you in order to convince Americans that it is working to protect
you. And so we live in a world of the absurd.
For example, The Wall Street Journal reports that the federal Department of Transportation actually fines airlines who search
more than two Arab travelers per flight. That would be profiling and profiling is wrong, says the policy. Yet every single one of the
9-11 hijackers was a male of Middle Eastern descent. Any good police detective knows that, to catch a criminal, you first must look
at those who match the description. Airlines are not allowed to do that. The strict politically correct policy is to ignore the facts and
randomly select by computer a certain few passengers to be searched each flight. That way, it’s all fair!
The abuse of law-abiding American citizens doesn’t end with no-fly lists. There are now black lists in force for almost every one of
our daily transactions. If you buy a car, go to a real estate closing, buy insurance or acquire credit, you will have to first pass through
a terrorist name check. A 19-year-old in Kansas had to wait to buy a car because somehow his identity information got linked to that
of an al-Qa'ida terrorist. A Connecticut couple’s house closing was delayed because the husband’s surname matched a name on the
list. In both cases, innocent Americans, not terrorists, were trapped by government black lists.
The situation will continue to get worse because government is threatening businesses with fines for not complying. The U.S.
Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has compiled the main black list containing the names of thousands of
individuals and businesses. The list now must be checked by businesses before certain transactions can be completed. The
mandates for which transactions must be checked are so broad that businesses are deciding to err on the side of caution, choosing
to check nearly every transaction. If the trend continues, it’s not too far fetched to suggest that, eventually, even buying lunch at
Macdonald’s could be delayed while the black list is consulted.
Meanwhile, as Americans are subjected to such misdirected policy, the southern border of the nation is wide open. 4,000 illegal
immigrants per day walk into the nation. An entire industry operates along the border to bring them in. There are safe houses, camps,
and transportation systems designed to help them disappear into the countryside. As Time magazine reports, for the illegals,
there are “no searches for weapons. No shoe removal. No photo-ID checks.” Such searches are reserved for legal Americans trying
to travel around their own country. And these aren’t just illegals from Mexico. Time reports that as many as 190,000 are from
other countries, including the Middle East.
The man in charge of securing the border from such an invasion, Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, admits that
no law-enforcement officials are looking for the vast majority of the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens thought to be in the country.
Hutchinson told The Washington Times, “I don’t think America has the will (to expel them)“, adding, “I think we have too
much compassion to tell our law-enforcement people to go out there and uproot those 8 million here.” Apparently Hutchinson has
less compassion for legal American citizens who have to deal with the illegal aliens' impact on our quality of life and national
security. Hutchinson really means politicians don’t have the will to enforce our laws, especially in an election year.
It is politically correct to express compassion for the plight of those who steal into the country under cover of night. It is politically
correct to be sensitive to the feelings of those of Middle Eastern decent. It is politically correct to impose black lists, national ID
cards, searches of private property without warrants, and strip search little old ladies under the excuse of fighting terrorism. But it is
not politically correct to say these things are a danger to our liberties. Do you feel safer yet?
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Terrorism & American Homeland Security
Immigration & Illegal Aliens
More on Immigration & Illegal Aliens
The Threat of Radical Islam
War & Peace in the Real World
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Tom DeWeese is the Publisher and Editor of The DeWeese
Report and President of the American Policy Center, a grassroots activist think tank. Headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia,
the Center maintains an Internet site at www.americanpolicy.org. Mailing Address:
American Policy Center, 50-A South Third St. (#1), Warrenton, VA 20186. Telephone: (540) 341-8911.
Copyright 2004 Tom DeWeese
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume VI, 2004
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy