are you afraid to get on a plane with 'one o' them'?

[mopaul]

a lady called into cspan saying she's afraid to even be in the same room with any of 'them' and she'd cancel her flight if she saw 'one o' them' getting on board.

the host asked her who she meant by 'them' and she said 'you know the one's we're fightin' all dressed up weird and stuff'

xenophobia reigns supreme now. america, meet the new nigger, any foreign looking person of possible middle eastern descent. excuse my language, but you know what i mean.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Isn't ignorance lovely?

Why do I get the feeling that woman hasn't traveled out of her own home county?

[cynatnite]

2. She's nuts

Does she have any idea of what she's even looking for? Some guy carrying an old soviet weapon with his head and face wrapped in a scarf ranting about American imperialism while burning a flag?

She needs to get a look at Tim McVeigh...the normal looking guy :eyes:

[wicket]

3. god, people can be so freaking stupid!

OT- I LOVE that Bush 9/11 pic.

[GeekMonkey]

4. Im afraid of 'them', if by 'them', you mean the cheney administration

[jojo54]

5. I feel sorry for her.

That is gullibility in all it's glory, and the waving flag is printed with "Bu*hco".

[babylonsister]

6. All I can say is, thank gawd she won't be spreading

her hate by traveling - what an ugly American.

[DemExpat]

7. We had a flight booked from Amsterdam-London-Houston

a few weeks after TWA was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland.....

I can assure you, I, with my 2 little babes, was very nervous seeing similar "types" embark on our flight to the fotos that were shown on television of the possible perpetrators.

This faded, of course, but it is natural and impossible to turn off. As long as we don't act on these fears.

Now that Van Gogh's killer in Holland is known to be a home-grown Dutch Moroccan, and the suicide bombers UK raised from Leeds.....this is going to be very tricky to prevent people in Europe from fearing, suspecting, and wondering about anybody looking like a Muslim on the street.

I feel vey somber about some future prospects in our world. :cry:

DemEx

[PsychoDad]

8. I know how she feels....

:silly:

I just can't stand being around "them" either. We're fighting "them" for a reason, you know. Always bothers me when I see one of "their type" around. You can't trust anything "they" say... Whenever I see one of "them", I wonder, "What's this gonna cost me now"? All they do is take, take, take, without one ounce of thankfulness or compassion real Americans show. And the way "they" dress... "they" all look alike, mostly corpulant, same skintone... "they" even all sound the same! I see "them" on TV all parroting "their" fanatical and blood thirsty leader's words... It's frightining.

By God, we gotta get "them" outta office!

We are talking about the same "them" aren't we?

[mopaul]

10. one man's them is another man's us

them comes in two types, the dick cheney type in a suit and tie, and the bubba white trailer trash type. i'm afraid to be in the same room with either type.

[KharmaTrain]

9. I'm More Afraid Of The Union Issues

My neighborhood used to have lots of United employees (working up the road at O'Hare)...one is a neighbor who has been with the company for over 20 years and has seen his real wages (the money he gets to keep after the bills are paid) and his benefits cut drastically over the past decade...but he is afraid, at his age, that if he loses this job he'll never find another one. And he considers himself lucky. The morale at the airline has never been lower...there's little employee loyalty and there's a high turnover in many of the maintenance jobs. That has him very concerned. At our 4th of July parade, he told a bunch of us "You're not seeing what corners are being cut in the service hanger".

That's comforting considering I just bought tickets to fly out west next month. But his harshes criticism was for the TSA honchos who have turned airports into near detention centers. There's one group..."the professionals" who run around the airport all day hassling people and pushing their weight around...a lot of them are political payrollers...while the screeners and checkers are considered among the "lowest of the low"...the TSA honchos don't like 'em, the airport personell don't like them, the passengers don't like 'em. No wonder turnover is so high.

I'm not so arrogant to think that MY plane or where I'm at or going is worthy of a terrorist attack. I sure as hell can't see how Al Queda would gain from blowing up a flight from Des Moines to Chicago. But then I'm not very smart am I? LOL

Honestly, I was more afraid to fly when I was a younger kid and had no clue how planes worked...than today where, after meeting some pilots and other air professionals, I feel a lot of confidence in these people. They love flying and take a lot of pride in their job. Overall air safety really hasn't been better.

[mopaul]

12. and we're all programmed to be afraid to fly, as if they'd repeat it

them that is, the terrorists. why would they attack us in such an obvious way again, if they ever did?

