Political Correctness is Killing Us

It really wasn’t that long ago that there was no such thing as political correctness. In a not-so-distant past, the concept itself was both unheard of and unthinkable. Any intelligent person would have immediately dismissed such notions about calling anything other than what it really was, as being patently ridiculous. Then somewhere along the way, those who “feel” rather than think, began the process of permeating our language, our culture and later, even our laws, with nonsense.

In the beginning, it was mainly just stupid stuff, such as replacing “manhole” cover with “person” cover and other such tripe. It was all done on the pretext of being “inclusive” and “non-offensive”. As this idiocy began to take root and the feel-gooders starting making even more inroads, it went from being just merely stupid to becoming downright annoying. From the hyphenated-American designation for every possible ethnic group to the inclusion in school curriculums of “Heather has two mommies” style propaganda, the PC movement had now become something far more insidious.

Now it’s gone way beyond its relatively benign beginnings to one of absolute danger. The fact is that political correctness could easily become the death of us all because of stupid politicians. The latest idiocy comes from New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg who recently told WABC Radio host John Gambling during an interview, "I think if we've learned anything, it is you can't predict what a terrorist looks like." Yeah, right. And you can’t predict that someone’s a gang member by the colors they wear, right Mayor? Incredible.

He went on to say that the terrorists come "in all sizes and shapes and forms" and that profiling Middle Eastern men wouldn’t be “fair”. Not fair? What about everyone else that is at risk from this demographic? Now of course I’m not suggesting that all young men of Middle Eastern extraction are terrorists – the vast majority are not, but the fact remains that in today’s world, virtually all terrorist acts are committed by that very group.

Down here in the South, we have an old fishing adage that says simply, but eloquently, that you go fishing where the fish are biting. Put another way, going anywhere else is a waste of time if you want to catch fish. The same is true with apprehending and preventing terrorists – it makes no sense whatsoever to spend time searching little old blue haired ladies when they’re not the ones flying airplanes into buildings, setting off explosives on subways and the like.

I recall a recent trip taken by myself, my wife and my mother-in-law during which we were pulled out of line at the airport by security and were all summarily patted down and forced to remove our shoes. I even had to undo my belt so they could examine the buckle (a standard one, not some big knocker like those worn by bikers – mine wouldn’t have hidden a toothpick, much less a knife). All of us are white, by the way – and my mother-in-law is over 60 and walks with a cane due to knee and back surgeries. While we were being inspected, at least two-dozen Middle Eastern types walked straight through without being pulled. I guess that would be Bloomberg’s idea of being “fair” – sure couldn’t risk offending those Middle East folks now, could we?

What astounds me is the complete lack of logic in all of this. If it were middle-aged white men who were committing the majority of terrorist acts, I would understand and indeed, expect to be profiled. Profiling is the only effective approach of trying to make us all safer and makes perfect sense when you’re trying to solve or prevent a crime.

Politicians like Michael Bloomberg need to learn that while fishing where the fish aren’t biting is a harmless waste of time, taking that approach on a matter as grave as terrorism is both foolhardy and suicidal.

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