Someone named Salam Al-Marayati, who is the executive director of something called the "Muslim Public Affairs Council," has a whiny editorial in the LA Times. It seems he was flying back from a family vacation in Mexico, when he ran into the storm troopers running American border security. The editorial is titled, not surprisingly, "Guilty of 'Flying While Muslim'".
So, exactly what sort of terrible outrages happened to Salam and his family? Well, they were escorted to a "special area" (the escort even had a gun), they were told they had nothing to worry about. And, most horribly, Salam was asked "questions", such as why he was traveling, whether he had done anything to merit investigation, and whether he had contributed to charities that sent money oversees.
And that is it, and Salam and his family were apparently released in a fairly short period of time (he doesn't say how long it was, but this guy seems capable of complaining about the color of the walls in his "special place", and he doesn't complain about the length of the detention). There was no suggestion anyone was insulted, or had a weapon pointed at them, or was threatened in any way (at least anything that reasonable people would interpret as a threat), or struck or physically abused, or really anything else.
A couple of thoughts. First, if this is the worst example of "Muslim bashing" that our friends at the LA Times can find to complain about, they we should all feel pretty certain that it isn't much of a problem.
Second, I doubt that all Muslims were stopped that day. If I had to guess, Salam's name came up on a list of persons to worry about, and it sounds to me that the officers did a polite and expeditious job of resolving the issue and getting him on his way.
Third, it really burns my ass (its my blog, I can say "burns my ass" if I want) when people turn their personal sensitivity meters up to ultra high and wander the world hoping to be offended. And its too bad that the LA Times has to be so willing to give so many of them a soapbox.
Most importantly, I know everything thinks of America as the land of free soup and gravy, but in reality it hasn't ever been free. What happens is that every now and again some lucky generation gets handed a bill, and they have to pay it.
This is one of those times. Right now, in order to defend ourselves from people who would murder us in our beds if they could (most of whom happen to be Muslims, by the way, I'm just pointing out), many Americans are spending months away from their families, in hostile lands, and getting shot at. They are often deprived of hot chow, decent sleep, and much of what we would call the comforts of home. And those are the lucky ones, some never make it back home. Compared to that, Salam's ten minutes in a "special place", and having to answer two or three questions seems a small price to pay, and he should get over it.
Update - Patterico points out that, from some of this guy's previous public comments (you know, Israel was behind 9-11, that sort of thing) that maybe he is someone we need to keep an eye on when he crosses a border.
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