[KharmaTrain]

17. Dare I Ask The REAL Question? Who's A "Terrorist"???

It is that black man over in the corner, or that olive-skinned guy with the beard or that old lady with the mustache?

This reminds me of the George Carlin bit (I've been on a Carlin kick lately) called "Spy at the Airport"...one of Carlin's "time wasters" back in the 70's...the game was "somewhere in the airport is a spy...you're mission...find him". It's sad when comedy become reality and reality becomes so comical.

Mo...all the Repugnicans did was replace "Commie" with "Islamist" or (A-Rab...i keep hearing more of that lately) and "Terrorist" can be that over-reaching red meance that hides under our beds and could be almost anywhere at anytime. BTW...most fundie religions work the same way.

So, who the hell is "terrorists" anyway? Zarquawi? Bin Laden? At least I'd like to know who wants to kill me.

Cheers...

[ProfessorGAC]

21. No Better. But, More Inconvenient!

At least we've accomplished that, huh?
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Just Came Back From Philly, And. . .

. . .there was a bunch of "them" on the plane. A family of 5 (mom, dad, and three little kids), and at least three adult men and one adult woman who were obviously middle eastern. Gee, maybe i forgot to let it worry me.
The Professor

[mopaul]

14. thank god no one was beheaded

or suicide bombed. they all want to kill themselves cause they hate our freedoms y'know.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. No. They Just Hate Me

It's all because of me. They hate US, just because of me. I apologize to EVERYBODY.
The Professor

[leftchick]

13. and the way "they" dress

she was absolutely disgusting. Sadly there are millions of ameriKans like her. :(

[mopaul]

15. in the twilight zone, we are the germans, they are the jews now

i gotta wake up sometime.

[napi21]

16. This is NOT a new reaction since 9/11.

I worked with a terrific guy who was raised in India and was in the US for years on a green card. His wife was one of the nicest people I ever met. He told me he was always screened closer, strongly questioned when he flew an International flight, eyc. and all because of how "I look."

That was in 1992!

I think people in general are always fearful of someone who is different from them, and it's been exagerated by recent events.

[Misunderestimator]

20. It's not a new reaction, but it's Much, much worse after 9/11.

I know many people here on work from India who have enormous troubles now flying to and from... and also experience trouble locally, to a degree that they never experienced before 9/11.

[formerrepuke]

19. Timothy McVeigh looked harmless, didn't he?

[ProfessorGAC]

22. No. He Kind Of Reminded Me Of Richard Speck

I'm all old enough to remember that creepy dude. If i'd have seen McVeigh, i would have been creeped out by the slight resemblance and thought "Well, he's trouble."
The Professor

[mopaul]

23. i know quite a few white maniacs,

and they'd be damn hard to spot even on a plane because they look so...what's the word i'm looking for...normal.

[tomg]

24. I just came back from

London last night with my 11 year-old. We stayed up on Argyle Street by the BL. It's strange, but when I first got on the tube again ( we went back on on Saturday)I was looking around and when I saw young men who were darker than me with backpacks on, I was anxious. And then I looked around and saw all parents - Asian, Indian, Arabic, Europeans, Americans - all holding our kids just a bit ( a lot)tighter. I didn't feel better until I saw my kid watching a kid from the family next to us - an Indian or British Indian - family checking out my son's skateboard ( great place on the Southbank for any skaters out there). I looked at his dad and he looked at me and we knew we were all in this together, and then we just enjoyed watching our kids sort of check each other out. Everyone on that train had a lot of people to fear, but it sure as hell wasn't anyone on that train. All those young men with their backpacks on were as scared as we were.

[DemExpat]

25. This makes me feel like crying....

and I do know what you mean about kids being bridges.

DemEx

[Sparkman]

26. EVERYONE CALL A MOSQUE TODAY, AND PLEDGE TO HELP.

If you wan't to migigate the xenophobia and rascism with a small 5 minute act, go to the yellow pages, look up "churches", and phone all of the mosques you find. Kindness and offers to help and support target groups in America makes this the place I thought I lived.
then call your local Repuplican politician and scream something at them, it's the only way to be sure.

[Jo March]

27. I'm afraid to get on a plane with Republicans

They start talking about Rush and O'Reilly. Then they try to out-Christian you.

Of course, any plane that is carrying repubs won't be going to a war zone so I know that I'm safe in that respect.